For those interested, here is the ABC version of the "Bite Fight", which contains alternate angles and a quality post fight analysis. This content is protected
After the first bite, Mills took a look and said, "He's disqualified. He bit his ear. He's out." The commissioner Marc Ratner could be overheard asking Lane, " Ok...you really want to disqualify him??" Just reading between the lines a little, I always took Ratner's question to mean...this is too big an event to stop it this early, rethink that...which Lane did shortly after once he consulted with Homansky. I think Lane's original decision was the correct one, although letting it continue made for an interesting minute or two. Holyfield's butting was well disguised enough that it was at least arguable that it was unintentional. Mike was asking to be DQ'd with that move he made...and he did it twice, even attempting it a 3rd time. Holyfield was always pretty good at disguising his dirty tactics. Mike's were usually blatantly obvious.
Mike wanted out. When the ref nearly DQ’s him and then rethinks and when he restarts the right he says ‘do it again and you are disqualified’ … and basically the first first thing Mike does is bite (or try to) immediately again, he’s saying ‘I’m going to keep doing this until you stop it.’ It’s a way to quit without quitting, so to speak.
I think it was more of a frustration. Mike couldn't get to Holyfield boxing wise but wanted to inflict pain on him, so he bit his ear. Coward move.
Actually, Mills Lane never said that to Tyson. Alex Wallau talks about it between 22:28 and 22:38 in the video.
Watching the other angles presented in the video, it's crazy how well Holyfield was able to block/smother/roll with most of Tyson's shots.
Exactly. Mike went on the attack to start the 3rd, landed a few good shots, and Holyfield looked totally unfazed. He was also manhandling Tyson in the clinches on a couple of occasions in that round. Tyson couldn't bully him, and knew it was going to be a long night. Plus, not sure how much damage back to back losses would have done to him as far as being relevant at the time, which may have been somewhere in the back of Mike's mind as well. Taking the DQ was probably less damaging in terms of his marketability.
Tyson actually looked pretty good in round 3. Ironically one of his best rounds out of the 14 they fought. He was getting under Holyfield’s punches better than the 1st fight. Doubtful he could keep it up, although Holyfield looked tired between rounds 2-3 to the point Don Turner gave him a pep talk of sorts. Holyfield looked so strong both size wise and how he moved Tyson around. Great combo landed at the end of round one. Thank you for posting, it’s always fun to revisit these big events.
I agree 100% with the several points you made. With the 5th round from the first fight, the 3rd round was Tyson's best. Best moment for me is how they exchanged after the 2nd bite, maybe a glimpse of what the fight could have been in 1991. And although it's obvious that Tyson prepared better, Holyfield was still able to anticipate most his punches and block them, but his countering wasn't as effective as in the first fight (because of Tyson ducks/slips like you mentioned). Two things Tyson should have done more are using his legs (always thought Holyfield was less comfortable when Tyson did that) and targeting the body. But with Holyfield being the smarter inside fighter, it would always been a difficult task. Yes, I like to rewatch those fights too so it's my pleasure.
Its weird how people talk about Holyfields headbutts but usually neglect the fact that he wouldnt have been in the ring with these guys or competitive without massive amounts of steroids and peds. He was literally one of the worst most blatant cheaters in the history of the sport.
The general consensus seems to be that most, if not all, of the top guys at the time were on PEDs, which is why some folks may not specifically call Evander out for it. I don't recall if Holyfield was ever officially pinned down for steroid use and penalized for it, but he was as good as busted in the eyes of the boxing community with the whole "Evan Fields" thing. That was probably the most obvious smoking gun for any top Heavyweight from that era, aside from maybe Botha, who actually tested positive vs. Schultz.
