Evander Holyfield is widely accepted as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
He began his career at cruiserweight, becoming undisputed in just 18 fights, before then stepping up to the banner division.
It didn’t take him long to repeat that feat at heavyweight, knocking out Buster Douglas inside three rounds to capture the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
During his career, Holyfield took on some of the the best heavyweights the sport has ever seen, including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman and Larry Holmes.
It is another man that he has regrets about facing though, explaining to The Big Podcast With Shaq why he should not have faced Riddick Bowe.
“Riddick Bowe is the first person that I didn’t listen to what my momma told me. My momma told me not to become friends with people you’re going to compete with. She said you’ll tell them too much.
“Riddick Bowe was that guy. I started sparring with him at the age of 18 when he was getting ready to go to the Olympics. I became good friends with him.”
Holyfield and Bowe met on three occasions, with Bowe winning their first encounter back in November 1992 to become the first man to defeat ‘The Real Deal.’
Holyfield was able to gain revenge one year later, but Bowe triumphed in the trilogy and put their rivalry to bed when he stopped Holyfield in the eighth round of their fight in November 1995.
One fight that Bowe never got was a showdown with Lewis, and Holyfield has given his prediction on who would have won between those two men.
