Tyson had coaxed Holyfield to sign a pair of his jeans, before delivering them to the hands of Corrimal cartoonist Paul Dorin to be auctioned for the Jeans 4 Genes charity.

The Fairfax artist has been painting denim for two decades in aid of the Children’s Medical Research Institute, and admitted these were a pair of jeans he was going to get his ‘‘teeth stuck into’’.

‘‘There were a few times when l would step back and look at the painting which felt like l was sparring with Iron Mike on the back foot dodging his jabs,’’ he said in reference to the 1997 World Heavyweight title fight.

Dorin cut the jeans down and spent a week perfecting the artwork, which will be sold at the Jenes 4 Genes Gala Dinner on August 22nd. Last year Dorin had the priviledge of taking a brush to Jonah Hills pants, which fetched $9000 – the third highest bid of the night.

The artist said handling celebrity wares was a novelty in the beginning, but became much more significant once he’d had his own children.

‘‘It really brought it home to me,’’ he said. ‘‘You look back and think how lucky you are to have healthy kids and be so fortunate ... a lot of families don’t have that. 

‘‘Sadly 1 in 20 children are born with a birth defect or genetic disease and that is too many ... doing my small part to help raise money, helps an amazing team of researchers to create a future without serious childhood diseases.’’

Past celebrity jeans painted by Paul: