Mike Tyson 32–0 (28 KO) vs. Larry Holmes 48–2 (34 KO), billed as Heavyweight History, was a professional boxing match contested on January 22, 1988, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF Heavyweight Championships.

Mike Tyson was entering 1988 having unified the three major world championships over the course of the previous fourteen months. In 1987 Tyson, who entered the year as the WBC champion, defeated James “Bonecrusher” Smith for the WBA championship, knocked out Pinklon Thomas in his first defense of both of those titles, won a decision over Tony Tucker to claim the IBF championship, and knocked out Tyrell Biggs in his first defense of all three titles. Despite this, Tyson had not achieved universal recognition as he had not faced or defeated Michael Spinks; Spinks had been stripped of the IBF championship for pursuing a fight with Gerry Cooney instead of making a mandatory defense versus Tucker, but was still regarded as the lineal champion.

Don King, Tyson’s promoter, began working to try to secure a match with Larry Holmes, the former WBC and IBF champion who had not been in the ring since 1986. After starting out his career winning his first 48 fights, Holmes lost a unanimous decision to Spinks, who at the time was the reigning undisputed light heavyweight champion; this resulted in Holmes losing the IBF and lineal championships and ended his world championship reign after seven-plus years. A rematch with Spinks the next year ended with a disputed split decision loss for Holmes, who announced his displeasure with the result after the fight and retired.

However, with an estimated $3 million being offered to him, as well as the intrigue of once again becoming the world heavyweight champion, Holmes ultimately agreed to face Tyson stating, “They stole my title, and I had to come back.” According to Holmes and Jim Jacobs, Tyson’s manager at the time, the financial terms were negotiated for more than half a year, starting in the spring of 1987 and were finally agreed In October, a few weeks before Tyson’s fight vs Tyrell Biggs, The fight was officially announced on October 8, 1987 by Don King in New York and confirmed by Tyson’s co-managers Jimmy Jacobs and Bill Clayton.

This fight was considered ‘barbershop talk’; with a victory by Tyson assumed to be a legitimate statement in the affirmative as to whether he would have beaten Muhammad Ali during his era, in part since Holmes had openly admitted to patterning his pugilistic style after Ali during his prime.

Rumours were abound that Tyson took the fight partially because he wanted to avenge Ali’s (who was the guest of honor ringside before the bout) loss to Holmes earlier in the decade. A win by Holmes would have made him, at the time, the fourth fighter to win a world championship at heavyweight after having lost it; he would have joined Floyd Patterson, who accomplished the feat in 1960 by avenging his defeat to Ingemar Johansson, Ali, who did so in 1974 and again in 1978, and Tim Witherspoon, who lost the WBC title in 1984 only to win the WBA title in 1986.

The outspoken Holmes was critical of Tyson, promising several times before the fight that he would knock Tyson out. Immediately after the Tyson–Tyrell Biggs fight, Holmes, who had attended the fight, was interviewed and called Tyson a “dirty fighter” stating “I didn’t see a guy with class in there, I see a guy who throws elbows, I see a guy who throws (head)butts and I see a guy who hits after the bell.”

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