Boxing
The bite heard around the world: Tyson-Holyfield II, 28 years on
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If someone were to speak these words to you, in this sequence, what image would come to mind? "Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield". If you were to mention even a flash of a moment from the 33 minutes that made up their first fight, or the first eight of their infamous rematch, you would find yourself in a peculiar, minuscule minority.
The iconography of boxing's history contains certain visuals that almost transcend the sport. Show a pedestrian on most streets, in most countries around the world, that photograph of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston – swinging a glove and snarling at his fallen foe – and probability suggests they would have seen it before. Some time, some place. The same could be said of the overhead shot of The Greatest, walking off with his arms aloft, as Cleveland Williams stares vaguely towards that distant lens, sprawled on his back like a child carving an angel in the snow.
Yet it could be argued that no scene from this unique sport is as recognisable as Tyson biting into Holyfield's ear – not once but twice – and drawing blood, on a spring night at the MGM Grand in 1997.
You can probably picture it now. Holyfield bouncing up and down on the sky-blue canvas, spinning as he does so, his red glove trying to clutch his reddening right ear as he complains to referee Mills Lane. The fighters remarkably, briefly, resuming the round. Maybe you have even tried to imagine the pain before – the pain of Tyson sinking his teeth into the flesh of the ear.
(Getty Images)
What you might not know, or remember, is that two minutes and 20 seconds prior, Tyson, then 45-2 (39), was sent back to his corner, having forgotten his mouthguard at the beginning of round three. Consider the damage that might have been done in an alternate timeline.
Lane did not know how to react, but calling a timeout was a sensible first move. It also should have given Holyfield, 33-3 (24), reasonable respite from the order to ‘protect yourself at all times’, yet Tyson – consumed by some incomprehensible rage and not content with failing to consume any of his fellow American's ear – bore down on Holyfield, who was facing away from his rival. Tyson even managed to fire off a punch, sending a disorientated Holyfield onto the ropes before Lane was able to usher ‘Iron’ Mike away.
"What happened here?" was the commentary call. "He got bit, I think, he's got bit in the ear," came the colour commentator's response. "Oh my goodness, he's got a bloody right ear! Holyfield bit by a dirty Mike Tyson! Mike biting Holyfield in the right ear! Disgusting tactics here by Mike Tyson!"
Holyfield's team drenched his ear with water, as the then-34-year-old shook his head. Lane's instinct, as he spoke to the bout's commissioner, was to disqualify Tyson, 30 years old at the time. Yet after conversing with the ringside doctor, who had inspected the crimson wound, Lane decided the fight could and would continue, with Tyson deducted two points.
The action soon resumed with barely 20 seconds left in the round. But it was time enough for Tyson to gnaw at Holyfield's left ear, as the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ justified his monicker in the most-unhinged way. This time, with Lane failing to see the incident, Holyfield's reaction was to storm forward and swing at Tyson, who beckoned him forward. "It's a miracle he didn't get bit back!" calls one commentator.
The fight, which should not have continued after the first bite, certainly could not continue at this point. Lane finally waved it off, as Holyfield – seven months after his 11th-round upset of Tyson – went 2-0 over his compatriot, thanks to a DQ ruling.
Bedlam ensued. With Holyfield contained in one corner, Tyson tried to get to him, swinging punches at police who had just entered the ring. "Bulls***" was the chant from the Las Vegas crowd, who had been chanting Tyson's name just minutes earlier; clearly, they were still in his corner.
That speaks to the enigmatic cult of Mike Tyson. By this time, he had already spent three years in prison after being convicted of rape. Still, he was beloved by many fans, or at least he fascinated them. And when reviewing a night like 28 June 1997 at the MGM Grand, the scene of his infamous bloodying of Holyfield's ear, that fascination is somewhat easier to understand – even if the support is not.
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Still, some argue that, while Tyson was not justified in biting Holyfield, he was justified in losing his temper in their rematch. Tyson had complained about repeated headbutts from Holyfield in their first bout, in November 1996, and Holyfield appeared to get away with some more in the rematch. Tyson, in his way, was taking things into his own hands.
“I bit him because I wanted to kill him,” Tyson told Fox News in 2020. “I was really mad about my head being bumped and everything. I really lost consciousness of the whole fight. It took me out of my fight plan and everything.”
Holyfield, a religious man, told Joe Rogan in 2019: “This prophet told me before the fight that, ‘[Tyson] going to do something in your face area, but you got to stay focused, ‘cause if you don’t stay focused, that’s the only way he’s going to get you.’
“My corner person told me to keep my mind on the Lord. I thought [Tyson] was going to hit me with an elbow or a headbutt, but I never, ever thought in my life he would bite me on the ear. And it hurt so bad. When people ask me how bad it hurt, I say: ‘Did you see how high I jumped in the air?’
“My corner guy kept telling me to keep my mind on the Lord, and I didn’t want to hear that. I was just trying to remember to get him. I wanted to bite him, I really wanted to bite him back. But all of a sudden, it hit my mind, they always catch the second person.”
Remarkably, Tyson and Holyfield have been on good terms for some time. The public has always wanted to offer Tyson forgiveness, and in Holyfield, he might just have found the most forgiving rival of all. Everyone heard about the bite, but it was only Holyfield who felt it.
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