Great Rivalries in Boxing: Mike Tyson v/s Evander Holyfield

When we talk about great boxing rivalries the name of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier instantly pops out to the mind, but today we are going to talk about a rivalry which is great but at the same time very ugly; the rivalry between Evander Holyfield “The Real Deal” and Mike Tyson “Iron Mike”. Though they only fought twice, with Holyfield winning on both occasions, Tyson and Holyfield had a long running rivalry, with a genuine grudge element added. The feud between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield was short-lived, but continues to echo through the sport of boxing. This is probably the last great rivalry that boxing has witnessed.

It is true that Tyson never defeated Holyfield but it does not mean he was not a great boxer and Holyfield was better than him. In fact, the two boxers were true great in their own way. Certainly, in terms of impact made, Mike Tyson was a heavyweight who set the scene alight like no other boxer since Muhammad Ali. However, if we look at both men’s achievements throughout their superb careers and if titles and longevity are counted, Mike Tyson might be the youngest heavyweight champion at the age of 20 but Evander Holyfield was an undisputed serial title winner in both cruiserweight and heavyweight. Also, Holyfield had a long career compared to the short variety of Mike Tyson’s.

The two were talked of as natural rivals as far back as 1987, when Holyfield was a cruiserweight, but the world had to wait as their face-off was repeatedly cancelled due to surprise knockouts, injuries and jail time until 1996 before the two mesmerizing heavyweights clashed in the ring centre. A fight between Tyson and Holyfield was first arranged in 1990, when Tyson was the undisputed champion, predicated on Tyson’s defeating James Douglas. Instead, Douglas handed Tyson the first defeat of his career. A Tyson-Holyfield fight for Holyfield’s title was scheduled in 1991, but Tyson pulled out of the fight due to a rib injury. In February 1992, before the fight could take place, Tyson was convicted of one count of rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct against an 18-year-old woman, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each charge. Tyson ultimately served three years and six weeks in prison.

After his release from prison, Mike Tyson resumed his career again and it was not long before he captured the World Heavyweight crown. And at long last the match the whole world was waiting to witness finally happened as Evander Holyfield became the challenger to Tyson’s title. The match, billed as "Finally", was fought on November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the ensuing match, Holyfield, a 25-1 underdog, scored a massive upset, as he dominated Tyson throughout the fight, winning almost every round and finally battering Tyson on the ropes until the fight was stopped in the 11th round.

The inevitable rematch came just seven months later on June 28, 1997, in the same venue as the last one. The match was billed as "The Sound and the Fury". But the rematch turned an honest rivalry into one of the ugliest in history. An accidental head-butt from Holyfield midway through the second round opened up a cut above Tyson’s eye and it enraged Tyson. As the two fighters came out to the third round Tyson took a chunk out of his opponent’s ear and spit it out on the canvas. After a break of several minutes the fight was allowed to continue with a two point deduction given to Tyson. But Tyson, who had clearly lost it, once again went to bit the other ear. As a result of this, Tyson was disqualified. But the matter did not stop at only disqualification. This behavior led to a withholding of $3 million from Tyson’s purse and his boxing license being rescinded so that he could not box in the United States until 1998. And sadly his legacy as a boxing legend was also lost due to this disgraceful act.