Former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield says he was confused when Mike Tyson chose to face Roy Jones Jr. and not him for his exhibition-bout comeback… then he watched their fight Saturday night.
“My side tried to make the fight happen and we got nothing but excuses,” said Holyfield. “Now I can see why he wanted a tune-up fight before thinking about fighting me.”
“The Real Deal,” says the idea of an exhibition bout was his. Still in supreme physical condition in his 50s, and training in the gym for months, Holyfield feels Tyson took a practice run Saturday night, but there is only one fight the world wants to see.
“Roy Jones was a good local opponent for Mike,” said the unimpressed Holyfield. “But a fight with me would be a global event and the only fight that anyone wants to see is a fight between us. There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t make it happen.”
By consensus, Tyson got the better of Jones during the eight-round exhibition match at STAPLES Center Saturday night, a fact that Holyfield says clears the way for the pair to finish their historic rivalry the only way they can.
“No more excuses. This is the fight that must happen for both our legacies. Saturday night you said you were ready to fight me, so sign the contract and get in the ring, Tyson. The world is waiting and it’s on you now. I’m ready.”
Holyfield would beat him again. Against Holyfield Tyson would gas out after 2-3 rounds. Jones Jr is shot. This one I would actually watch.
You beat him 2 out 2 so if you did it again what’s the surprise you should have saved your money
Holyfield is really washed up…
Mr M. Holy beat the dogshit outta Tyson!! Twice! To the point where tyson had to find a way out. A third fight would be the same result.
Actually he was losing the second fight. Tyson was in tip top shape for the second fight and was giving it too Evander hence why he resorted to head-buds which in turn sparked the ear bite.
He was getTing it handed to him that’s why he bit his ear
No he wasn’t go watch the second fight he was running, holding and head butting facts he had a gash over his eye and hadn’t been hit
For one Holyfield cheated both fights holding and head butting he had a cut over his eye in the second fight and he haven’t even got hit yet facts and thts why Holyfield want to fight cause he know he didn’t have nothing for Tyson facts
This would be fun and the promotion itslef might make it some pretty good money. Not sure if Id wanna see it out of respect because we don’t want to see neither of these two get hurt.
Holifield doesn’t sound good. That fight should not be approved. Yes, he has wins over Tyson but Tyson aged a lot better. Holifield actually looks and sounds old and frail during the clips they showed of him training.
Agreed…Holyfield is NOT the fighter he once was nor is Mike or Roy. Time changes everything. Sorry, but I refuse to pay money to see an exhibition. Pretty bad when Tyson had real opportunities to land big hooks and uppercuts on Roy in their recent exhibition, but the multiple strict rules made the fight so dull and boring.
yea im gonna go with scooby on this one
He sounded that way in his prime bro
The winner gets free steroids for life!
I guess if they want to fight, what can you do?
Watched both these guys in their primes; it was sad almost 20 years ago seeing them on the slide.
Worst of all for me, is these fights are fast forwarding them into senile dementia… Not good.
Why give Tyson a shot at the other ear? It makes no sense to me.
Holyfield sounds like he is jealous of the attention and money that this fight made.
Marc: i agree 100% Holyfield is sooo stinking jealous, its disturbing. He cant stand that anyone else gets good publicity. To demean Jones like that calling him a tune up, what a chump. I think he is jus dumb enough to forget it was a charity event. If Tyson does fight him, he shld make holyfield wear headgear for all the head butting he will do.
What a whinny ass crybaby. I am safely guessing that you are one of the many Tyson fans who celebrated Mike’s rants and fake ass professional wrestling like persona who got upset when the humble, soft spoken, far past his prime Evander whipped Mike’s ass twice.
Brent…A whinny ass crybaby? Lol ur funny lil boy. U obviously dont watch alot of hollyfield fights do ya chump. Cuz if u did, ud see he is the headbutt king. And yea, he did put a beating on Tyson. Thats obvious. But far passed his prime?? Lmao, that part of the comment is a joke. Jus like u!
How about Tyson/Douglas?
Ow that’s what I’m talking about
Oh man..if this happen and doesn’t go in Tyson’s favor after two rounds, he will bite Holyfield again. The problem is that Holyfield knows how to beat Tyson (mentally and physically) and he add to this his vast arsenal of dirty tricks (especially his patented headbutt) to get him crazy.
Two referees should be in the ring and a good number of COPS around, in case things turn ugly . But is worthy to watch, nonetheless.
Get on the gravy train hey Evaner!
Id rather see none of this madness! All this legacy talk is bullshit and at the end of the day its all show for charity. …isnt it?
Exactly right… he seems like he’s viewing it as a potential cash cow. Does a fight that happens in their 50s really have any impact at all on their legacy? I’d argue it has no bearing at all. I thank Lennox Lewis for staying away from this sort of thing.
Lewis fought like he was 50 last time I looked.
And the new Aarp interim diamond belt heavyweight champion of the world is
Don’t give the WBA any ideas. They might just run with it.
They probably already have.
Holyfield needs the money. It is strictly for money. I think he has about 9 kids and the majority of his early money went toward his kids and divorces. This time around Holyfield would manage his money from this fight a lot better. He already beat Tyson by out thinking him and headbutting him, so there is nothing to gain from that. This fight would give him one last time on the grand stage to cash out the rest of his career. This proves that Tyson is the money man not Holyfield.
EV knocking Mike for fighting Roy, didn’t EV get his ass kicked by a former middleweight champ James Toney –
That was fun over the weekend maybe let Roy fight Evander but I would rather not see these greats fighting unless I’m watching a trilogy with Bowe or Jones days below heavyweight of course they would sell the fight and everyone will watch but this pandemic has got some crazy s&@t going on! Hopefully everyone can keep their sanity and life gets back to normal one day soon
Totally agree with Evander Holyfield. The most interesting fight of Mike Tyson would be the third war against Holyfield (3 years older). In my opinion Evander is ready to beat Tyson for the third time, and Tyson knows it. That would generate a huge expectation, much more than the Roy Jones fight. Much much more. Acept the challenge Mike, please !!
Does Holyfield realize all the money went to charity? These guys could make a lot of money if they had safe matches list this.
Lance Armstrong of boxing
If It is an exibition it is ok but is not a real fighth
It’s been done and Mike would get pissed when The real deal started leaning in with his head.Think a much better match would be Marky Mark Vs Will Smith..
Even though Tyson-Jones was fairly entertaining and wasn’t the train wreck it could have been, I would not recommend this stuff continuing. Bad things happen people. Especially, with fighters in their 50’s. Good little Covid side show, but nothing more.
Sorry all. Just have a BAD feeling…..
Tyson vs Briggs! Lets go champ!
If they take “exhibition” out of it.. It May sell more. That’s like announcing WWF as “sports entertainment”… Just say its not real if you say exhibition.
Hate to break it to you but WWF/WWE etc is not real.
Exhibition simply means it does not count on their official records. It does not imply that the bout was not real.
If there is an exhibition match it must be very very well controlled. Evander is sadly nowhere as in good health as Mike is right now.
THIS IS TO ALL THE PEOPLE COMMENTING ON THE FIGHT. I personally didn’t see the fight, but knew Tyson would get the better of it- one- he is a natural heavyweight, Jones is a light-heavyweight, but as to Jones, Tyson, and Holyfield being in shape- don’t be fooled, these guys are still in top shape. I just turned 69, and come Jan George Foreman will hit the big 72, and I can promise that he can still do 15 rounds in his sleep- me, I know I am still good for 6 rounds, but I never trained for more than 4, and preferred to just knock them out in a couple. These guys are out there to raise money for charity and should be respected for what they are doing. I would gladly get back out there with any of the Champs in an exabition bout for charity. Once a boxer, always a boxer-m it’s in the blood!
“Gunner” Wright
I want to see Joe Rogan V Tyson and Wesley Snipes V Holyfield. The winners then fight each other and the losers go on the undercard the ultimate round robin. A real legend fest for the ages Viking warriors doing battle in Valhalla on a ship made of pain sailing a sea of blood!!
Wesley snipers would end up like Nate Robinson, but way worse as in probably dead if he fought Holyfield.
I was never a big Holyfield fan. I’ve got mad respect for him as a fighter though. That being said, he needs to go sit down. If he needs money this bad, the boxing community needs to come together and help him. He is a multiple class champ and definitely one of the hardest to ever lace up the gloves. His legacy is cemented. I would hate to see him damage his legacy/health being greedy and stupid. I think he sees Tyson getting all this attention and wants a piece of it. Unfortunately, he’s not the lovable rogue that Tyson was. People pay to see controversial figures. He just needs to realize that Tyson is a better bullshitter/entertainer/con artist than he is. I mean he learned from the best(Don King).
forget these fights these old men only do is hug
“Tyson/Holyfield, part three: Evander needs money.”
Mark my words, before this circus is finish, someone will get seriously hurt, may even be permanently so. If these fossils has burnt up all their millions, it is no one`s fault but their own. This lot needs to sit their old tails down already.
The one I want to see is Tyson-Foreman. Bet that would be a bigger draw than Tyson -Holyfield.
George would still make Tyson cry.
Watching the 5 second Tyson training clips and 20 second Holyfield ones, novice fans thought Tyson would murder him..Tyson was breathing so heavy after light sparring 8 x 2 minute rounds , there was a reason they only showed 5 second clips . He showed none of that in this fight. Had he hit Jones for 5 seconds like the videos , he would take a knee or get knocked out from pure exhaustion or catching his breath.Tyson would gotten stopped by Jones if there were 3 minute rounds . Holyfield needs the money , but I am now certain he can beat Tyson again.
So boxing has finally become the WWE? Old, out of shape guys, fighting with made up rules for fake belts. What’s next? Tag team? Cage match? Kangaroos?
It would be interesting to see Tyson fight a younger, current, active fighter. Not a real contender, but a journeyman type, just to see where he’s really at. I don’t think Tyson has any ambitions to get back in the fight game though; I think he’s just having fun with the exhibition thing
Evander, 11 kids 7 baby momas, child support is a bitch
If it’s the same shit bunch of announcers with their boxing knowledge that ended in 1995 then I say PASS. They sucked as did Tyson and Jones.
I hate this hype culture so dominant today, and apparently Holyfield has bought into it. He has never been known to “call out” another fighter, yet here we are. Holyfield calling out Tyson.
First, I think it has always bothered Mike that Holyfield beat him twice. Everywhere he goes, everyplace he is honored and revered, especially at events where Holyfield also is honored, it really bothers him that no matter how great people say he was, Holyfield can always say he was better. This eats at Mike, and likely fuels he desire to step back into the ring. It fuels his intense training. A potential third matchup with Holyfield is important to Mike, since beating Holyfield would mean the world to him personally, even if it happens when they’re both in their 50s. So Mike wants to fight Holyfield, and I think it would be a real “fight”, not the exhibition that we just saw with RJJ.
Second, Holyfield of course needs the money. He hasn’t done well financially, blowing a fortune in various irresponsible ways that contradict his humble, lovable Momma’s boy, super religious persona he tries to project. He allegedly cheated in his fights with Mike, juiced up on steroids. He was also a serious head butter. A Don King-downgraded Mike Tyson couldn’t overcome Evander at that time, but Evander feels that if Mike can make $10M in an exhibition with RJJ, he should be able to make just as much in an “exhibition” with Mike since he feels he’s better than Mike. Such a matchup would indeed draw a great deal of interest for the reasons stated above. I also think that Holyfield still harbors deep resentment that Mike got the “last lick” in on Holyfield when he bit his ear. Evander didn’t have a chance to retaliate, but he would get that chance were this matchup to be made.
This matchup would be very personal, in contrast with Mike’s matchup with RJJ. Judging by the intensity of Mike’s training, he is preparing for this matchup and knows he has to be at his absolute best. Holyfield is apparently also in intense training for the same reason, so they likely planned this, and Holyfield has started up the hype machine. Maybe Mike will get a few more tuneup exhibitions before stepping into the ring with his nemesis. They need to build up the hype, so it generates great interest, anticipation, and money. If this matchup does happen, it will be interesting to see since this would be a real fight masquerading as an exhibition.
The Real Deal is my favorite boxer of all-time but he said a few months ago that he wouldn’t call out Mike because he beat him twice already and that would be bullying.
Some people say Evander was robbed in his last title attempt in 08. He was around 49 then, and did not leave boxing because of any knockout losses. He was at a fair level of comp through his last fight which was a TKO win in 2011. I know he is super tough but I have my doubts that he would be able to move fast enough for Tyson (at this advanced age of 58..) What if tyson just gets a good angle on him from fast footwork? He might be able to knock out Evander. Or as many say Evander could quickly wear down Tyson. It makes one curious to see it, but age 58 is really pushing it to fight Mike. I’m thinking that the main driver for Evander is a potential large paycheck despite much of the revenue going to charity. Is it worth chasing the dough at his age if the result is hospital bills that exceed his earnings?
Sad that holyfield needs a payday and only tyson can give it to him..he should beg tyson
Tyson vs Douglas 2 would be a HUGE promotion
LOL why his Holy confused. Mike is scared of him. He kicked his ass twice so he decided to fight a blown up heavyweight. Tyson is impressive on the bag but his heart is that same. When he is faced with someone who isn’t scared of him (HOLY) he backs off like a coward.