June 28, 1997 will go down as one of the most scandalous days in boxing history. Mike Tyson loses his nerve against Evander Holyfield
Mike Tyson is furious, he’s fuming. The third round of this eagerly anticipated fight is underway and the ageing former world champion simply can’t find a solution against Evander Holyfield.
His opponent, although almost four years older at 34, is faster, he is more agile and is constantly putting pressure on him. Tyson sweats, bleeds, clutches. And then it becomes monstrous on June 28, 1997.
“Iron Mike” loses his nerve, in the clinch he bites a 1.5 centimeter long piece out of Holyfield’s ear. Holyfield screams in pain, jumps around the ring and points to his bleeding wound again and again in disbelief.
“He did it on purpose, I was sure my ear was off,” Holyfield will say later.
16,331 spectators at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas are horrified, riots break out and several people are injured. Referee Mills Lane initially tries to calm tempers and allows the round to finish. He then disqualifies the ear-biter – whose career was never to recover from the scandal. Especially as it wasn’t his first
Mike Tyson had already had his first fall from grace
In the late 1980s, Tyson was feared as a brutal knockout specialist, becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion of all time in 1986 at the age of 20 against Trevor Berbick. The protégé of the legendarily shady promoter Don King seemed to have the potential to have a sporting career on the level of Muhammad Ali.
Instead, an unexpected setback followed in 1990 with a sensational defeat to James “Buster” Douglas in Tokyo – and two years later, the first deep fall: Tyson was accused of rape and sentenced to prison, and a fight against Douglas’ conqueror Holyfield, which had already been scheduled at the time, was no longer possible.
After his release from prison, he made a comeback in 1995, accompanied by huge hype, and won the title again in 1996 against the Englishman Frank Bruno.
Evander Holyfield won first duel in 1996
However, Tyson’s speed and punching power were no longer the same as before. Holyfield exposed this in his first fight with Tyson on November 9, 1996 – at the end of which he dethroned “Iron Mike” by technical knockout in the 11th round.
It did nothing to dampen interest in Tyson, the rematch broke all money records up to that point, generating 100 million dollars in revenue, of which Tyson took in 30 million and Holyfield 35 million as a fight purse.
But at the very height of his commercial success, a second defeat to Holyfield threatened to permanently damage Tyson’s sporting reputation. Tyson’s ear bite may have been a desperate reaction to this – although he himself claimed that anger over an unpunished headbutt from Holyfield had upset him.
Incredible: Initially, Tyson tried to deny his crazy outburst and claimed that a punch had caused the wound. The appropriate response from refereeing legend Lane: “Bullshit. “
One-year ban after bite to the ear in 1997
Tyson was sentenced to a three-million-dollar fine and ultimately a one-year boxing ban, which he bridged with a well-paid guest appearance for the wrestling league WWE. He got off comparatively lightly, as the sport clearly did not want to send the still popular superstar into the forced retirement that some critics were calling for.
However, his former sporting glory had finally faded after his return. After his comeback fight against Axel Schulz’s former rival Francois Botha in 1999, he didn’t do much more. In 2002, he got his last world championship opportunity, but was knocked out by Lennox Lewis in the eighth round. 2005 saw the end of his career after defeats to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, which put an end to his reputation.
Tyson’s second career, which essentially consists of marketing himself, is much more successful again. Today, the former arch-rivals Tyson and Holyfield are reconciled and even good friends, and a third fight for charity is under discussion.
During a joint appearance on the “Oprah Winfrey Show”, Tyson once said of Holyfield: “I want to tell the world that he’s a wonderful kid. It’s a pleasure to know him. “
