Jamie Foxx will have to take steroids to portray Mike Tyson on screen, the former boxer has joked.

The 46-year-old actor has reportedly been cast to play the former heavyweight world champion in an upcoming project which is yet to be named.

Tyson is delighted with the news, although understands Foxx  will need to put in some hours if he wants to be as physically imposing in the ring as 'Iron' Mike was in his heyday.

"He's gonna go do some steroids," Tyson joked on The Jim Norton Show, "eat some pork, some potatoes and do all that stuff, lift some weights."

The boxer is one of the most polarising figures in the sport. While he has been lauded for his success in the ring, winning 44 of his 58 fights by knock out despite being much shorter than many in his weight category, his personal life has also hit the headlines. Tyson served a jail time for rape, has gone bankrupt and struggled with addiction. His professional conduct was also called into question when he famously bit both of Evander Holyfield's ears during a bout in 1997.

It's thought much of this will be covered in the upcoming film, which is apparently being written by Terence Winter but doesn't have a studio at the moment. That hasn't stopped Tyson, 48, getting excited about it though.

"Jamie Foxx is going to do a movie about me," Tyson explained on The Jim Norton Show. "I know you are going to say, 'Well Jamie's almost older than you. How is he going to play you?' There was a movie called Benjamin Button. Remember that movie Benjamin Button? They have a new gadget where they can make him younger, like they made Brad Pitt younger. So Jamie's gonna look younger."

It's highly probable the project will come together as Foxx has made no secret of his desire to bring it to the screen. As far back as 2009 he was discussing it.

"I've reached out to Mike, and I've been open about it. I think that, of all the biopics that are out there, he has the most interesting story that no one has ever heard," he told MTV News at the time.

"Here's this guy that could do no wrong, and everything he did, we loved it. And then, when he wasn't the heavyweight champion, anything he did was considered foul and just horrible."