Simply put he wasnt confident. Holyfield had just kicked his ass. As someone else put he did it for he $$$ and because it was expected of him. At the stare down Mike looked almost scared before that fight. I say almost only because it take guts to climb into the ring period. Evander look right through him. Mike looked away.
Yep. Not the same guy pre-fight that showed up for Biggs and Spinks and Bruno was it? More like the guy that showed up against Lewis. Whole different ballgame. He was an easy guy to read pre-fight and it's not just Tyson, but lots of those "on top" fighters do not look like their normal self when the other guy is not intimidated. The other factor is the batting average of the punchers vs. the boxers in rematches. Pretty woeful winning % through the years and different style fighters do better in rematches than the hitters.
First fight, he was much more confident, maybe a little overconfident, remember the whole world though Holy was shot and this wouldnt last long. Second fight, he was more cautious, because in the first fight (IMO) he ran out of gas in round 4-5. Its the third round, where Tyson had his best round, even the crowd was cheering for him and then....the bite? its confusing At the end of the day tyson is to blame. Don King rushed Tyson into the Holyfield rematch and was only thinking about how much money they would make. Tyson deep down, knew he hadnt got it to beat holyfield....
Agrreedd. Holyfield was just the perfect guy to beat Tyson in the late 90's and his lack of consistency doesn't change that. I think people forget that Holy didn't breeze past Tyson in the first fight either, he took bombs but fought on and outsmarted him. One of my fav fights despite being very overrated.
I watched both fights again recently, Mike to me did not look as confident second time round. I think he was physically better prepared but mentally knew Holy would not be going down. At this point Mike knew he had lost his mojo and the only reason for fighting was not for titles but for $$. I think Holy played it pretty rough on the inside as well, especially with his third fist (Noggin). Mike just could not see a way out, ergo ear munching time.
I think tyson just simply lost his bottle in prison Its never been said, but thats what i believe, Tyson never showed any heart post prison Against Holy even in the first fight, he was looking towards the ref very very early in the fight, compare that to the guy who fought Douglas, Bruno, Ruddock, he fought and took his beatings and never once looked for help. Totally different guy.
i deffo think 96-97 tyson could of won a close decision over that holyfield but his heart wasnt in it at this point i dont buy it that holyfield had tyson's number
There was a rematch clause in the 1st fight contract I thought Mike looked sharper & in better shape for the rematch but once the sparring cut opened up Mike imploded & decided to bite the Holy ones ear :-(
Ok so you disagree, no need to be dismissive. My memory of how it happened at the time was feeling dissapointed that Tyson got himself kicked coz it looked like he was maybe starting to get into the fight. I wasn't bothered who won, that's just how i seen it. With hindsight or the use of revision i could easily just sit there and say "yeah, for one round". But i'm not an arsehole and i was just giving my memory and thoughts from the night itself. :thumbsup
The post 2000 Tyson was so unbelievably overrated. Some still believed he could regain the championship.
Ok, Mike made Danny do the unga-bunga dance with one big punch... that doesn't mean he didn't look like ****.
I seen a hbo poll the other week on Lewis/Tyson from a week before the fight, overall it was something like 78% in Lewis favour. It was surprising to see as i thought he was overrated too, maybe he wasn't as overrated as we thought.