Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II
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| Date | June 28, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Title(s) on the line | WBA Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson disqualified in Round 3 for biting Holyfield's ear; Holyfield retains title | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxer |
 Evander Holyfield
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Mike Tyson
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| Nickname | "The Real Deal" | "Iron" | |
| Hometown | Atlanta, GA, U.S. | Catskill, NY, U.S. | |
| Pre-fight record | 33–3–0 (24 KO) | 45–2 (39 KO) | |
| Recognition |
WBA Heavyweight Champion |
WBA No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight |
Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, billed as "The Sound and the Fury" and afterwards infamously referred to as "The Bite Fight", was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1997 for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. It achieved notoriety as one of the most bizarre fights in boxing history, after Tyson bit off part of Holyfield's ear. Tyson was disqualified from the match and lost his boxing license, though it was later reinstated.
The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The referee officiating the fight was Mills Lane, who was brought in as a late replacement when Tyson's camp protested the original selection of Mitch Halpern (who officiated the first fight) as the referee.
Tyson and Holyfield fought seven months earlier in Las Vegas. Tyson was making his first defense of the WBA championship he had won from Bruce Seldon in a first round knockout. Holyfield, despite being a former champion, was a significant underdog entering the match as he had been rather lackluster in several fights since he returned to fighting in 1995 after a brief retirement. However, Holyfield surprised Tyson by controlling the contest and knocked him down in the sixth round. Halpern stopped the fight in the eleventh round, giving Holyfield an upset victory.
The fight began with Holyfield dominating Tyson. Holyfield won the first three rounds. At 2:19 of the first round, an overhand right from Holyfield stunned Tyson, but Tyson fought back immediately pushing Holyfield backwards. 32 seconds into Round Two, Holyfield ducked under a right from Tyson, in doing so, head butting Tyson and opening a large cut over his right eye, though trainer Ritchie Giachetti believed the cut happened in the first round. Tyson had repeatedly complained about head-butting in the first bout between the two. Upon reviewing replays, referee Mills Lane stated the headbutts were unintentional and nonpunishable.
As the third round was about to begin, Tyson came out of his corner without his mouthpiece. Lane ordered Tyson back to his corner to insert it. Tyson inserted his mouthpiece, got back into position and the match resumed. Tyson began the third round with a furious attack. With forty seconds remaining in the round Holyfield got Tyson in a clinch, and Tyson rolled his head above Holyfield's shoulder and bit Holyfield on his right ear, avulsing a one-inch piece of cartilage from the top of the ear, and spitting out the piece of ear on the ring floor. As Holyfield shrieked in pain and jumped in circles, he managed to push Tyson away at which Lane called for a time-out. As Holyfield turned to walk to his corner, Tyson shoved him from behind. Lane sent Tyson to a neutral corner as an enraged Holyfield gestured for Mills Lane to look at his bitten ear which was rapidly bleeding. The fight was delayed for several minutes as Lane debated what to do. Lane's original decision was to immediately disqualify Tyson, but after the ringside doctor determined that Holyfield was able to continue despite the massive bite, Lane announced he would be deducting two points from Tyson and the fight would continue. Bobby Czyz, who was calling the fight with Steve Albert for Showtime, said, "I wonder how this would have played in Mitch Halpern's eyes," and Albert told Czyz, "That's a thought, Bobby." As Lane explained the decision to Tyson and his cornermen, Tyson asserted that the injury to Holyfield's ear was the result of a punch. "Bullshit," retorted Lane. The fight was resumed.
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