The physical contest between Broncos behemoth Payne Haas and Leota shapes as one of the must-watch match-ups of Sunday's preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium, where the Panthers can book themselves a spot in a sixth straight NRL grand final.
Leota may not have the motor Haas possesses, but when he's on the field he makes every collision count with a relentless, bone-crunching intensity.
It's a trait Leota picked up from watching highlights of Tyson, who was one of the smaller yet most devastating modern-day heavyweight world champions.
"I went through a phase where it (Tyson's highlights) really geed me up," Leota said.
"He went after everything he did with no fear, he didn't care who you were and he was just so aggressive.
"I think in the big games that's what you need to be.
"He was a weapon, a powerful dude, and his last punch was just as hard as his first punch.
"He was so aggressive and one guy you wouldn't want to mess with."
Leota, who lists music by Dr Dre, OneFour and 2Pac as a few of his other pump-up inspirations, said he admired the durability of Haas.
But with a ruthless look in his eye, the New Zealand international said he wouldn't be singling out the Broncos prop alone.
"I just go after everyone, the whole team, it's not a one-man game," Leota said.
"He's a special talent, you don't really see that many players - front-rowers - of that size.
"You don't see many of us that can play 80 minutes, he is one of a kind and we've got a big job ahead of us."
Leota had big shoes to fill when James Fisher-Harris left this year to join the Warriors, but says he never felt burdened to try to copy the hard-nosed edge.
"I knew if I do my job and I go out there and do whatever the team needs and all the individuals do the same in our team, then we'll go a long way towards us having a good season," Leota said.
"We've had ups and downs and we didn't start the year well, but we just had to be patient and work on our game.
"There were some doubts, but we do enough mental skills (training) to overcome that, and we're where we are now."
