By Abu Mahmood: Evander Holyfield (44-10-2 1NC, 29 KOs) has said that his team is in talks with Mike Tyson’s team for a potential exhibition bout.
Mike Tyson (50-6-0 2NC) had his first exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr (66-9-0 47 KOs) in November of 2020. The fight was a big hit and gathered over a million PPV buys.
The bout was ultimately scored a split decision draw and both Tyson and Jones put on a great performance, especially when you consider that both are over the age of 50.
Talks of a potential 3rd bout with Holyfield began straight away with many fans wondering exactly what would happen.
Now, it seems we could finally have an answer. With talks underway for a bout this year, exactly what happened in the first 2 fights that makes this 3rd fight so intriguing?
November 9th, 1996. MGM Grand Garden Arena. 12 rounds for the WBA heavyweight title. The champion, Mike Tyson is defending against Evander Holyfield.
Tyson, fresh from a win in which he stopped Bruce Seldon (40-8-0 36 KOs) in the first round to become champion once again. Holyfield, who had just stopped Bobby Czyz (44-8-0 28 KOs) in the 5th round. Tyson was heavily favoured to win the fight.
The bell rang and 11 rounds later, the world had a new WBA heavyweight champion. This was the 3rd occasion where Holyfield won the WBA title. Tyson, who was on an 8-fight winning streak, found himself in the challenger’s position if a rematch were to happen.
Then came the infamous “Bite Fight”. June 28th, 1997. MGM Grand Garden Arena. This time, the fight would not last 11 rounds. Not even 6 rounds. In the third round of the fight, Mike Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear in retaliation for unchecked headbutts which Tyson said Holyfield was hitting him with.
The referee deducted 2 points and was very close to disqualifying Tyson. Nevertheless, the bout continued. Then Tyson bit Holyfield again. Biting off the helix of Holyfield’s ear, Tyson found himself disqualified and bedlam ensued inside the arena.
Tyson claimed he bit Holyfield in retaliation for unchecked headbutts while others claimed he took a way out as he would have been stopped again.
Both legends are on good terms now but that fateful night on June 28th, 1997 would be a night no boxing fan would ever forget.
There is a lot of history going into this 3rd fight. If both men agree to this bout, it will likely beat the PPV buy record of Tyson vs Jones.
Could Holyfield win and move up to 3-0 in the series or would Tyson finally put his past behind him with a win for the ages. With talks underway, the fight is looking increasingly likely to happen. 24 years on, we could very well see “The Baddest Man on the Planet” face “The Real Deal” once more.