This is the next in my blog series ‘Great Vegas Fights’. This blog is about Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson 1, which took place on November 9, in Las Vegas.
After losing the third fight in his trilogy with Riddick Bowe in November of 1996, ‘The Real Deal’ fought Bobby Czyz on May 10, 1996 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Even though Evander stopped Czyz in 5 rounds, the critics lambasted his effort, calling him a ‘shot’ fighter, and calling for him to retire.
Meanwhile Tyson had returned from prison in March of 1995, and been fed a string of pathetic to mediocre opponents as best. In his first bout back in August of 1995, he knocked out a totally inept Peter McNeeley in a minute and a half. Four months later he stopped butterball Buster Mathis, Jr. in three in Philadelphia. Tyson then reclaimed the WBC title in March of 1996, from a petrified Frank Bruno in three easy rounds. On September 7, 1996, Mike’s next challenger, WBA champ Bruce Seldon took a dive in the first round, after never being hit with a knockout blow. Off of those four ridiculously easy bouts, the sportsbooks listed Holyfield as a 25-1 underdog when the Tyson-Holyfield fight was officially announced after the Seldon escapade.
I somehow rustled up $600 ticket to the fight card named ‘Finally’ for November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. When I arrived in Vegas that fall weekend, I plunked down a couple hundred bucks on Evander at 9-1 odds. Unfortunately, it had been a long tough year for me financially, and it’s all I had. In my mind, I had absolutely no doubt that Evander would win, and wore my ‘Real Deal Holyfield’ cap as I gave my ticket to the guy who took them on the way into the arena. The atmosphere was like that of a funeral home, quiet and morose, as if you were attending a funeral. When the ticket guy said to me “You have a lot of nerve wearing that hat tonight!”, I answered ‘We’ll see in about 11 rounds, when Evander knocks Tyson out.”
I was understandably nervous as the first round began, but was in awe of how huge Holyfield looked. He was in spectacular shape after having trained for 4 months, and fought right off the bat as if he belonged in the ring with Tyson. Evander countered well in the opening round, and continued to impress as the first third of the fight progressed. Tyson did land some very hard shots, but Evander absorbed them, and didn’t blink. He also nailed Mike with combinations consistently, and after 5 rounds, was slightly ahead.
When Holyfield dropped Tyson with a left hook to his chest in the 6th round, the arena erupted. It seemed to change the momentum of the fight, and Evander was in control for the remainder of the fight. He hurt Tyson with a solid right hand late in the tenth, followed him to the ropes, and battered him until the bell rang. In the 11th, Holyfield jumped right back on a hurt Tyson, and hammered him on the ropes until Mitch Halpern stopped it.
It was incredible to see live, and is the greatest sporting event I’ve ever seem live in my entire life. Even though I left my ticket stub under my seat, I was on a high for days, and wish I had dropped $10.000 on Evander like his old trainer Lou Duva did at 25-1 odds, and took home a cool quarter of a million bucks. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself, and am grateful to God I got to see one of boxing’s greatest all time fights live and in person on November 9. 1996.
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