Former boxing champ Mike Tyson has paid a touching tribute to Joe Frazier, insisting it was "an honour" to be compared to the boxing legend during his career.

The former heavyweight champion, nicknamed Smokin' Joe, was recently revealed to be battling liver cancer and he lost his fight with the disease on Monday night, at the age of 67.

Stars flocked to pay tribute to the great, who handed Muhammad Ali his first professional defeat in the ring, including Tyson.

"Today is a sad yet remarkable day as we mourn the death of boxing legend Joe Frazier & honor him by celebrating his amazing accomplishments," Tyson wrote on Twitter.

"Frazier and Ali were quintessential the apex of pedigree fighting (sic) in which each man would not give an inch until they were dead (sic). Their era was competitive fighting at the highest level. As a young fighter it has always been an honor to be compared to Frasier (sic).

"My family and I are sending our sincerest condolences to the Joe Frazier family."