Mike Tyson was offered more money to fight Evander Holyfield in a trilogy fight than he was to fight YouTuber Jake Paul.
World boxing News in his intention to face Holyfield again in 2021. “Iron Mike” turned down the payday at age 55, only to accept $20 million, $5 million less, three years later to spar with a YouTuber.
It's safe to say that the whole debacle hasn't made much sense since it began.
As documented by WBN, when the proposal was shoved in Tyson's face, Holyfield's manager Kris Lawrence went public to shame Tyson and get him to accept it. The trick didn't work.
“Representatives for Evander Holyfield expressed frustration after Mike Tyson representatives refused to accept a $25,000,000 guarantee from team Holyfield. “The offer was to attend Tyson v. Holyfield 3 at Hard Rock Stadium to kick off Memorial Day weekend,” they said.
“The parties have been in intensive negotiations for several months. The Holyfield team sincerely believed that a deal was imminent. Especially after Hard Rock supported the project. Several other offers were made to Team Tyson.
“However, Team Tyson’s demands have recently become untenable. Not what Mike Tyson originally agreed to in direct discussions with Holyfield.”
Following the release, Lawrence appeared on The AK and Barak Show with Sirius XM.
Fans can find excerpts from the conversation below. The full interview can also be listened to or viewed on the Sirius XM app or DAZN.
He said: “We want Evander to get justice in this situation.” Evander is not a B-side to anyone, let alone Mike Tyson. He won the first two fights.
“Mike and Evander have verbally agreed to a 50:50 split. We want what we were promised.
“Hopefully Mike’s team realizes what a global event this would be. Evander has one more fight left and that’s it.”
Although Holyfield is 62 years old, “The Real Deal” wasted no time after losing on points to Paul in Texas.
The undisputed two-weight champion told Tyson: “The fans want a trilogy,” to which “The Baddest Man on the Planet” replied: “Our friendship is the trilogy.”
Luckily both stay away from the ring.
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Read all of Phil Jay's articles and exclusive interviews. Find out more about the authorexperienced boxing writer and editor of World Boxing News since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
