“Holy Getting Killed”: Evander Holyfield Finally Reveals the Real Reason He Asked Rival Riddick Bowe to Work for Him Ahead of Mike Tyson Fight

It was the peak of his career when Evander Holyfield entered the ring against heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. In the year 1996, the two faced each other off for the first time inside the ring. At this point, Holyfield had lost his iconic trilogy fight against Riddick Bowe and was on the cusp of a career breakdown.

Tyson on the other hand was fresh out of serving his prison sentence. He was the fighter no one dared to face. Today, more than 25 years later, Holyfield has revealed why he sought Bowe’s assistance for the big fight.

Evander Holyfield asks Bowe to work for him

In a conversation with DJ Vlad, ‘The Real Deal’ spoke about the time he asked Riddick Bowe, his former opponent to work for him. Holyfield said, “I said Bowe, you know what? work for me. He said ‘what you mean?’ I said I got the Tyson fight because of what you did to me.”

While talking about facing the ferocious Iron Mike Tyson, he remarked, “Because the point of the matter, you know, everybody said ‘man holy getting killed’. Look at this. So Tyson end up fighting one of these other guy that all of a sudden. Then, he decided to fight me.” His fight against Tyson came about after his loss to Bowe. Had Holyfield won the fight, it would have been Bowe who would’ve had to face Tyson.

However, in his two consecutive fights against Tyson, the Real Deal managed to defeat his opponent, a feat that had previously been achieved only by Buster Douglas.

Bowe’s win over Holyfield prompted the latter

What did Riddick Bowe do? Well, he showed Holyfield the face of loss not once but twice. In 1992, the two entered their maiden fight that saw Holyfield flip popular predictions. He lost to Bowe via a unanimous decision. Their rematch came a year later from then. Holyfield redeemed himself by winning through a majority decision. However, two years later, in their trilogy finale, Bowe strengthened his win over Holyfield via a technical knockout. Of course, he’d want Bowe on his side. Did Bowe agree to his request? Confirmation on this front remains limited.

Also Read: Years After Suffering $222.5 Million Loss, Evander Holyfield Finally Opens Up About How He Built His 45,000 sq.ft. Castle While Making a Brutally Honest Confession

Holyfield and Bowe’s dynamic has always been tumultuous in the ring. After their trilogy fight, the two have been kind enough to recognize each other’s boxing prowess on multiple occasions. Recently Bowe even credited Holyfield as being one of the best fighters in the heavyweight class.

What do you think of the Holyfield-Bowe dynamic? Let us know in the comments section below.

Watch This Story: 5 Intriguing Facts You Need To Know About Evander Holyfield