Tyson was doing pretty well in the third round and seemed to get the upper hand . If he had not resorted to biting Holyfield would he have been realistically be able to win the fight possibly by knockout in the later rounds or would Hollyfield be too strong the second time too?
I believe that Iron Mike was starting to get frustrated with Evander, because of his overall strength, and Holyfield's lack of fear. To force fear on him, he got hungry and bit his ear. Something he learned in the penal system. Holyfield would have prevailed to win another one over Mike.
An interesting question would also be, would Tyson have bit Holyfield’s ear without the head butts? He needed those head butts to give him that excuse to take the drastic action he did, Tyson isn’t stupid, he would have known ear biting for no good reason would make him look like a coward. I know it still did but to this day people say it was retaliation for the head butt. Saying this I think Tyson would have lost and taken his licks like he did against Douglas and Lewis. He had a moment in the 3rd round but blew his load, he probably didn’t have much left and Holyfield Would likely have come back and worn him down. Tyson didn’t look comfortable at all in this fight, it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Post prison Tyson wasn’t enough to beat Evander, he needed all his prime skills and physicality to stand a chance and even then it wasn’t a given.
i guess another argument is the head butts changed Tyson’s game plan, he started the first round slower like he was taking his time over a longer fight. But all that happened is Holyfield took the initiative and started taking it to Tyson, it was a role reversal and Tyson ended up being the one backing up early in a fight. It was a bad strategy as it not only gave Evander an early foothold it the fight but it also did Tyson’s confidence in, when it was already shaken. What Mike really needed early in this fight was to dent Holyfield to make a statement, to show some sign he could gain control in the fight. The first two rounds went badly then he looked a bit desperate in round 3 despite landing a few decent punches, but Holyfield still showed he was going nowhere. Even if Tyson wasn’t effected by the head butt and continued on with his game plan to box in the 3rd, I really don’t see how he could gain control of the fight, it wasn’t his style and it was already apparent he was getting outboxed. Tyson’s only chance was to overwhelm Holyfield with his power, speed, combinations and conditioning that would last longer than 5 rounds. Holyfield’s whole thing was outdoing Tyson, being more aggressive, landing more, out muscling. Tyson allowing that to happen early was a big mistake and set the tone, he was on the back foot playing catch-up when he needed to be the one putting holy in his place.
Not a chance. Tyson went all out and shot his best wad and Holyfield didn't move. He then took the easy way out.
