After the controversial ending of their first fight, a rematch was agreed to for June 28, 1991 back at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Tyson acted bizarre in the pre-fight interviews, telling Ruddock “I want to make you my girlfriend with those big lips you have.” His act had gotten so old, and it seemed even worse than normal. There was no way in the world that I was going to miss it on closed-circuit, rooting hard for Razor to knock Tyson out.
It was back to the Pavilion in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Friday, June 28th, waiting to see more fireworks from two huge punchers. It was also a thrill to see Mills Lane as the referee this time, who is the best third man in the ring in history in my book. From the opening bell, it was nothing but bombs from both men. It was also a dirty brawl, with Lanes deducting three points from Tyson for low blows. Ruddock hit the canvas twice, but was 10 pounds heavier than in the first bout, and got up quickly both times.
I enjoyed this fight much better, especially when Razor hurt Tyson, which he did on numerous occasions. After 12 brutal rounds, Tyson won a deserved unanimous decision, but also showed Ruddock huge respect in his post-fight interview with Dr. Ferdie Pacheco. I went home that night satisfied that Razor did his best, and was still a top contender in the heavyweight division.
Don King originally tried to secure a bout with George Foreman, but instead agreed on a November 8 date with Evander Holyfield at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. It would be the biggest fight in the heavyweight division in years, but unfortunately for Tyson, he got in the way with some stupid choices he made that summer.
Mike attended the Miss Black America pageant in Indianapolis, where he met 18 year old Desiree Washington, Miss Rhode Island. They were together, she accused him of rape, and the charges were legitimate enough that he was later indicted on them.
Three weeks before his big bout with Holyfield, Tyson faked an ab injury to get out of the fight. How can anyone train for someone as great as Evander, when you know you’re going to trial in two or three months, and might wind up in prison. He was never ‘Iron Mike’, only a human being made out of flesh and blood, and could only be expected to handle so much pressure. What promised to be a huge year for the ex-champ, finished in a horrible and embarrassing way instead. As the Bible says, “You reap what you sew.”, and Tyson had sewed a lot of bad stuff, and was about to pay for it.
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