Lennox Lewis has responded to Mike Tyson's recent comments by branding him a "cartoon character".

Lewis also described Tyson as "ignorant, arrogant and an imbecile" as the war of words between the two fighters escalated ahead of their eagerly awaited 8 June bout.

The 36-year-old also joked about the high-profile brawl between the two men in New York in January when Lewis claimed Tyson had bitten him on the thigh.

"I'm definitely not afraid of Mike Tyson. I'm the best there is," said Lewis, speaking at his training camp near New York.

"I'm the top of the food chain - but hopefully he's not going to get a bite out of me again."

Tyson had said in an interview in Hawaii last week that he was going to "kill" Lewis.

But the Briton said he had not paid much attention to what his rival was saying.

Showdown

"Some of the things he's been saying make him sound like a cartoon character to me.

"When he was incarcerated he said he was reading books. Seems to me he must have been reading comic books."

Lewis said the only thing he was afraid of in life was losing - but that helped drive him on.

Lewis' showdown with Tyson at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis is already a sell-out.

Ticket sales have produced a record gross gate £15m - shattering the previous £11m set in November 1999 at the Lewis-Holyfield clash.