Evander Holyfield is one of the greatest heavyweights of the last three decades.
‘The Real Deal’ began his professional career at cruiserweight, becoming the undisputed champion when he defeated Carlos De Leon via eighth round stoppage back in April 1988 when he was just 25-years-old.
It took him just two years to repeat this feat at heavyweight when he defeated James ‘Buster’ Douglas via stoppage in the third round of their showdown in 1990, becoming the first fighter in boxing history to win the undisputed championship at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Holyfield faced the likes of George Foreman, Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe before he drew the curtain on his career in 2011, but has named the one fighter that he was glad to have faced when he was past his prime years.
In a resurfaced interview, ‘The Real Deal’ gave plaudits to former rival Mike Tyson, where he even admits he was lucky to face ‘Iron’ Mike when he was past his formidable best and became ‘beatable’.
“Unbeatable. When you didn’t know what Tyson was gonna do, everybody was in trouble.
He changed up and got into a rhythm that everybody does and he became beatable. I was fortunate enough to fight him when he was beatable.”
Tyson rose to prominence during the mid 1980’s when he was just a teenager. He made boxing history in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to become the youngest world heavyweight champion in boxing history, a record which still stands to this day.
He would go on to capture the undisputed championship in the 12-months that followed with victories over WBA champion James Smith and IBF champion Tony Tucker, and would remain unbeaten until he was defeated by Buster Douglas in 1990, in what is described as one of the biggest upsets of all time.
Holyfield and Tyson fought twice. In 1996 ‘The Read Deal’ stopped his man in the eleventh round of their first encounter. The rematch was one of the most controversial fights of all time, with Tyson getting disqualified in the third round after biting a chunk of Holyfield’s ear.
