Luke Littler likened to Mike Tyson and told only player who could 'knock him down a peg'

Dennis Priestley has compared darts sensation Luke Littler to a young Mike Tyson following a blistering start to his professional career. And after taking even the biggest stages by storm, 'The Menace' has identified one star who would be equal to the Warrington wonder.

Littler, 17, blitzed his way onto the pro circuit following a run to the World Championship final in January. Less than six months later and he's already been crowned a Premier League champion in his debut campaign, as well as winning both the Austrian and Belgian Darts Opens.

Those three finishes alone are worth £335,000 in prize money, not to mention the £20,000 he secured by winning the Bahrain Masters. But Priestley is confident Littler will already have seven figures in the bank thanks to the endorsement deals he's racked up along the way.

"Luke Littler will already be a millionaire thanks to his prize money as well as all the sponsorship deals he has been signing outside of darts which is just remarkable," the two-time world champion told BestAnonymousCasinos. "He’s done all this just within six months, he has been the fastest millionaire darts player of all time and probably the fastest millionaire in all of sport, at the age of just 17."

The rampant rise through his field isn't dissimilar to the manner in which boxing great Tyson powered his way into the ring. Like Littler, Tyson dropped out of school shortly after his pugilistic prowess was discovered and shot to stardom shortly after.

Tyson was only 15 when he won the first of two Junior Olympic titles as a heavyweight in 1981, going on to win Golden Gloves gold by age 18. He turned professional shortly after and built a 37-0 record over the next four years, finishing his first 19 opponents.

"Luke Littler has burst onto the scene like a young Mike Tyson, who would often beat his opponents on fear alone," gushed Priestley. "There is that fear factor around Littler already, which comes from the way he is playing and the way he is winning."

Reigning World Champion Luke Humphries was able to stop Littler's ascent at Alexandra Palace in January. However, he's proved harder to stop since then after finding his feet against elite opposition.

But Priestley, 73, asserted Phil Taylor in his prime would be a match for the rising star as he explained: "Watching Luke Littler, Phil Taylor would love to be young again because he has that mindset means he loves to overcome obstacles. A young Phil Taylor would’ve been good enough to knock Littler down a peg or two."

Taylor has suggested he'd be open to facing Littler if their schedules aligned, despite having taken his leave of the pro circuit. The 63-year-old won 16 World Championship titles (14 in the PDC and two in the WDF) during his career, a record that's unlikely to ever be broken.

On his part, Littler has said he's open to the prospect and said he'd love to face Taylor during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. And 'The Power' is no longer the only old school sporting legend being compared to darts' breakout superstar.