Pro boxing saw an infamous moment when pro boxing legend Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear in their controversial rematch. ‘The Real Deal’ recently admitted that he was considering biting his rival in the face.
Evander Holyfield talks about Mike Tyson
Holyfield first emerged victorious against Tyson in 1996 to win the WBA heavyweight title. Their rivalry is one of the greatest chapters in pro boxing. They met in a rematch just eight months later. Now referred to as ‘The Bite Fight’, it will forever be imprinted in the history books after Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ear in the third round.
Before the disqualification, Tyson was complaining about illegal headbutts from Holyfield that opened up a cut above his eye. He came out of his corner without his mouthpiece in the third round, before being forced to put it back in.
The bite took an inch of cartilage off of Holyfield’s ear as he shrieked in pain in the middle of the ring. He now claims that a prophet “told him” his rival would do something to irritate him during the fight.
Holyfield recently recalled the incident on the I Am Athlete podcast:
“A prophet told me that it would happen. He’s going to do something to tick you off. You gotta keep your mind on the lord. In the ghetto, if they do something to you, you do it worse. People didn’t realise I was getting ready to bite him right in the doggone face! My grandmother always said, ‘They always catch the second person’.”
Holyfield was looking forward to fighting Tyson last year, but admits the outcome of their two previous meetings makes a trilogy seem wrong. He continued:
“I beat him twice. I felt it was wrong for me to ask him to fight me. I don’t know [if he’s scared]. Therefore, I would never ask a person. But if they called me to fight in two days, I’d be there to fight in two days. I always want to be the best that I can be.”
