Im sure I read/saw and interview and he said he preferred the old school fighters, and im certain he mentioned Kid Chocolate and Dempsey as two of his favourites. But don't hold me to it
He says he patterned his style after Jack Dempsey. He even copied the no-socks look of Dempsey. It's clear though from other statements he's made that he holds Ali in reverence.
To add up to the rest of the posts, Teddy Atlas (on his podcast) also mentioned that Tyson learned a lot of his intimidation from Sonny Liston.
he had an obsession with jem mace too. He went out of his way to visit Mace's grave in Liverpool when he came to the UK (which is pretty obsessive!)
There are many he loves. Ali, Duran, Dempsey This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This is a great watch This content is protected This content is protected
He liked Roberto Duran, but I read that prior to his title fights in Las Vegas, Iron Mike used to go to the cemetery and pay homage to Sonny Liston's grave. He used to say admiring comments about Muhammad Ali.
I his first autobiography he says it's Duran. He was in awe every time he met or talked to Ali, but his favorite remained Duran. He liked that, contrary to Ali, Duran was ugly, behaving wild, shouting insults and stuff. At the time of Duran vs Leonard 2, Mike was staying at Cus D'Amato's place and watched the fight. He said he couldn't stop crying when Duran quit and felt really down for the following weeks
But yeah, as others stated, he was also a big fan of Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Sonny Liston and of course Ali. But he admired many boxers, and not only heavyweights. He said he used to read tons of books about the past greats