Evander Holyfield agreed to fight Mike Tyson on November 8, 1991 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for the undisputed heavyweight championship. However, that July, Mike Tyson appeared at a beauty pageant in Indiana, and got in trouble with one of the young contestants. She filed rape charges against, him and he was indicted. On the night of October 18, 1991, I was over my brother’s apartment to watch the Tommy Morrison vs. Ray Mercer pay-per-view card, and in the opening they announced the Holyfield/Tyson fight had been called off. Supposedly Tyson had hurt his ribs doing sit ups, but I knew it was all a bunch of crap. How can a person train to fight a great fighter like Holyfield, while knowing in the back of your mind, you might be going to jail in a few months. Unlike what most fools tended to believe, he wasn’t ‘Iron Mike’, and had to pull out of the bout.
That left Evander without an opponent. He selected Francisco Damiani as a replacement, with a November 23rd date set at the Omni in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. However, with just a week before the fight, Damiani pulled out because of a foot injury. That left Holyfield in search of another replacement with just days remaining before the bout.
Fortunately, Bert Cooper answered the call and actually showed up the night of the fight. I went over my sister’s house to watch it on HBO, not knowing what to expect at this point. When Evander dropped Cooper with a thudding left hook to the body in the opening round, it appeared it might be a short night. Cooper fought back however, and a minute into the third round, hurt Evander badly with a short right hand. Not long after, as he sagged on the ropes, Mills Lane ruled it a knockdown, because were it not for the ropes, Holyfield would have hit the canvas. It was the first time he had been dropped as a pro, but he came back firing, and by the close of the round, was hurting Cooper.
Evander’s extraordinary conditioning pulled him through, and he started landing repeated uppercuts on Cooper’s chin. Late in the seventh, the fight was halted, and Holyfield had retained his title. Despite thcritic’s complaining about his being hurt by Cooper, Evander remained undaunted, and was still champion of the world.
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