LONDON, May 11: Mike Tyson stepped up his pre-fight war of words with Lennox Lewis Friday, saying he wished the world heavyweight champion “was dead”.

Tyson, in an interview broadcast on Sky Sports television, was asked what he thought of Briton Lewis, his world title opponent at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee on June 8.

“I wish he was dead...I wish I could kill him, now,” said the controversial American.

“What do I think about him? I don’t think anything positive or nice about him.”

But Tyson, asked what he thought of the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) champion as a fighter, was more generous with his response.

“His accomplishments talk for itself (sic). He is successful as a fighter, yeah,” said Tyson.

Earlier this week, Lewis broke off from his preparations for the fight to compare Tyson to “a cartoon character”.

Lewis, reacting to comments made by Tyson from his training camp in Maui last week, told reporters: “He’s an arrogant imbecile. That’s Mike, and you come to expect that. He sounds like a cartoon character”.

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

Tyson was banned from boxing for a year after biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield’s ear in their world title bout in Las Vegas in 1997.—Reuters