Muhammad Ali would've relished rivalry with Tyson Fury

The great Muhammad Ali would have relished a boxing rivalry with Tyson Fury, according to Ali's ex wife.

Khalilah Ali believes the boxing icon, who passed away in 2016, would have 'liked' the reigning WBC heavyweight world champion because of their similar personalities.

"I think Tyson is very outspoken and I think Ali would've liked him," she said.

"You have these fighters now, they've been guided by Ali's actions. They admire him and they have picked up a lot of confidence in him. And I think Tyson Fury admired Muhammad Ali just by his own actions."

Khalilah was speaking during her first visit to Manchester, the birthplace of Fury, to speak at the British Muslim Heritage Centre.

Clearly a fan of the self-proclaimed Gypsy King, she added: " I think it's good to have somebody like that because the fighters today are not the way Ali used to be or Tyson Fury is.

"So he (Ali) would have relished that. He would have loved that. He would say 'he's not as pretty as me, but he's good.'"

WBC champion Fury remains unbeaten and has reached an agreement to fight WBA, WBO and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk in April.