Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson shared the ring twice as professionals as they delivered two memorable contests in 1996 and the following year.
Despite their battles taking pace then, Holyfield was actually aware of Tyson much earlier and he even sparred his future rival in 1984, the year he went to the Los Angeles Olympics.
In their first fight, Holyfield, seen by many to be in the final stages of his wonderful career, caused a huge upset when he stopped Tyson in the fight’s penultimate round.
The rematch saw Tyson disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ear, but Holyfield has gone back even further to his first encounter with Tyson and has spoken about his power in sparring.
“We didn’t spar until 84. Mike used to knock everybody out,” said Holyfield when speaking to VLAD TV.
“When he had his own sparring partner, he’d knock him out every day. He’d have people come in and he’d knock them out.”