On January 22, 1988, the stage at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City was all set for Tyson versus Holmes. It was a personal fight for Mike Tyson, then 21, who placed his WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles on the lines. He really wanted to win. Why? Revenge. In 1980, Larry Holmes defeated Tyson’s idol, Muhammad Ali. So when the ring was ready for Tyson versus Holmes years later, Ali was there to see Tyson keep his promise. “Remember what you said, get him for me,” the legend told Tyson before the fight could start.

‘Iron’ kept his promise by knocking out Holmes—something that boxing fans still remember. The KO signified so much more. It was a promise he kept and also a testament to his own tough journey. Fast forward to 2024, and Tyson came out of retirement to face Jake Paul, who won via a unanimous decision. Of course, people were not happy about the outcome. Had this fight taken place in the 80s, when Tyson was in his prime, the outcome would have been different. Larry Holmes too feels this way.

In a new interview with Fight Hub TV’s Marcos Villegas, he gave his take on Tyson versus Paul. “He happened to be one of the lucky guys who fought one of the guys that’s going out of out of business. Mike got it no more. They don’t have it. So he can’t get a rematch, because his boy ain’t gonna fight him a rematch. And they get they got $8 million or $9 million.”

But the host was quick to point out that Tyson took home approximately $20 million, whereas Paul, 27, had earned $40 million for the fight. This figure took the heavyweight fighter by surprise, and he soon advocated for another shot at ‘Baddest Man on Planet’ for a better payday and to earn some money in his retirement.

Holmes, who has remained out of the ring since 2002, continued, “Now, listen to that. I’m mind-boggling. Listen, I’m 50-something years old. God damn, let me fight Mike like that. How much to come out of retirement? Like pick up $50 million? I gotta do it.”

Well, he is 75 years old, and getting back inside the ring surely won’t be a great decision for him. In fact, people were worried about Mike Tyson fighting once again, considering he hadn’t fought in years and also had medical issues. People simply didn’t want to see him get hurt or worse, knocked out.

Larry Holmes: What he expected from Mile Tyson versus Jake Paul

Before the Tyson versus Paul fight could happen, Holmes had shared his thoughts on how difficult it was to survive against the veteran fighter. “I fought Mike and he hit me and that was the end of it. Earnie Shavers was the hardest I’ve ever faced but when Tyson hits, he tries to kill you. Mike knocked the s—t out of me, he hit me so hard I went ‘wooooo’. And he beat me. It was embarrassing,” he stated.

“I remember the right hand he hit me with – I thought at the time ‘he should be locked up’ because of the power, and he kept on coming, growling like Joe Frazier. That’s the fight I’m expecting Mike to put on. Jake has to survive that.”

While that’s exactly what fans were expecting, especially after they saw his training videos, Tyson simply wasn’t himself in the fight. He looked slow and sluggish, going against Paul. And while his age could be blamed for this, many fight fans were of the opinion that the fight was rigged. Social media was filled with this opinion but Jake Paul stepped forward and attempted to put all speculations to rest.

“People are like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s rigged because look at him on the pads, but he didn’t do this in the fight.’ Because someone is … punching back… People don’t realize my power, and my jab and my speed and my ability, and my footwork to get out of the way of those punches, so then all of a sudden he’s throwing at, literally, air,” Paul shared. Additionally, ‘The Problem Child’s’ manager was not happy with the narrative surrounding Paul’s win.

“This is not the first time Jake Paul has faced unfounded skepticism or outright disbelief as a professional athlete, and frankly, the claim that his bout must have been rigged is just the latest backhanded compliment to come his way,” said Nakisa Bidarian, who is Paul’s manager and also the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions. “From day one in this sport, people have doubted his abilities—unable to reconcile how someone with his background has accomplished so much in such a short time.”

Well, that is true. But one criticism Paul has had to constantly face was the fact that he had either faced retired MMA athletes or much older fighters. Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz would fall into the former category, whereas Mike Tyson would fall into the latter one. However, when Jake Paul fought Tommy Fury last year, he lost via a split decision (74-75, 76-73, 76-73).