SCOTRUN (Pennsylvania), May 8: World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis stoked up the pre-fight antagonism between himself and Mike Tyson Tuesday, comparing the American to “a cartoon character”.

The Briton broke off from his preparations for the June 8 showdown with Tyson at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, to assure the media he was unfazed by the latest comments made by the former champion from his training camp in Maui last week.

“I haven’t been taking them in,” Lewis told reporters. “He’s an arrogant imbecile. That’s Mike, and you come to expect that. He sounds like a cartoon character.”

Tyson had lashed out on a variety of topics, including his relationship with the fans and the media.

Tyson has proved an intimidating figure for many opponents in the past but Lewis assured reporters he would not be another victim next month.

“I am definitely not scared of Mike Tyson,” said Lewis. “I am the best there is.

“I am at the top of the food chain and he is looking to knock me off,” added the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) champion.

Lewis, back in the familiar surroundings of the Pocono Mountains resort in Pennsylvania where he has trained for most of the last decade, has been in the ring with smaller sparring partners to prepare for fighting Tyson.

“I am a boxer who can adjust to any moment,” said the Briton. “He (Tyson) has to remember that he has never faced a boxer like Lennox Lewis. He will be in for a shock.”

The volatile American was also involved in a brawl with Lewis and members of his entourage at a news conference in New York in January, an incident which led to the cancellation of their scheduled bout in Las Vegas in April.—Reuters