Mike Tyson says a rematch with Evander Holyfield will happen, one day after Holyfield’s camp suggested a deal between the two boxing legends had fallen apart.
“I just want everybody to know the fight is on with me and Holyfield,” Tyson said during an Instagram Live session with luxury hotel chain Haute Living. “Holyfield’s a humble man I know that and he’s a man of God but I’m God’s man. Listen, I’m going to be successful May 29.”
Holyfield’s manager, Kris Lawrence, released a statement Monday claiming a fight May 29 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium had been under “intense negotiations for several months” but that Tyson’s representatives had “declined all offers.”
“We were negotiating in good faith all along, and it appears we just ended up wasting our time,” Lawrence added.
Tyson, 54, and Holyfield, 58, have one of the most colourful rivalries in boxing history, headlined by their 1997 bout in which Tyson bit off a part of Holyfield’s ear. That infamous fight came only seven months after the two met in the ring for the first time, which ended with Holyfield winning in an 11th-round TKO to capture the WBA heavyweight title.
Holyfield retired from boxing in 2012. Tyson returned to the ring in November — more than a decade after announcing his retirement — when he fought Roy Jones Jr. to an eight-round draw.
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