“I Shouldn’t Have Done It”: Fighter Now Says He Regrets Facing Mike Tyson

At the peak of his powers, Tyson was arguably the most formidable heavyweight in the sport, with an incredible win-to-knockout ratio that set him apart from the rest of the division.

He won his first 19 professional contests via knockout, rising to super-stardom during the early stages of the 1980’s. In November 1986 aged just 20-years-old, ‘Iron’ Mike blasted Trevor Berbick out in the second round of their contest to capture the WBC heavyweight title, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion in boxing history.

Tyson went on to add the WBA and IBF titles to his belt collection, achieving undisputed status just a month after his 21st birthday when he outpointed Tony Tucker in August 1987.

Another legendary fighter who fell short against ‘Iron’ Mike was Larry Holmes, who came out of retirement to face Tyson after not appearing inside the squared circle for 2-years.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Holmes revealed his regret in exiting retirement to fight Tyson in 1988, he got knocked out in the fourth round but claimed he would have beaten him during his prime.

“I shouldn’t have come out of retirement against him. I fought Mike Tyson and I lost. He stopped me. Tyson could punch, you can’t take that away from him.

He would stand in front of you, try and push you against the ropes, but he wouldn’t have been able to do that to me in my prime. I would have beaten him.”

‘The Easton Assassin’ then revealed the real reason why he fought Tyson.

“Money, it was the money.”

Holmes went on to fight on until 2002, when he would eventually walk away from the sport for good. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world championship on two occasions during this time, falling short to Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall.