After losing to Evander Holyfield on November 9, 1996, Mike Tyson sought and got an immediate rematch. The original May 3, 1997 fight was moved back to June 28 when Mike suffered a deep cut over his left eye that required 12 stitches. I gladly ordered the pay-per-view for my 46″ inch projection TV, and invited my brother to come over to watch the bout. We both knew Evander would win, knowing that Tyson had met his match in the ‘Real Deal’. Both men weighed in at 218 lbs., and there was not doubt that they were in supreme condition. When the two stood ring center for referee’s Mills Lane’s instructions, you could see fear in Tyson’s eyes for the first time in his career.
The first round saw Evander take control. land the harder shots and win the round. Round two was similar, although Tyson did land an occasional hard blow. After an even third round where Tyson landed good hard shots, both men went into a clinch with less than a minute left. Incredibly, Tyson reached in and bit a chunk off of Evander’s right ear, which caused him to step back and leap in the air in pain. At the time, I had no idea what had happened, but everything became clear as the situation settled down. Referee Mills Lane deducted 2 points from Tyson, allowing the bout to continue. Amazingly, Tyson reached into Evander’s shoulder and bit his left ear this time, forcing Lane to end the contest after the third round, and award Holyfield the winner by disqualification. Tyson went into a demonic rant, trying to get to Holyfield in the ring, and had to be held back by security and police. Watching at home left us speechless, wondering what it was we had just witnessed.
When all the smoke had cleared, Evander had retained his championship, and Tyson had proved what a sick individual he was. His punishment was more than a year suspension from the ring, and his actions made even his loyal fans sick to their stomach.
When he returned in January 1999 to face Francois Botha, Tyson went on expletive filled rants against everyone, and was facing further jail time from another incident outside the ring. I ordered the fight on pay-per-view, but was disappointed when Tyson knocked out Botha in the fifth, because I was just that disgusted by him.
In October of that same year, Orlin Norris met Tyson at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mike dropped Norris as the opening round ended and hit Norris a second time after the bell rang. When Norris twisted his knee and couldn’t come out for the second round, Tyson went into another psychotic rant, accusing Norris of being a quitter. The Nevada State Athletic Commission took action against Tyson after the mess, and the former champion never fought in the state of Nevada again.
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