‘The fight is ON’: Mike Tyson claims Evander Holyfield rematch WILL take place in May in dramatic reversal

A quarter century since their last meeting, former foes Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield will do battle once again in May after Tyson claimed that terms have been agreed between the two veteran prizefighters.

Speculation has been rampant for several months that the two former world heavyweight champions would compete against one another for a third time after Tyson ended his own 15-year exile from the ring in November when he fought fellow icon Roy Jones Jr. to an eight-round draw. 

The event proved to be a highly lucrative one, with some reports indicating that it generated somewhere north of $80 million in pay-per-view revenue - a sum which practically guaranteed that Tyson's comeback wouldn't be a one-shot deal. 

Evander Holyfield, twice Tyson's conqueror in the 1990s, had positioned himself to be that man, posting a series of training videos to Instagram which showed the 58-year-old pugilist hitting the bags and indicating through his management that he was more than willing to renew the rivalry which once upon a time cost him a morsel of his ear.

But just a day after Holyfield's camp released a frustrated statement to say that they had met an impasse in the talks by alleging that Tyson had turned down a deal, 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' took to social media to confirm that the fight is on and that reports that he refused a contract offer are off the mark.

"I just want everybody to know, the fight is on with me and Holyfield," Tyson said on Instagram Live.

"Holyfield’s a humble man, I know that. And he’s a man of God, but I’m God’s man.

"And, listen, I’m going to be successful on May 29th."

Tyson's words come quickly after the statement issued by Holyfield's camp in which they claimed that they had been met with a brick wall through every stage of negotiations - with speculation suggesting Tyson had turned down a $25 million offer.

"We thought this was a done deal but it quickly fell apart when Tyson’s people declined all offers," Holyfield's manager Kris Lawrence said.

"We were negotiating in good faith all along and it appears we just ended up wasting our time."

If that statement was designed to heap the pressure on Tyson and his team, it appears to have worked as he moved quickly to assure fans that he hasn't turned down the fight and his own opportunity at revenge after losing the two-fight series to Holyfield in 1996 and 1997.

"Happy to see 'The Real Deal' get another payday," said one fan online in reaction to the news while another wrote on Twitter that this is a "sideshow fight" but that he is still looking forward to it - while a third reminded Tyson to stay away from any of the type of ear-biting antics which produced one of boxing's most controversial moments in history in the pair's original rematch in 1997.