HONG KONG - In a fight between Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson, who would win? That question seemed settled on the set of Ip Man 3 the other day, when action star Yen accidentally broke a finger of his new co-star, knockout king Tyson, said Apple Daily.

Tyson had his left index finger in a brace when the newspaper visited the set. Hamming it up as the victim, he was quoted as saying by the report: "You were worried only whether Donnie would be hurt, nobody thought of my safety. Now that I'm hurt, no one is comforting me."

Yen said he was trying to give the camera a good shot when his elbow struck Tyson's finger. "I knew I hit him during the shoot, but didn't think it was serious, and we continued shooting."

Tyson found out about the fracture when he went to hospital later, said Yen, who added: "I'm really very sorry."

Yen and the crew all praised the professionalism of Tyson, who has continued to perform his own stunts despite his injury, said the newspaper.

Tyson, 48, has played cameo roles in movies including The Hangover (2009) after hanging up his professional boxing gloves. He is the biggest name in boxing to face off with Yen, 51, in the Ip Man movies.

It remains to be seen if their duels on the big screen will top Yen's showdowns with martial arts superstars Sammo Hung in SPL: Kill Zone (2005) and Jet Li in Once Upon A Time In China II (1992).

Ip Man 3, the latest instalment in the story of Bruce Lee's teacher, will open in February next year, according to the movie website IMDb.