Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were repeatedly accused of ducking the same former world champion, who eventually faced the latter in a long-awaited heavyweight clash.
Before that, Tyson and Holyfield were largely considered to be on a collision course, especially after ‘The Real Deal’ dethroned James ‘Buster’ Douglas in 1990.
Douglas had caused an almighty upset by knocking Tyson out, via a 10th-round finish earlier that year, to become the unified world heavyweight champion.
‘Iron Mike’, however, was able to swiftly bounce back with two first-round stoppages, while Holyfield became a two-weight world champion following his third-round finish over Douglas.
The former cruiserweight king was then ordered to defend his titles against Tyson, only for a lucrative battle with George Foreman to take priority instead.
Their collision in 1991 finally materialised after Foreman, who ended his decade-long retirement in 1987, had spent the past few years calling out both Holyfield and Tyson.
In the end, Holyfield came away with a unanimous decision victory, before losing to Riddick Bowe a year and a half later, while Tyson never locked horns with ‘Big George’.
According to Foreman, whose interview around that time has been shared by Combat Highlights, the two American heavyweights wanted no part of him whatsoever.
“I’m not fighting Mike Tyson [and] I’m not fighting Evander Holyfield, because they are afraid of me. Let’s get that straight.
“They’re going to fight each other, because they’re small guys and they don’t want to fight Big George.
“I’ve gotten into the ring with guys and I’ve seen them turn their back, and run; I mean literally turn their backs on me and run.”
Holyfield went on to complete his iconic trilogy with Bowe and secure a sizable upset victory against Tyson, stopping him in the 11th round of their first encounter in 1996.
