Mike Tyson Takes A Bite of Evander Holyfield's Ear
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The Bite Fight (also known in some circles as "Bite Night" or "Bite of the Century") is a name sometimes used to identify the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997, in which Tyson bit off a portion of 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 I fight.
The fight began with Holyfield dominating the smaller Tyson but doing no real damage. Tyson seemed slow in the first two rounds and lost both.
Problems started when a clash of heads in the second round opened a three-inch cut over Tyson's right eye. Tyson had repeatedly complained about head butting in the first bout between the two. A time-out was called briefly, but since there was no indication at the time that Holyfield had intentionally fouled Tyson, no point deduction was taken from Holyfield. Tyson continued the second round with blood trickling into his eye.
As the third round was about to begin, Tyson came out of his corner without his mouthpiece. Referee Mills Lane ordered Tyson back to his corner to insert it. The two fighters got back into position and the match resumed. Tyson rushed hard at Holyfield, catching him with a solid right and then a combination. Suddenly, with 40 seconds left in the 3rd round, the fight took an unexpected turn. Holyfield got Tyson in a clinch, and Tyson rolled his head above Holyfield's shoulder and bit Holyfield's right ear, taking a piece off of it with the force of the bite. Holyfield pushed Tyson away and started hopping up and down in pain, spinning around in a circle holding his ear.
Lane called for a time-out, Holyfield turned to walk to his corner, and Tyson ran up to Holyfield and pushed his back, startling both the crowd and Holyfield, who fell into the ropes. Lane quickly moved Tyson and directed Holyfield back to his corner as Tyson walked calmly back to his. The fight was delayed for several minutes as Lane told Tyson he was penalizing him with a two-point deduction. A physician examined Holyfield's ear and determined he could continue to fight.
The fight resumed with 30 seconds left in the round. The two fought into another clinch. With 22 seconds remaining in the round, Tyson craned his neck around again and bit Holyfield's left ear. Holyfield threw his hands around to get out of the clinch and jumped back as Tyson waved his arms in a "come on" motion. Lane did not stop the fight this time, so the two men continued fighting until time expired. The men walked back to their respective corners when the fight was then stopped. After the fight was stopped, Tyson tried to get at Holyfield and Holyfield's trainer Brooks while they were still in their corner. Tyson took swings at everyone who got in his way, including a police officer, until he was finally held back into his corner. Announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the unprecedented decision: "Referee Mills Lane has disqualified Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield on both of his ears."
Later, Tyson was walking back to his locker room when a fan tossed a full bottle of water in his direction. Tyson climbed over a temporary railing and up into the stands, made obscene gestures to the crowd, and made his way up the side of a stairway before he was dragged to his locker room. Tyson was suspended and his license withheld.
