Mike Tyson is one of the most intimidating boxers of all time and there wasn’t a fight in his career where he was afraid of his opponents. However, according to Triller CEO Ryan Kavanaugh Tyson was so scared of Evander Holyfield that he refused to step inside the ring with him for the trilogy fight. Mike Tyson fought against Roy Jones Jr. and earned $1,000,000 for his boxing return. Thus, another fight against the man who beat him twice would have a huge payout.
Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield produced two very memorable fights for their fans. Despite losing out to Holyfield twice, Tyson made quite a spectacle out of both the fight.
To many the results of both fights might have been a shock. Some fans even debated that if Holyfield would have faced Tyson in his prime then the results would have been different. This is why a trilogy would have made sense even after all these years. However, it did not come to fruition, and rumors emerged of Tyson being afraid.
Is Mike Tyson afraid to accept the Evander Holyfield trilogy fight?
Short video content platform Triller’s CEO Ryan Kavanaugh revealed in an interview with Sky Sports that he was aware of the potential Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson rematch after retirement. Tyson had already fought J ones Jr in the previous year, and Kavanaugh claimed that Tyson is ‘afraid’ to square off against Holyfield for their trilogy fight.
Kavanaugh said, “We have been told that he is scared to fight Evander. There has been back and forth hoopla, there is a massive payday ready for Mike to fight on Thanksgiving. A massive payday, one of his biggest. But we can’t seem to push it along. Now I have heard, from a number of reliable sources, that Mike is too scared. He thinks Evander would knock him out.“
These comments suggest that Mike Tyson was not too keen on fighting Holyfield. However, it is not because they both are still on bad terms. Tyson and Holyfield have made amends for their fierce rivalry. Once, Tyson who took a chunk out of Holyfield’s ear, is now on good terms with him and even a business partner. What’s more, Tyson was willing to give the credit to Holyfield for his victories over himself, something which he dreaded to do over the years.
Tyson stands up for Holyfield
Mike Tyson sat down for an interview with the GQ Sports YouTube channel. During, the interview, ‘Baddest man on the planet’ replied to fan comments about the Holyfield fight. One of the fans claimed that Holyfield would have lost if he fought Mike Tyson in his prime. Tyson was not willing to accept this notion and spoke about what he felt.
Tyson said, “Hey I don’t know, we can’t take that stuff away from Evander Holyfield. He won that fight. He had the nerve to get in the ring, he had to take that chance. So regardless, I think that he is a great fighter, and he deserves the claim of being a legendary great fighter too.“
The former heavyweight champion of the world has changed a lot post-retirement. He has let go of his violent past and now became a family man. What’s more he has even made amends with some of his past mistakes and grudges.