EVANDER HOLYFIELD revealed he will use the same tactics deployed in his two wins against Mike Tyson to do the treble over his great rival.
The 57-year-old twice beat Iron Mike, firstly in 1996 and then a year later – which became infamous for Tyson biting a chunk of Holyfield’s ear before being disqualified.
And they could be ready to do it all again having both announced shock comebacks to box in exhibition bouts for charity.
Holyfield reckons a mix of front-foot boxing, body shots and a fearless approach will be the ticket for a hat-trick of wins over 53-year-old Tyson.
He told the BBC: “I always liked to come forward, everyone thought I was gonna run from Mike, I wanted him to know I wasn’t going anywhere, that was the whole big thing.
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“I felt that I had quicker hands than Mike, I felt I had the reach. I got to hit him a couple of times, when you start hitting people they start changing.
“Mike even said himself, ‘Everyone’s got a plan until they get hit’. I’m one of those fighters that got hit a lot of times by some good shots, but I can take it.
“The point of the matter was Mike didn’t get hit a lot because people were kinda timid with Mike. With me I wasn’t timid, I realised he was going to hit me but I had the right to hit him back.
“The art of the game was to let him know that he chose the wrong person this time, because if he’s gonna get me he’s gonna have to out-work me.
“The thing is I had already made up my mind that I would get the last punch so when he goes back to the corner I wanted him to think about how hard I hit him. I didn’t want to go back thinking about how hard he hit me.
“I knew that was part of the gameplan, you’ve got to push him, you’ve got to beat him to the punch.
“Mike liked hitting people to the body but Mike didn’t like getting hit to the body. I know that, things that people tend to do to their opponent they don’t like it to happen to them.
“When I saw I hit Mike to the body, I knew it would slow him down.”
Holyfield, who has not fought since 2011, has started training ahead of his ring return and has even brought in former world champions Wladimir Klitschko and Antonio Tarver to help.
Tyson retired in 2005, but reckons he feels in the prime of his life having spent the last two months training.
No offers for remarkable trilogy have yet been made, though both heavyweight legends have stated they are ready to face each other for a third time.
