Mike
Tyson vs Evander Holyfield I
Billed as "Finally", was a professional
boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the
World Boxing Association heavyweight championship in November 9, 1996
at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's
first defense of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on
September 7 of that year.
The referee officiating the fight was
Mitch Halpern. The fight was promoted by Don King Promotions and carried
on pay-per-view by Showtime.
The bout was the first fight pitting
the two boxers against each other and it would be followed up with
a subsequent rematch.
Background
This was Tyson's first defense
of the WBA championship. Holyfield was fighting for the fourth time
since he elected to return to boxing in 1995; Holyfield had suffered
a defeat at the hands of Michael Moorer in 1994 and lost the WBA and
International Boxing Federation championships, then retired after
the fight due to a heart condition. Since his return, however, Holyfield
had not performed well. After outpointing former contender Ray Mercer
in his first fight back, Holyfield was knocked out by Riddick Bowe
in the eighth round of their third match. Then, in his most recent
fight, Holyfield knocked out an out of shape former cruiserweight
champion Bobby Czyz in five rounds. Don King, Tyson's promoter, saw
Holyfield as a washed up fighter and Holyfield was installed as a
major underdog.
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.
Tyson,
in the meantime, had been somewhat active since his release from prison.
After defeating journeyman Peter McNeeley in his first fight and fringe
contender Buster Mathis Jr. in his follow-up, Tyson regained the World
boxing Council heavyweight championship in Las Vegas on March 16,
1996 by knocking out champion Frank Bruno. Tyson, however, was stripped
of the title for electing to fight Seldon for his WBA title instead
of number one contender Lennox Lewis.
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 int 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.
