Holyfield vs Tyson II

The ear biting one!

I thought I would try and do a bit on this fight, as it was one of my most anticipated fights, when I was younger.

I was in Tenerife at the time of the fight and remember actually getting too drunk and pulling, so actually missed it (hey, I was young, not so fat and good looking in those days!). The next morning I woke up and asked someone what happened and was told Tyson was disqualified.

At the time, I wasnt really aware of fighters getting disqualified - I had visions of WWF when told! All I could picture was Tyson with a chair from ringside!

Anyway back to the topic.

When I saw the footage later in the day, I was absolutely gob smacked. I know this has happened before in low profile matches, but I couldnt believe what I was seeing. The former hardest man on the planet, dining out on Evanders ear?!?

In the first fight between the men, Holyfield was as much as 25-1 to win (although this came in to 15-2 closer to the fight) which in itself is quite remarkable. The fact that Evander won virtually every round in the first encounter made it even more remarkable. Was Tyson already done by the first fight or was this the beginning of the end for him.

To me it would appear that Evander (and Robin Givens to some extent) was the man who broke Tysons frail psyche. The fact that he was never intimidated by Tyson is what led to Mike actually believing he wasnt an unstoppable wrecking machine after all. If Evander didnt fear Mike, then maybe he was just another fighter.

This second fight was already won by Holyfield before they stepped into the ring. One of Tyson's former trainers, Teddy Atlas, predicted before the fight that Tyson, unable to cope with fighting a man whom he could not intimidate, would deliberately get himself disqualified. He was proved right.

Sorry for the long rambling post - what is the point of this thread? Well, what are your thoughts on the ear biting incident, Holyfields mind games and Tysons fall from grace in general.

Thanks for reading - hopefully, you will have something to add.

Hobo wrote: The fact that Evander won virtually every round in the first encounter made it even more remarkable. Was Tyson already done by the first fight or was this the beginning of the end for him.

~ Sir, it strikes me that your site needs at least 2 categories of boxing, Current and Historical if not also a 3rd, Fantasy matches.

I would say either your memory is in error, or your prejudices have overridden the two fights. The first fight was fought on a ferocious equal footing until Mr. Mike suffered the butt that opened him up, losing the last 4-5 rds as the scoring reflects, 96-92x2 and 100-93. Strange scoring with the last score, but such are the fickle judges on any given day. Unfortunately, Mr. Mike was not predisposed to the sight of his own blood like most of the male population suffers from if you ask anyone working in a blood clinic.

Clearly his career took a precipitous southwardly direction after the last of his childhood mentors, Mr. Jacobs, passed which is where almost all of his professional career bad behaviors and all losses occurred. From a perfect 34-0, 8-0 title matches in consolidating the WBC/WBA/IBF/Ring titles at age 21, Mr. Mike plummeted to 16-6 over the next 17 yrs, 4-4 in title matches, which is why Mr. King selected Mr. Fields who from the time he won the crown looked to be on shaky legs and was widely viewed as shot, a distinction he still holds to this very day.

In short, Mr. Mike de-evolved from an exquisitely professionally trained 12 round knockout artist and superb boxer into a 4 round clubfighter relying on weak opposition and early knockouts not to mention professional minders hired to keep him out of trouble until he could make the first bell so as to get paid.

Well, what are your thoughts on the ear biting incident, Holyfields mind games and Tysons fall from grace in general

Holy head butts more like.

Perfessor Albertus Lion V wrote:

Hobo wrote: The fact that Evander won virtually every round in the first encounter made it even more remarkable. Was Tyson already done by the first fight or was this the beginning of the end for him.

I would say either your memory is in error, or your prejudices have overridden the two fights. The first fight was fought on a ferocious equal footing until Mr. Mike suffered the butt that opened him up, losing the last 4-5 rds as the scoring reflects, 96-92x2 and 100-93.

Balderdash Professor!

As the esteemed and knowledgeable Edward Atlas said - Tyson in round 3 of Fight 2 realised he'd only one about 2 rounds across 2 fights. Holyfield walked him down in the first fight. He didn't appreciate this much. His head movement went, his footwork went. He was left with only a punch - and Mr Holyfield has an excellent beard.

He didn't lose due to butts. He lost because he was the worse boxer.

Holy and Mike had a long history - stretching back to sparring at the Olympic trials. Holyfield had no fear of Tyson then - and even less by 1994.