- Tyson was convincingly beaten by Paul in his return to the ring at the weekend
- He faced Holyfield twice over 25 years ago, famously biting his rival’s ear off
- They are now friends and could end up stepping inside the ring for one final time
Evander Holyfield, 62, has teased a trilogy with former rival Mike Tyson, 58, after the veteran was convincingly beaten by Jake Paul.
Tyson made his highly-anticipated return to the ring on Saturday morning when he took on YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 27, though was outclassed throughout and lost via unanimous decision.
The former world heavyweight champion struggled throughout, connecting with just 18 punches in the whole fight and Paul revealing after that he opted not to knock his opponent out.
He then revealed he almost died earlier this year when he had a health scare that caused the fight to be postponed, announcing he had eight blood transfusions, losing half of his blood and 25lbs in hospital.
The fight nonetheless went ahead, despite calls for it not to and concern high over the health and safety of veteran Tyson.
And despite seeming to retire after the fight, saying he has ‘no regrets; over fighting ‘one last time’, he could well be convinced to step inside the ring for one last dance with Holyfield, confusingly saying in the ring that he ‘doesn’t think’ he will retire again.
Evander Holyfield, 62, has teased a trilogy fight with former rival Mike Tyson, 58, online
Tyson (left) and Holyfield (right) are two-time former opponents and could face off yet again
Holyfield shared graphic detailing a potential trilogy fight, having won the first by TKO and the second by disqualification
He did, however, comment on the post, writing: ‘I love you brother, but the trilogy is our friendship.’
Holyfield was in Texas to watch Paul beat Tyson, posing with his former rival and posting: ‘Keeping boxing alive’ on social media, accompanying a video of the two.
The did battle for the first time back in 1996, with Holyfield having initially retired in 1994 after losing to Michael Moorer.
Holyfield was the underdog but stopped Tyson in the 11th round, winning by TKO and claiming another heavyweight title. The rematch was set for a year later, and solid 1.99million pay per views.
The fight disappointed, though, and was ended in the third round when Tyson was disqualified for biting both of Holyfield’s ears. The first bite, famously, removed a chunk of the ear.
An apology came almost immediately, and the two are now friends and business partners, but could be due to clash in the ring again.
When asked by Mail Sport during fight week if he could fight again and if he would face Tyson, Holyfield said: ‘Well, yeah. If they want it. Never say never.’ And now, he has shared a mock-up promotional poster of a trilogy with the caption: The fans want it #unfinishedbusiness.’
He himself returned to the ring at the age of 58 three years ago and suffered pretty much the same fate as Tyson at the same age of Iron Mike when he fought Paul.
Holyfield’s comeback against Vitor Belfort was branded a ‘disgrace’ and ‘one of the saddest events in boxing’ after the veteran was brutally stopped in the first round.
Holyfield told Mail Sport in the build-up to Tyson’s fight with Jake Paul that he wouldn’t rule out a return to the ring
Tyson, however, commented on the post to suggest there was no chance of the potential fight happening any time soon
Paul (left) and Tyson did battle in Texas last week, with the veteran outclassed throughout
Holyfield, meanwhile, famously had part of his ear bitten off by Tyson in the duo’s second fight
But he appears eager to get back in the ring again. According to KSI’s manager Mana Taylor via talkSPORT, Holyfield’s camp contacted KSI’s Misfits Boxing about a potential fight with KSI himself.
Taylor stated that KSI needs to be facing fighters who are ‘evenly matched’ and ‘at an even age’. He added that a fight with Holyfield wouldn’t have happened regardless of how much money was offered.
He said: ‘I know Holyfield contacted us about fighting KSI. Again, we wouldn’t do that. It needs to be two evenly matched fighters at an even age. If it was Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield for all the money in the world we wouldn’t do that.
‘I think it’s ironic because the cornerstone of Misfits Boxing is on a higher moral ground than some parts of traditional boxing. We take care of the fighters, we make sure that the testing is good and that’s why fighters pop. We have a moral outline and we will try to stick to that regardless of the pay cheque that comes our way.’