Was Mike Tyson right to bite Holyfield?

Yes and they have the cheek to blame both of his losses on headbutts by Holyfield, you couldn't make it up.

 

Another one to put psychic Sandra back in his place after he claimed to know for a fact that Tyson took Holyfield lightly in the first bout.

Right at the end of the clip Mike is asked if he took Holyfield lightly, his answer..... "He's just a good fighter, I take my hat off to him."

 

when I saw that head butt at the time I immediately thought it was Tyson's attempt to get the fight stopped on cuts because of the way he lunged in like that, when he got it checked he seemed to realise this wasn’t going to work. I felt he was mentally done at that point in the fight even though he had that tough 6th round, here it looked like he wanted out.

 

yeah I think he knew he was in trouble before that 7th round as Holy didn’t fall and was still determined. remember that look on Tyson's face when he landed his signature body punch uppercut attack in the 5th "how that hell is he taking this!", he realised Holy wasn’t going away and was probably tiring himself. but to me in the 7th he was looking for a way out. Altas has said this as well but I actually remember thinking it myself at the time because I was disappointed that Tyson was so eager to get the cut checked, like he wanted the fight stopped.

 

It must have been massively disheartening throwing everything at your opponent and seeing him barely flinch especially when you're a monster puncher and used to knocking everybody over.

This was the first fight where his punches had no effect whatsoever, even against Douglas Tyson managed to drop him.

I'll give Tyson his dues, even though there was signs of him wanting out in the first bout he took his beating like a man and came out for the 11th when he really didn't know where he was.

 

He probably didn’t expect Holyfield to be in that kind of form that’s for sure. I tend to think post prison Tyson never stood a chance anyway, he was all reputation, no substance. 1991 would have been an awesome fight...

edit - maybe saying no substance is taking it a bit far, he was still dangerous, but not good enough to beat a guy like Holyfield.

 

It would have been great to see the bout in 91 too, I still feel Holyfield was too much of a fighter for Mike.

Mike was not using to being pushed back and beaten to the punch and let's not forget that invincibility would have always been shattered in 1991 by Douglas.

 

Ive said in here a ton of times before I chop and change on this one. The thing that makes me doubt Holyfield in 91 is he was smaller and more reckless, he would hit Tyson a lot but I’m not sure he would hurt him as bad. I think they were fairly well matched at that time but if it came to a battle of wills, holy had been there multiple times so I’d give him the edge maybe.

 

Showtime uploaded their Epilogue of the fight with clear audio from inside the ring. Extraordinary;

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Tyson tried to claim the first bite was a punch .

After it was waved off, Tyson's cutman thought Tyson had won . "He won?! He won?"..."Who won??".

...My favourite headline was "Sucker munch!".

 

The thing that gets me about this whole incident is how did Mike get away without putting his gumshield in, even when Mills Lane sent him back at the start of round 3? Even after he had bitten Evander's ear, nobody checked to see he had his gumshield in.

Giachetti must have known what Tyson was planning to do when he sent him out minus his gunshield, then when he didn't put it in after Lane sent Tyson back to his corner. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt there, it's criminally negligent not to put your charge's mouthpiece in after he has used his exposed teeth to bite part of his opponent's ear off. Did anyone ever question his role in all of this because he doesn't come out of it looking good?

And you have to wonder what the medical commissioners were doing not noticing Tyson hadn't got a mouthpiece in - not once, not twice but three times. They were having a nightmare. And, obviously, it was almost uncharted territory, even for boxing and even for an old salt like Mills Lane, but it wasn't Mills' finest hour either. That came two weeks later with Lewis-Akinwande. Heavyweight title fights in 1997! What the f**k?

Despite all the backing and froing and insults in this thread, the only one to come out of the whole saga with any credit was Evander Holyfield. Call him a drug abuser, religious hypocrite, womaniser - whatever - but at least acknowledge that while everyone around him was losing their head, despite being the wronged party in it all, he was a real man.

 

No he was not. Tyson used elbows as good as anyone to foul as well.

 

I just don't see how Mike was doing well in that second fight. He wasn't the same fighter who came to the first one, and Holy made it apparent from the git go he was just going to do a repeat performance. Another difference is how Holy actually looked better than he did in the opening rounds of the first fight.

Mike sure didn't.

 

yeah I’d be hard pressed to see a more confident fighter going into a championship fight against another great. He just seemed to know he was beating Tyson easier this time and fought like he was going to take him out earlier. I think that confidence spooked Tyson.

 

Mills seemed to want the fight ended after the first bite but was basically asked not to in so many words. Just showed you how big this fight was. After an injury like that it probably should have been stopped right away. What must really have enraged Tyson is the fact Holyfield still showed what a warrior he was by fighting on, how scary is that, you bite the guys ear off and he still wants your head! As a Tyson fan it’s difficult to accept but Evander came out of that fight looking like a man, Tyson a petulant kid having a tantrum.

 

the funniest bit about that was when mills immediately shouted “bull ****!” And Tyson looked like a school kid trying to get one over on the teacher. He wasn’t messing with that old man