Evander Holyfield remains one of boxing’s most iconic names having achieved the rare feat of being undisputed at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, something which was only recently repeated by pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk.
On his way to becoming a two-weight champion, Holyfield was involved in plenty of top-level match-ups with some of the sport’s most famous names. They include the likes of Larry Holmes, a trilogy with Riddick Bowe and a fight with George Foreman, whom he beat in 1991 a year after defeating Buster Douglas to relieve him of the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles Douglas picked up after a famous upset win over Mike Tyson out in Tokyo earlier in 1990.
Speaking recently to Fight Hype, the ‘Real Deal’ was asked which of his 29 knockout wins of 44 total victories he enjoyed the most, and he didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“Tyson. Mike Tyson. Only reason why, because he was so popular and he was in my era and he was the person that I wanted to beat.
Very competitive and I realised that when I beat him a lot of people realised that I was better than they ever thought I was just off that one single fight.”
That win in 1994 made him the first fighter since Muhammad Ali to become a three-time heavyweight champion. He and Tyson infamously renewed their hostilities in 1997 when Tyson was disqualified in round three for biting a chunk off Holyfield’s ear.
At 57-years-old Tyson was set for a return to the ring next month against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul, but the bout has been postponed due to a medical incident suffered by ‘Iron’ Mike.
