If you could erase Tyson's ear bite from history, would you?

The really sickening thing about that night was not really the bite and the fact that Holyfield was robbed of a chance to KO Tyson again and the fact that PPV viewers and real boxing fans were robbed of a good fight .... but it was the events that came after the bite ; Tyson's post-fight riot attempt, the infamous interivew with a cry-baby Tyson and Tyson's 'manager' John Horne, the general lack of class shown by Tyson's followers. Those things were shitty, and more so because of Tyson's fame and status and mainstream appeal.


I think Tyson being allowed back in the sport after that was not good for boxing, or for Tyson.

When I look at the idiotics in boxing now compared to the 1970s and 80s, it's a bit sad that boxing has become like it has.
It certainly didn't start with Tyson and the ear bite, but I remember how fickle and short-memoried the sportwriters and commentators of the time were regarding Tyson. After the ear bite, everyone was calling for a life ban, AND it was generally acknowledged that Tyson wasn't even much of a fighter any more. But a couple of years later he was being built up as some sort of threat and contender.

Tyson, for all his faults, was really one of the most exploited athletes in history. He has himself to blame for a lot of it but he really needed to be left alone.

 

I would. sadly though mike doing that made his bank account even bigger.

 

He quit and that has some questioning his heart.

Despite the two losses to holy I don't agree with the near consensus that holy beats Tyson prime for prime. However at this stage of their careers Tyson was never gonna beat him and he knew that. Some say he snapped, I say he quit. This gave him an out and turned him into the baddest man on the planet, left a question over the result. I'm sure atlas said he viewed it as a quit job also.

I don't hold it against him though, after a 3 year stint in prison anything is a bonus and his legacy could only go up. Even Bering in that situation a decade after first winning the title is a great achievement.

 

Tyson was on his way to defeat just as he was in the first fight. And probably around the same stage.

 

The fans paid good money to see a fight come to its natural conclusion. This we were deprived. Hence, we were deprived the benefit of our bargain. So yes, I would have liked to have seen them fight it out and seen the inevitable knockout, as opposed to seeing Tyson foul himself out. Folks forget that Tyson got away with the first bite, the one that took part of the ear off. If he had stopped there, I think the fight would have continued to go on into the 4th round. Heck, he even sort of got away with the second bite, because the fight was allowed to continue at that point until the bell. Lane had not actually seen either bite, but Holy complained vociferously. Lane had proof of the first when he examined he ear. He semi ignored the second bite and had them continue fighting. But then in between rounds, I think Lane saw the replays, and given that Tyson had done it twice, he decided enough was enough. The fact that Tyson did it twice showed that he was mentally broken and wanted out.

 

Hell no I wouldn't..it's a piece of hallowed boxing lore by now..it's almost Americana.

 

Tyson was winnng the ****ing round, how was Holy going to stop tyson in the next 1 minute?

 

No. Tyson got what he deserved by approaching his career like he did when he got out of prison. It showed he didnt learn from the first go round that he couldnt bull**** his way through boxing.

Tyson became what he was because he was a great fighter that was disciplined focused and had the character of a fighter. He tried to abandon all that and ride off the coatails of all the hard work he put in during the early years. You cant do that in boxing.

For what its worth, I thought the second fight was really starting to get good and competitive. I think Tyson was prepared to fight his butt off in the second fight, but when he realized it was going to be at a disadvantage with two big cuts, he decided to foul out. Mills Lane could have warned him ten times, he would have done something to get out of that fight.

 

Mike was fed up. It wasn't good what he did but Holy kept holding him by the back of mikes head an had the top of his head all up in mikes face. Is what it is you play dirty long enough with a guy like mike some **** will happen

 

I don't think a prime Tyson would have done that. Even under pressure.
Also, I don't think Tyson would have 'retaliated' in that way if Holyfield wasn't such an excellent all-round fighter. He lost his cool because he knew Holyfield was beating him in every department, including the headbutt game.

Tyson was a pretty good headbutt-artist himself, and knew it was part of the game, professional boxing.
He also would have known that biting the guy's ear twice was the kind of obvious blatant foul that results in instant disqualification.

I think Tyson has a lot of respect for Holyfield as a fighter. They were both great fighters, and both used plenty of dirty and rough tactics to help them win fights.

 

I dnt think younger mike would have done that either. Its hard to say what would have happened. In the 3rd Mike came out blazing an looked very good. He was sticking the jab, coming right over top with those right hands pretty easy an than firing off that left hook. He looked good from what I remember. Who knows though

 

Yeah, he was in great shape and putting together some good moves and combos ... but I think his mentality from 1995 on was always that guys should fold pretty quickly and he was no way prepared mentally for long tough fights.
Even with Tyson fighting in full gear it looked like he was at least in for a tough hard night's work. Considering the opponent and the previous fight, personally at no time did I think Tyson was going to win.

 

I think if I could erase any part of boxing history, it would be the infamous "No Mas" of Roberto Duran. As far as I'm concerned, that is the only stain on his illustrious career in boxing.

As for Tyson, that ear bite was just one more example of a seriously unbalanced mentality he had at that point in his life. It is nice to see him mellow with age and I now find him to be a pretty humble and pleasant guy to listen to in interviews.

 

We might have seen a Holyfield-Tyson III then, if Holyfield-Tyson I didn't end with a decisive KO, and thus we might not have seen Tyson-Lewis.

 

Tyson quit. Had he not gotten DQ'd for biting, he would have "retired" on his stool by the end of the fifth or sixth round.