Despite doctor’s warnings, Muhammad Ali came out of retirement to fight Holmes for his WBC heavyweight title belt in 1980.
But he was granted a boxing license nevertheless and Ali was outboxed before his trainer Angelo Dundee threw in the towel in the tenth round.
Watching the humiliation unfold was a 14-year-old Tyson and his mentor Cus d’Amato, who instantly wanted revenge.
Tyson said: “Cus had wanted me to beat him so bad. I was offended by how bad he beat up Ali.
“When we drove home to Catskill [about an hour from Albany], nobody in the car said a word, we were all so upset.
“The next morning, Cus was on the phone with Muhammad Ali after taking this shellacking from Holmes.
“He said to Ali, ‘I have this young black kid who is going to be heavyweight champion some day and I want you to talk to him.’”
Revealing their conversation, Tyson said to Ali: “When I grow up, I’ll fight Holmes and I’ll get him back for you.”
Tyson used that as motivation to become the youngest heavyweight champion of the world aged just 20.
He would also become the first heavyweight to hold all three major belts – the WBA, WBC and IBF.
But he had to wait until 1988 to finally seek revenge on Holmes – with a pep talk from Ali himself.
Tyson lured the 38-year-old out of retirement and it predictably went just one way.
Just before the first bell, Ali whispered: “Remember what you said – get him for me.”
It took Tyson four rounds to knock out Holmes in a dominating performance, adding to the long list of Iron Mike’s victims.
He won 50 of 58 fights in total, 44 of those coming by knockout.