Today in History: Mike Tyson received an earful
The rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on 28 June 1997 became infamously known as 'The Bite Fight'.
The rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield was initially billed as The Sound and the Fury fight, but soon after, it became infamously known as The Bite Fight.
In 1991, Tyson was accused of rape by Desiree Washington, a contestant in a beauty pageant he was judging in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was convicted on 10 February, 1992, and served three years and one month in a federal penitentiary.
Once released, Tyson regained his heavyweight belts and then planned a bout with Holyfield, a clean-living, religious, former heavyweight champion from Georgia who was considered the best heavyweight challenger for Tyson after the #1 contender, Lennox Lewis, whom Tyson refused to fight.
Holyfield had retired in 1994, but the prospect of a huge payday proved tempting, and on 9 November 1996, the underdog shocked the boxing world by beating Tyson with an 11th round technical knockout, stripping Tyson of his World Boxing Association (WBA) title.
Holyfield came into the highly anticipated rematch on 28 June 1997 even stronger than he had been for the first fight. In the first round, he hit Tyson hard with body shots while Tyson flailed away, ignoring the science of boxing his trainer had promised he would employ.
By the end of the round, the crowd was chanting Holyfield’s name, turning on the usual favourite, Tyson. In the second round, Holyfield head-butted Tyson, opening a cut over Tyson’s right eye.
In the third round, Tyson lost what little composure he had left. He spat out his mouthpiece, bit a chunk out of Holyfield’s right ear and then spat it onto the canvas. Though Holyfield was in obvious pain, the fight resumed after a brief stoppage, and then Tyson bit Holyfield’s other ear.
With 10 seconds left in the third round, he was disqualified. His $30 million purse was withheld while Nevada boxing officials reviewed the fight.
You can see the moment he bit Holyfield’s ear for the first time here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CCqyJFc-bM
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