Holmes faced Tyson in January 1988, when Tyson was the unified heavyweight champion. Tyson knocked out Holmes in four rounds to keep his titles. But Holmes had come out of retirement for the fight after nearly two years away from the ring.
"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."
Holmes held the heavyweight title from 1978 to 1985. He beat some big names like Muhammad Ali, Earnie Shavers, and Trevor Berbick. By the time he retired in July 2002, Holmes had 69 wins and just 6 losses.
In a recent chat with Gareth A. Davies, Holmes said he would have beaten Tyson if they'd fought when Holmes was at his best.
"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."
Holmes didn't stop there. He named four other heavyweight greats who he thinks could have beaten Tyson: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foreman.
"So would Ali, Joe Frazier, [Ken] Norton and George Foreman. But you should quit while you are ahead."
Tyson hung up his gloves in 2005 with a record of 50 wins, 6 losses, and 2 no contests. He made a comeback in November 2022 against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Tyson lost that fight by unanimous decision after eight rounds.