Tyson-Holyfield trilogy in the offing

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

RUMORS are circulating in the sports world that a Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield third fight is in the offing. The planned trilogy (according to the well-known promoter who requested anonymity as negotiations still in progress) will be held this November and could be staged in a city in the Middle East.

We, avid fans of boxing, knew these two ring warriors in their prime. The two iconic heavyweight rivals squared off twice in 1990s which Holyfield won both. Yes, we saw on TV how the 6’2” Holyfield stopped the 5’10” Mike Tyson in the 11th round in their first meeting on November, 1996 to clinch the World Boxing Association (WBA) tiara and the infamous  ear-biting incident of their second encounter in 1997 that made headlines all over the world.

Tyson, nicknamed “Iron,” gained prominence in the world of sports by knocking out Muhammad Ali’s conqueror Trevor Berbick in the second round of their World Boxing Council (WBC) diadem. He was acclaimed the youngest heavyweight champion of all time at the age of 20. He became the first undisputed heavyweight champ holding the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight crowns. He scored a convincing knockout victory over former heavyweight king the legendary Larry Holmes, he who beat the fading Muhammad Ali by technical knockout. Tyson, a good friend of Ali said, “the win is my dedicated-revenge for my friend Ali.”

The then undefeated Tyson carding 37-0 (win-loss) suffered his first harm via an ugly knockout from the 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas in Tokyo, Japan on February 1990. The battle for the crown was widely considered as one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. There were reports that Japan paid $6 million to boxing officials for the privilege just to stage Tyson’s fight in Japan. Badly humiliated, Tyson quickly requested a rematch, but fate was unkind to him. He was charged with rape by a U.S. beauty queen, sentenced, and released in 1995. His eventual road to comeback trail had been a letdown, losing to Holyfield, Briton Lennox Lewis and little-known Danny Williams.

Unfortunately, the 6’4” Douglas was unsuccessful in his first defense. He lost his title to then unbeaten (24-0) Holyfield via third round knockout on October 1990 in Nevada, U.S.A. The Douglas-Tyson rematch never materialized when Tyson retired in 2005 after his loss to unheralded Kevin McBride. He had a final card of 50 wins (44 via knockouts), six losses and two no-contests.

After winning once and bowing twice to Riddick Bowe, to former champions Michael Moorer and Lennox Lewis, Holyfield, with 44 wins (29 knockouts) and losing ten with two draws and one no-contest, finally hung his gloves in 2014.

The two great ring warriors intend to fight anew, but not for the title fight this time, but for charity for children. Tyson, now 53, is so hungry for the revenge and taunted Holyfield to be physically fit with no alibi in time of defeat, but Holyfield, now 57, just laughed it off. Seriously or not, I guess it’s all a show to make the trilogy marketable. That’s boxing. Let’s just wait and see.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by pestilence. JEREMIAH 14: 12

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