Mike Tyson has stepped up his pre-fight war of words with Lennox Lewis, 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.

"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," said Lewis from his training camp at the Pocono Mountains resort in Pennsylvania.

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.

The 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.

In November, Lewis regained the WBC and IBF heavyweight titles with a fourth-round knockout of Hasim Rahman, just seven months after Rahman stunned Lewis with a fifth-round knockout in South Africa.

Lewis goes into next month's fight with a 39-2-1 career record, including 30 knockouts.

Tyson has not fought since recording a seventh-round technical knockout over Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen last October. He has compiled a 49-3 career record with 43 KOs.