Tyson-Holyfield I
Encyclopedia
Tyson-Holyfield I or Tyson vs Holyfield I, also billed as Finally, was a professional boxing
match fought between Evander Holyfield
and Mike Tyson
on November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
, Nevada
. The referee
officiating the fight was Mitch Halpern
. The bout was the first fight pitting the two boxers against each other and it would be followed up with a subsequent rematch
.
Tyson was defending his WBA World Heavyweight Boxing Champion title against Holyfield, who was in the fourth fight of his comeback to boxing after retiring in 1994 following the loss of his undisputed championship to 26-year old Michael Moorer
, by a 12-round majority decision. It was said that boxing promoter Don King and others saw Holyfield, the former champion, who was 34 at the time of the fight and a huge underdog
, as a washed up fighter. Holyfield had struggled in his previous fight against a blown up middleweight, Bobby Czyz
, and in his preceding fight had been knocked out in the eighth round by Riddick Bowe
.
A fight between Tyson and Holyfield was first arranged in 1990, when Tyson was the undisputed champion, predicated on Tyson's defeating James "Buster" Douglas. Instead, Douglas handed Tyson the first defeat of his career, stopping him in the 10th round. A grossly out-of-shape Douglas then lost the title to Holyfield in his first defense, on a third-round knockout. 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 in Indiana, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each charge. The judge suspended the last four years of each sentence and ordered the sentences to run concurrently; Tyson ultimately served three years and six weeks in prison. Following his release from prison, Tyson's fights were protested by the National Organization for Women
. Apart from Muhammad Ali
(and later George Foreman
), whose circumstances were very different, no heavyweight champion had ever returned to the ring after an absence as long as three years and retained the skills to compete at the championship level.
As the rounds passed, Tyson was unable to adjust, and found himself being thoroughly outboxed. In the fifth round, Tyson landed a fierce combination, his best of the match, and Holyfield did not stagger. In the sixth, a headbutt
from Holyfield (judged accidental by Halpern) opened a cut over Tyson's left eye, and Tyson also suffered a knockdown, as Holyfield caught him with a left hook to the chest as Tyson rushed in. Holyfield continued parrying Tyson's charges and catching him with punches to the head. With 15 seconds left in the seventh round, Tyson lunged at Holyfield as Holyfield came forward, resulting in a hard clash of heads. Tyson cried out in pain and his knees buckled, but again the referee judged the headbutt to be unintentional. Tyson was examined by the ring doctor, and tied Holyfield up for the rest of the round. During the next two rounds, Tyson continued missing wild punches and absorbing counterpunches from Holyfield. At the end of the tenth round, a punch from Holyfield sent Tyson staggering across the ring. Holyfield chased him into the ropes and landed a series of devastating blows. By the sound of the bell, Tyson was out on his feet and defenseless, but his corner allowed him out for the eleventh. Holyfield quickly landed another brutal extended combination, sending Tyson back into the ropes.
Halpern had seen enough, and he stopped the fight, giving Holyfield one of the most famous upset
victories in the history of boxing. Holyfield also became the first person since Muhammad Ali
to win a heavyweight championship belt three times, although, unlike Ali, Holyfield's third championship win had not been for the lineal
heavyweight title, which was at that time held by George Foreman
.
At the post-fight press conference, Tyson addressed Holyfield: "Thank you very much. I have the greatest respect for you."
Professional Boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
match fought between Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...
and Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
on November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The referee
Referee (boxing)
The referee in the boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match.-The role of the referee:Referees have the following roles:*Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight...
officiating the fight was Mitch Halpern
Mitch Halpern
Mitchell Howard "Mitch" Halpern was a renowned boxing referee who officiated some of boxing's biggest matches....
. The bout was the first fight pitting the two boxers against each other and it would be followed up with a subsequent rematch
Holyfield-Tyson II
Holyfield-Tyson II is a name used to identify the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997, in which Tyson bit Holyfield's ear. The fight was originally billed as Holyfield-Tyson II: The Sound and the Fury and was a follow-up rematch of the first Tyson-Holyfield...
.
Tyson was defending his WBA World Heavyweight Boxing Champion title against Holyfield, who was in the fourth fight of his comeback to boxing after retiring in 1994 following the loss of his undisputed championship to 26-year old Michael Moorer
Michael Moorer
Michael Lee Moorer is a retired American boxer who is a former light heavyweight and heavyweight World Champion.-Biography:Moorer is a native of Monessen, Pennsylvania, which is in Southwestern Pennsylvania.-Professional career:...
, by a 12-round majority decision. It was said that boxing promoter Don King and others saw Holyfield, the former champion, who was 34 at the time of the fight and a huge underdog
Underdog (competition)
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These...
, as a washed up fighter. Holyfield had struggled in his previous fight against a blown up middleweight, Bobby Czyz
Bobby Czyz
Robert Edward "Bobby" Czyz is a retired American boxer. A New Jersey native of mostly Polish and Italian descent, he is both a former world light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion.Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey...
, and in his preceding fight had been knocked out in the eighth round by Riddick Bowe
Riddick Bowe
Riddick Lamont Bowe is a retired American boxer. He is a two-time heavyweight champion and a former undisputed heavyweight champion...
.
A fight between Tyson and Holyfield was first arranged in 1990, when Tyson was the undisputed champion, predicated on Tyson's defeating James "Buster" Douglas. Instead, Douglas handed Tyson the first defeat of his career, stopping him in the 10th round. A grossly out-of-shape Douglas then lost the title to Holyfield in his first defense, on a third-round knockout. 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 in Indiana, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each charge. The judge suspended the last four years of each sentence and ordered the sentences to run concurrently; Tyson ultimately served three years and six weeks in prison. Following his release from prison, Tyson's fights were protested by the National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
. Apart from Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
(and later George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
), whose circumstances were very different, no heavyweight champion had ever returned to the ring after an absence as long as three years and retained the skills to compete at the championship level.
The Fight
Tyson came out fast and sent Holyfield reeling with his first solid punch. Holyfield, who had studied Tyson's style intensively, later explained that Tyson dipped to his left, from which position he usually loaded up a left hook, but on this occasion surprised Holyfield by firing a right cross. Holyfield tied Tyson up and revealed the first surprise of the fight, his superior strength, as he pushed Tyson backwards. Tyson would never seriously hurt Holyfield for the remainder of the fight. Holyfield defended effectively for the rest of round one and hammered Tyson with several counterpunches. At the end of the round Tyson threw a punch after the bell; an unintimidated Holyfield retaliated. In the second, Holyfield drove Tyson into the ropes and stung him with a hard combination, and his strategy for the match became clear. As Tyson mainly threw one punch at a time, Holyfield blocked the first attack, then used his strength to clinch, and shove Tyson backwards. Keeping Tyson on the back foot minimized his power and affected his balance, and gave Holyfield the opportunity to come forward and score with combinations to the head.As the rounds passed, Tyson was unable to adjust, and found himself being thoroughly outboxed. In the fifth round, Tyson landed a fierce combination, his best of the match, and Holyfield did not stagger. In the sixth, a headbutt
Headbutt
A headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead...
from Holyfield (judged accidental by Halpern) opened a cut over Tyson's left eye, and Tyson also suffered a knockdown, as Holyfield caught him with a left hook to the chest as Tyson rushed in. Holyfield continued parrying Tyson's charges and catching him with punches to the head. With 15 seconds left in the seventh round, Tyson lunged at Holyfield as Holyfield came forward, resulting in a hard clash of heads. Tyson cried out in pain and his knees buckled, but again the referee judged the headbutt to be unintentional. Tyson was examined by the ring doctor, and tied Holyfield up for the rest of the round. During the next two rounds, Tyson continued missing wild punches and absorbing counterpunches from Holyfield. At the end of the tenth round, a punch from Holyfield sent Tyson staggering across the ring. Holyfield chased him into the ropes and landed a series of devastating blows. By the sound of the bell, Tyson was out on his feet and defenseless, but his corner allowed him out for the eleventh. Holyfield quickly landed another brutal extended combination, sending Tyson back into the ropes.
Halpern had seen enough, and he stopped the fight, giving Holyfield one of the most famous upset
Upset
An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win , is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom...
victories in the history of boxing. Holyfield also became the first person since Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
to win a heavyweight championship belt three times, although, unlike Ali, Holyfield's third championship win had not been for the lineal
Lineal championship
In professional boxing, the lineal championship of a weight class is a notional world championship title. It is initially held at some moment in time by a boxer universally acclaimed as the best in the class. Another boxer can win the lineal championship only by defeating the reigning lineal...
heavyweight title, which was at that time held by George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
.
At the post-fight press conference, Tyson addressed Holyfield: "Thank you very much. I have the greatest respect for you."
External links
- Katsilometes, John., Holyfield knocks fight out of Tyson, Las Vegas Review-JournalLas Vegas Review-JournalThe Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
, 1996-11-10, Retrieved on 2007-04-19. - Hawk, Joe., Holyfield keeps promise, stuns boxing world in process, Las Vegas Review-JournalLas Vegas Review-JournalThe Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
, 1996-11-10, Retrieved on 2007-04-19. - Tyson-Holyfield Boxing Tickets