Evander Holyfield is open to a charity boxing match with Mike Tyson.
Both Tyson and Holyfield have been posting videos on social media that hint at boxing returns, and they seem to be building towards a fight with each other. Holyfield says he would do it so long as Tyson asks.
“If I ask him it’s almost like me being a bully saying I want to go against somebody I’ve beaten twice,” Holyfield told the BBC. “I don’t want pressure on me that ‘you just want to fight Mike because you know you can beat him’.”
On May 6, Holyfield even posted a message on Instagram saying he would be returning to the ring for a charity boxing match.
He has been posting several training videos on social media since then. Tyson has gone viral a few times for his training videos over the past month as well.
The two have quite a bit of history.
Holyfield beat Tyson via 11th-round TKO in 1996 to win the WBA heavyweight title at a time when the two were near the heights of their popularity. In the rematch less than a year later, Tyson was disqualified for notoriously biting a piece of Holyfield’s ear off.
Holyfield is 57 now and last fought professionally in 2011. Tyson is 53 and hasn’t fought since 2005.
There was talk back in 2008 about a possible third fight between them, though that did not materialize. But the two have seemingly been on good terms, with Tyson helping to promote business for Holyfield. It’s the least he could do, you know, after the whole ear thing.
