Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson
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| Date | September 7, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Boxer |
 Bruce Seldon |
Mike Tyson |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | "The Atlantic City Express" | "Iron" | |
| Hometown | Atlantic City, New Jersey, US | Catskill, New York, US | |
| Pre-fight record | 33–3 | 44–1 | |
| Recognition |
WBA Heavyweight Champion |
WBC Heavyweight Champion |
Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson, billed as "The Championship: Part II" was a professional boxing match contested on September 7, 1996 for the WBA Heavyweight championship.
The fight was part of a pay-per-view event produced by Don King Promotions and carried on pay-per-view by Showtime.
The fight is notable in the fact that in attendance was rapper Tupac Shakur, who would be fatally shot just hours after the fight, following an altercation with Crip Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson at the casino. Shakur died six days later on September 13 from ballistic trauma.
After George Foreman was stripped of his WBA Heavyweight title for refusing to fight number one contender Tony Tucker, the WBA organized a fight between Tucker and little–known Bruce Seldon to determine who would become WBA Heavyweight champion. Seldon was able to defeat the aging Tucker by referee technical decision after the fight was stopped in the seventh round due to Tucker's eye being completely swollen shut. He would then successfully defend the title against Joe Hipp, who became the first Native American to challenge for a major heavyweight title, on the undercard of the Tyson–McNeeley fight on September 7, 1995.
Since being released from prison, Mike Tyson had won all three of his fights in dominating fashion, easily defeating obscure fighters Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis, Jr. before capturing the WBC Heavyweight title by defeating Frank Bruno via 3rd round knockout. However, Tyson would now have to deal with the WBC's number one contender, Lennox Lewis, who was guaranteed a title match against the winner of the Tyson–Bruno fight. Rather than face Lewis, Tyson paid Lewis $4 million in order to step aside and allow Tyson to face Seldon for the WBA Heavyweight title.
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