In the late 1980s, the boxing world trembled at the name Mike Tyson. His fearsome power, relentless aggression, and unbeaten ferocity left both opponents and sparring partners rattled. But for then 23-year-old Glenn McCrory, Tyson became both a test and a turning point.

Fresh off a narrow points victory for the Commonwealth title over Zambia’s Chisanda Mutti, McCrory had earned a reputation as a world-class sparring partner well before claiming his own slice of championship glory. Known as “The Gentleman,” McCrory had already sharpened his skills in the ring with the likes of James “Quick” Tillis—a man who later locked horns with Tyson in 1986 and sang McCrory’s praises to his own trainer, Beau Williford.

It wasn’t long before opportunity knocked. Williford called McCrory: “He said, ‘Do you want to spar?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, of course I want to spar.’” Then came the bombshell: “It’s with Mike Tyson.” The Tyson camp, aware of the danger, was wary about throwing the relatively slim McCrory in with their undefeated star. But McCrory craved a confidence boost—and nothing could test his courage more than going toe-to-toe with “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”

“I thought if I could last with Tyson then I could last with anyone,” he told talkSPORT.com.

And last he did. McCrory became a cornerstone of Tyson’s training camps, spending two world title training camps—against Tyrell Biggs and Larry Holmes—trading blows with the future undisputed champion. All told, he sparred a staggering 96 rounds with Iron Mike.

Tough, quick-witted, with a fighter’s nose for opportunity, McCrory even landed the shot that left Tyson with a black eye—something that made headlines in the United States at the time.

But here’s the twist: despite Tyson’s mythic reputation as perhaps the hardest puncher ever, McCrory—uniquely qualified after so many rounds in the lions’ den—ranks Tyson’s power outside his top three hardest hitters. Instead, he called out other heavyweights whose punches still echo in his memory:

“I have been in with bigger punchers [than Tyson], stronger guys. Lennox Lewis was one,” McCrory explains.

Unlike Tyson’s blistering hand speed and explosive combinations which came from every angle, Lewis’ power, McCrory reveals, was all about size, weight, and thunderous single shots.

“Getting hit by Lennox was something else. The difference with Tyson is he could hit you five times really hard. He’d be in front of you, then he’d be on one side, then on the other. But Lewis was a bigger, stronger, heavier-handed fighter—whereas Tyson was a smaller guy. Trust me, [Tyson] hit very hard, but his speed and combinations are where he really hurt you.”

And Lewis isn’t alone. McCrory sparred plenty of rounds with Trevor Berbick—the man famous for being taken apart by a 20-year-old Tyson in 1986 to make Tyson the youngest heavyweight champion in history—and James “Bonecrusher” Smith, WBA heavyweight ruler and another Tyson victim.

“I also sparred Trevor Berbick and James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith—those guys were like being hit by a wet bag of cement. It’s hard to say who hit the hardest out of the lot but they all stood out.”

All three—Lewis, Smith, and Berbick—shared the ring with Tyson at one point, but in McCrory’s mind, their raw force left a mark every bit as brutal as Tyson’s own combinations.

As for the rest of their stories? Tyson famously dismantled Berbick to claim the WBC title, then unified his belts by outpointing “Bonecrusher” Smith months later. Years down the road, Tyson finally faced Lennox Lewis—only to be knocked out in the eighth round of his last world title bout, an emphatic close to one of boxing’s greatest rivalries.

But for McCrory, the lessons from those nearly 100 bruising rounds with Tyson went beyond the pain; they rebuilt his confidence brick by brick, helping him forge a path to later glory as IBF cruiserweight champion of the world—a testament to the iron resolve required to stand across from the hardest-hitting legends the sport has ever seen.