Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield
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| Date | November 9, 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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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holyfield winner by TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxer |
 Mike Tyson |
Evander Holyfield |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | "Iron" | "The Real Deal" | |
| Hometown | Catskill, NY, US | Atlanta, GA, US | |
| Pre-fight record | 45–1 (39 KO) | 32–3 (23 KO) | |
| Weight | 222 lb | 215 lb | |
| Style | Peek-A-Boo | Orthodox | |
| Recognition |
WBA Heavyweight Champion |
WBA No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight |
Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "Finally", was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the World Boxing Association heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defense of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
The referee officiating the fight was Mitch Halpern. The fight was promoted by Don King Promotions and carried on pay-per-view by Showtime.
The bout was the first fight pitting the two boxers against each other and it would be followed up with a subsequent rematch.
This was Tyson's first defense of the WBA championship. Holyfield was fighting for the fourth time since he elected to return to boxing in 1995; Holyfield had suffered a defeat at the hands of Michael Moorer in 1994 and lost the WBA and International Boxing Federation championships, then retired after the fight due to a heart condition. Since his return, however, Holyfield had not performed well. After outpointing former contender Ray Mercer in his first fight back, Holyfield was knocked out by Riddick Bowe in the eighth round of their third match. Then, in his most recent fight, Holyfield knocked out an out-of-shape former cruiserweight champion Bobby Czyz in five rounds. Don King, Tyson's promoter, saw Holyfield as a washed up fighter and Holyfield was installed as a major underdog.
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