Football
  • Home
  • News
  • Six Boxers Who Made An Impact In WWE: Tyson Fury, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather And More

Six boxers who made an impact in WWE: Tyson Fury, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather and more

WWE

Here’s a look at six big-name boxers who crossed over to make an impact in the wrestling world following Logan Paul's impressive performance at Wrestlemania 38.

WrestleMania is WWE's biggest event of the year. It is a show that pits the greatest names in wrestling against one another.
Fans from around the globe travel every year to attend what is now a two-night event.
Celebrities and sportsmen are often brought in by WWE to help drive revenue and interest.

Boxers have been at the fore of this down the years. At this weekend's show, YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul featured and if being honest - through gritted teeth - he was sensational.

Delivering a Frog Splash and the Three Amigos on Rey Mysterio and his son, Paul left fans wanting more. Some have even said he is the most convincing celebrity to have featured in the WWE.

To celebrate the success, we at Planet Sport have picked out six boxers to have followed Paul by crossing over.

Tyson Fury

Given his aura and outward personality, 'The Gypsy King' always felt like a shoo-in to eventually move into WWE.
His first appearance came in October 2019 as WWE SmackDown debuted on FOX. He could not keep out of the action for long.

Fury was involved in an altercation ringside with WWE superstar Brawn Strowman. The latter was a strongman once upon a time and at 6ft 6ins, he weighed around 385lbs.

The two athletes had a brawl on the following week's episode of RAW before it was announced that they would wrestle at WWE's Crown Jewel PPV in Saudi Arabia.
This was WWE's fourth event in Saudi and those in action were paid handily for their work in the controversial country. It is believed that Fury earned just short of £12m for his match against the 'Monster Among Men'.
Fury loves a grand entrance and it was no different here. He lapped up the adulation of the crowd as fireworks erupted behind him.
The self-proclaimed 'lineal world champion of the world' got the better of Strowman as well.
As the huge wrestler looked to re-enter the ring, he was floored by Fury via a right hand. Strowman could not come back into the ring before the referee counted to ten so the Brit was ruled the winner.

Before his second fight against Deontay Wilder, Fury made another appearance in WWE as an episode of SmackDown resonated from the Manchester Arena.

This time he joined forces with Strowman to dismantle a tag-team aptly named 'The B Team' (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel).

Evander Holyfield

After his win over Lou Savarese, Holyfield made his WWE debut at Madison Square Garden in front of just short of 17,000 fans.

This came as part of WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV.
The multiple-time world heavyweight champion was placed in a boxing match with one-half of the Hardy Boyz - Matt Hardy.
Hardy was feuding with Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) at the time. With MVP being the heel, he recruited Holyfield to replace him in the match. This clash resembled a real boxing match as Michael Buffer was in the ring as the announcer.
As to be anticipated, Hardy had no answer for Holyfield's offence. The wrestler was floored twice in the opening two-minute round.
Hardy was out on his feet at the start of the second so Holyfield opted against laying in any more punches.
Foolishly, MVP then entered the ring to vent his frustrations at 'The Real Deal'.
This altercation ended as expected as MVP was 'knocked out' by Holyfield for going too far with his instructions. The bout was, therefore, declared a no-contest and the boxer embraced Hardy after the fact.
A couple of months later, Holyfield returned to the boxing ring as he unsuccessfully fought Sultan Ibragimov for the WBO world heavyweight title.

Mike Tyson

'Iron Mike' - out of any other boxer - has the most storied history with WWE.
The wrestling company capitalised on the attention Tyson got for biting Holyfield's ear off in 1998. They paid him around £2.6m to make appearances in the lead-up and at WrestleMania XIV.

Tyson acted as a special enforcer for the WWE championship match between Shawn Michaels and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

The polarising boxer was involved in an unforgettable brawl with Austin just before WrestleMania. He subsequently aligned himself with Michaels' group - D-Generation X.
Tyson turned his back on Michaels at the event itself though, as he counted the pin for Austin to become WWE champion for the first time.
An irate Michaels confronted Tyson after his loss. This did not go well for the wrestler, as Iron Mike dropped him in the middle of the ring.
Tyson's time in WWE was well-received and he was credited with helping turn around the 'Monday Night Wars', as WWE beat their rival company WCW in the ratings.
Twelve years later, following his cameo in 'The Hangover', Tyson made another appearance in WWE as a guest host of RAW.
During the show, Tyson knocked out Chris Jericho as he sided with DX's Michaels and Triple H. Ahead of WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012, the legendary boxer was inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame.

Buster Douglas

Interestingly, Tyson was meant to make his first outing in WWE eight years earlier.
In 1990, Iron Mike battled Buster Douglas at the Tokyo Dome in Japan for the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ringworld heavyweight titles.
Tyson was 37-0 (33 wins via TKO/KO) heading into this defence. Understandably, Douglas was a huge underdog, so it sent shockwaves around boxing when he handed the champion his first professional loss.
Douglas stopped Tyson in the tenth round to become the new king of the heavyweight division.
Back to WWE, Tyson was pencilled in to be the guest referee for Hulk Hogan vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage at The Main Event III show in Detroit, Michigan.
Given the shock result weeks prior, WWE drafted Douglas in to officiate the bout instead.
There was a lot of drama in the lead up to the finish of the match. Hogan would eventually beat Savage after eleven minutes.
Douglas counted the pinfall and Savage was left fuming by the outcome. The wrestler got in the boxer's face afterwards, only to be clocked on the chin and floored by the heavyweight champion.

Floyd Mayweather Jr

Logan Paul
'Money' made his debut in WWE after his first "retirement" from boxing following his win over Ricky Hatton.
The American retained his WBC and The Ring world welterweight titles, beating Hatton by TKO at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather stated that he retired to focus on the growth of his promotional company - Mayweather Promotions.

Though it did not take long for him to return to the limelight as he appeared at WWE's No Way Out PPV in February 2008.
This came as he confronted WWE superstar, The Big Show. The wrestler stands just shy of 7ft and he tipped the scales at around 430lbs. After breaking the wrestler's nose at the event, a No Disqualification match was agreed between the pair for WrestleMania XXIV.
Celebrity matches in WWE tend to go one of two ways but this was an entertaining one for what it was.
Mayweather was the winner at WrestleMania, pinning Big Show after striking him with brass knuckles.
His bank account also profited as he earned over £15m for the match and he helped to ensure the event drew over 1m PPV buys.
Mayweather was again a thorn in Big Show's side in August 2009.
He returned to WWE to help MVP and Mark Henry beat Jeri-Show (Big Show and Chris Jericho). The brass knuckles were in use again, because of course they were.

Muhammed Ali

Like Fury and Tyson after, Ali was an obvious name for WWE to bring into the fold.
In 1976, Ali battled Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in a 'special rules' match. This resembled a modern-day MMA bout and it was ruled a draw after 15 rounds.

While Ali and Inoki later became friends, the event was slammed and the latter's leg kicks left the iconic boxer with blood clots.

In preparation for this clash, 'The People's Champion' had an in-ring clash with Gorilla Monsoon, who was said to weigh over 400lbs. Ali did not back down, as he took off his shirt and jacket to confront the bigger man.
Despite landing a couple of jabs, Monsoon got the better of the exchange, picking Ali up and dumping him on the mat.
The boxer wanted to get back in the ring, but promoter Butch Lewis thought better of that as he ushered Ali away.
ali
Fast forward to 1985, Ali made an appearance at the first-ever WrestleMania. He was the guest referee for a marquee match that pitted Hogan and Mr T against Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper.
The unconventional team of Hogan and Mr T triumphed and the first WrestleMania proved to be a huge success. So much so that this week is the 38th edition of the 'show of shows'…

Read more: Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua in talks to fight in Saudi Arabia, claims promoter

    More Articles