Following the commercial success and surprisingly-warm critical reception for Mike Tyson's eyebrow-raising decision to fight fellow fiftysomething Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition in California on Nov. 28, Evander Holyfield has made his intentions to be "Iron" Mike's next opponent known.
Holyfield is 58, while Tyson is now 54. The two competed in a pair of huge heavyweight championship bouts in the 1990s, with the second providing one of boxing's most controversial ever finishes as a frustrated Tyson bit a chunk out of Holyfield's ear in response to what he feels were repeated headbutts in the first fight, won by "The Real Deal."
Last fighting as a professional in 2011 at the age of 48 with a late stoppage of Brian Nielsen in the defeated boxer's home country of Denmark, Holyfield has been keeping in shape and is keen to partake in the current trend of semi-competitive encounters between aging legends of the sport.
And speaking on the Ak and Barak Show (on DAZN and Sirius XM Fight Nation), Holyfield told the co-hosts he is confident of completing the trilogy with Tyson in a very unique manner.
"It’s coming together," he told them. "I think the fight is gonna come off. I don’t know what it will be like. But it will be a competition and I always give my very best. I like other people, but I don’t want them to beat me. I don’t take any chances.
"I’m 58 years old. I’ve been practicing, but there wasn’t anybody swinging at me at the time. It’s different when someone’s trying to hit you! I’ll take it one day at a time."
Holyfield continued to say that despite what happened in 1997, it didn't take him long at all to return to good terms with Tyson.
"About 5-10 minutes and I forgave him," he told Ak and Barak. "I came from a big family. Everyone takes shots at you in a big family. Boxing is boxing and the one thing I wanted to do is to do my very best. Mike and I are friends. When people doubted I could become heavyweight champion of the world from cruiserweight, I told them that Mike did it, and he’s as small as they come at heavyweight."
Holyfield watched the eight-rounder on Nov. 28 and enjoyed what he saw, but also claims there was one clear winner in his eyes.
He said: "I wasn’t surprised the fight did good numbers. The fighters are well-liked. With this whole big thing, I’m glad they did well.
"Tyson showed he still has fast hands and he was the one who put more pressure on. He made the fight more so than Jones, and if I was judging it, I’d have given it to Tyson."
Holyfield has also recently been linked with a different seniors opponent: fellow former cruiserweight Glenn McCrory, who sparred with Tyson prior to his 1996 title win over Frank Bruno.
McCrory says Holyfield avoided him by moving from cruiserweight up to heavyweight back in the day, but ever since announcing that the two of them would fight in London next spring, the topic has gone cold with no further details from anyone linked to the idea.