The anniversary of a fight that has gone down indelibly in boxing history as the craziest ever! Starring a rampaging Mike Tyson and Holyfield’s ear

28. on June 6, 1997, one of the most anticipated rematches in boxing history took place in Las Vegas, which turned out to be a rather bizarre experience. Mike Tyson bit his opponent’s ear twice during the third round of his title fight with Evander Holyfield, which led to his disqualification.

Mike Tyson took the scepter from the king of boxing, but the glory got out of hand

He is one of the greatest boxers in history due to his career achievements and world-class boxing skills. But fans were also drawn to his boisterous temper, which he could rarely tame. And not just in the ring, but outside of it.

Boxing had its glory days again in the 1990s. After Muhammad Ali retired as a professional boxer in 1981, fans waited for another charismatic boxer to take over his almost godlike status.

They found it in just five years in the young man who had the boxing world going crazy. At the age of 20, Mike Tyson had already won the world heavyweight boxing title when he demolished champion Trevor Berbick in the second round. He took the record for the youngest world champion from Ali and holds it to this day.

After winning the world title, “Iron Mike” became the most feared boxer of his time, scaring his opponents with just a glance. However, the young boxer’s stellar career spiraled out of control.

His fights with Holyfield

Many controversial moments culminated in a stint in prison for allegedly raping an underage girl. After his release, he returned to boxing and regained his world title. Even before he went to prison, there was speculation about him fighting Evander Holyfield, but the fight didn’t take place until five years later in November 1996.

Tyson was the favourite in the first fight, but Holyfield completely dominated the proceedings. He was able to keep the aggressive Tyson in the clinch and squeeze the energy out of him thanks to his power. He then managed to get Tyson to the floor in the seventh round and in the eleventh the referee stopped the fight on a TKO.

Six months later, specifically on June 28, a rematch took place that attracted worldwide attention. Everyone was curious to see if Tyson could make up for his failure. It should be noted that the fight was preceded by a last-minute change of referee, as Tyson’s management complained about unpunished headbutts by Holyfield during the first encounter.

The match was refereed by veteran Mills Lane, but the course of the match did not change much. In the first round, Holyfield landed a hard combination that rocked Tyson. Then in the second round, a clash of heads resulted in a gash forming on Tyson’s eyebrow. But Lane called the headbutt unintentional.

In the third round of the rematch, “Iron Mike” bit off his opponent’s ear and was disqualified

A furious Tyson ran aggressively into the third round, hitting his opponent several times. But the latter was tactically well prepared and tied Tyson in clinches, which made the famous stormtrooper go on a rampage and shout at the referee.

Frustration mounted and on the next clinch, Tyson bit his opponent’s ear. Holyfield began bouncing around the ring with a pained grimace while Tyson spat the cartilage of his ear to the floor and shoved his opponent. The match was momentarily stopped and after a medical examination, the referee deducted two points from Tyson’s score.

The bout resumed, however Tyson repeated his act just before the end of the round. Although both fighters continued to fight until the bell sounded, referee Lane stopped the bout after checking the champion’s ear and disqualified Tyson.

Naturally, a melee broke out in the ring as a rampaging Tyson tried to get to Holyfield, who was defended by security. But the most bizarre fight in boxing history was over and Tyson’s boxing license was revoked.

He did get it back, but he never returned to the top. The two men reconciled years later and are now good friends. So the end of a great rivalry had a fairy tale ending.

Source: Wikipedia, Youtube channel – That’s why MMA!