Nearly 30 years on, the boxing world still remembers Mike Tyson‘s infamous ear bite of Evander Holyfield.
The fight took place in June 1997 and was a highly-anticipated rematch, after Holyfield had beaten Tyson by 11th round stoppage to win the WBA heavyweight title seven months earlier.
This time the fight only reached the third round, when ‘Iron Mike’ saw red and bit a chunk out of the ear of Holyfield, resulting in a disqualification.
Tyson’s boxing license was subsequently revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was fined 3 million dollars due to his actions in the ring, though his license was later reinstated after an appeal.
Boxing trainer and legendary analyst Teddy Atlas worked with Tyson during the early stages of his career, and so knows better than most what may be running through the head of ‘Iron Mike.’
With that in mind, Atlas doesn’t buy the reason Tyson gave that he was becoming frustrated by headbutts from Holyfield. Instead, he said on his podcast exactly what he thinks was the real reason behind the biting.
“We made a case that Mike could be intimidated. He would show it in different ways. He was intimidated by the manliness of Holyfield by biting his ear off. That’s why he bit his ear off, he was too much man for him. He was intimidated.”
Tyson’s biting was also present in his recent controversial fight with Jake Paul, though not in an aggressive manner, where he was seen frequently chewing on his glove throughout the contest. Holyfield has given his take on why his past rival was doing it.
