ATLANTA (Georgia), May 17: Former world champion Evander Holyfield thinks Mike Tyson can beat Briton Lennox Lewis for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight titles.

Holyfield has fought both. He stopped Tyson once in 1996 and won the rematch when Tyson was disqualified for biting him. He has fared less well against Lewis, with one defeat and one draw, but believes Lewis will find Tyson a tough opponent.

“Because Lennox doesn’t fight like me,” Holyfield told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from his training camp in Houston, where he is preparing for a June 1 clash with Hasim Rahman.

“They will fight at a pace that Lennox doesn’t want to fight at,” he said.

And despite his own bizarre experience with Tyson in the ring, Holyfield said Tyson’s venomous pre-fight baiting of Lewis is just a way to hype the fight.

“I think he’s just seeing what he can get by with,” Holyfield said. “There aren’t any repercussions, so it’s OK for him to say the things he has said. That’s worked for him before.

“It is to the point where it’s really, really out of hand. But he’s getting people’s attention, and he could care less how it sounds.”

Holyfield (37-5-2, 25 knockouts) goes into his June 1 fight with Rahman after a controverisal loss to World Boxing Association champion John Ruiz on Dec 15.

“This fight (against Rahman) will put even greater expectations on what the Tyson-Lewis fight should be,” he said. “If ours is a great fight, the anticipation for that fight will be even greater.”—AFP