Did you buy into the idea that Tyson bit Holyfield's ear......

[Sleepwalker]

.....because he KNEW he was getting his ass kicked and took the easy way out? I remember people making this claim which was totally ridiculous IMO.

Watching the fight as well as the first one, Mike was clearly frustrated by Holyfield's constant headbutts and flipped out in an unprofessional way. There was no "easy way out"

[FinitoElDinamita]

Nope that was some bogus theory made up by the Tyson haters and Holy fans..

I agree with you, Walker.. I mean it's no mystery that Holy's headbutt was a major part of his arsenal... Dude was so vicious with it he makes Bradley look innocent..

Back when this incident happened, everybody, even the time Magazine wrote a piece on it and all they would talk about is how Tyson is an ear munching monster etc etc etc... All they did was paint this man into a villain instead of looking at the real issue..

Tyson was beyond frustrated by Holy's dirty headbutts yet the ref pretty much let him have his way with it so tyson took matters into his own hands.. If the ref isn't gonna do his job, then fuck it, imma go eye for an eye.. That was his mentality and I totally feel where he was coming from..

This is typical in our sport.. Some fighters get a pass for their dirtyness because of who they are and what they have accomplished.. Take Barrera for instance, this dude was one of the dirtiest fighters of the past 15 years yet people rarely spoke in it.. why? cuz he's barrera.. Simliar situation with Holy..

I dont blame Tyson at all for what he did.. How dare you fuckin headbutt me.. Anybody who has been intentionally headbutted during a boxing match would understand how that feels.. And Holy didnt just do it once, twice, or even thrice.... he did it continuously and got away with it..

He had to use that extra weapon cuz he needed that edge over Tyson.. Without the headbutts, the fight could have looked alot different..

[Master]

Tyson quit and he knew he was going to take a beating. If he had a chance he would have butted him back or punched him low, something like biting someone he knew he would get disqualified and when he wasn't the first time he did it again to make sure he would be.

[Taeth]

He wasn't getting beaten in the second fight though, and had landed the bigger punches. I think Mike Tyson got frustrated because he didn't know how to work out on the inside, and because Holyfield head butted him blatantly multiple times.

[ElTerribleMorales]

He wasn't getting beaten in the second fight though, and had landed the bigger punches. I think Mike Tyson got frustrated because he didn't know how to work out on the inside, and because Holyfield head butted him blatantly multiple times.

don't know what you were watching Holyfield was still leading on the cards in the rematch, he landed the cleaner shots and smothered Tyson's attack for the majority of the fight, Mike didn't like going into the later rounds, realized he wasn't getting the win and was well on his way to another stoppage loss so he took the easy way out, not the last time he pulled a dirty stunt like this, didn't he try snapping Francis' arm? didn't he flat out quit against Williams? didn't he again try to snap McBride's arm?

[roberto duran legend]

There is no excuse what Tyson done in the Holyfield fight , he disgraced himself and more importantly he disgraced the noble art ,how anyone can make a excuse for this thug is beyond a joke ,Tyson did get butted , this is boxing the toughest game there is , it happens and always will, he was losing the fight and wanted a way out end of story ,he knew he could not hurt Holyfield , and was in for a long and painfull night, and acted like the bully he was .

[gest12645]

Off topic but when Tyson fought Golota, Tyson had some kind of chemical in his hair, that when he headbutted Golota, Andrew lost his mind and ran away. I remember reading this in some Polish newspaper. I'm a huge Golota fan , but this was just a hilarious and absurd excuse

[ElTerribleMorales]

Off topic but when Tyson fought Golota, Tyson had some kind of chemical in his hair, that when he headbutted Golota, Andrew lost his mind and ran away. I remember reading this in some Polish newspaper. I'm a huge Golota fan , but this was just a hilarious and absurd excuse

must have gotten Tyson's hair follicle in his eye cause the only chemical Tyson had in his hair that night was the THC from the weed he smoked prior to the fight lol

[fairyrak]

i think that the one who starts must pay and not with just 1 silly deduction point, there is a lack of justice in boxing, any headbutts shouldn't be part of boxing, and i like ear bites or almost whatever after headbutts, but only if the fighter who suffers the headbutt is the weaker rival

[VictorCharlie]

Been a while since I watched the fight but my recollection was Tyson was losing and it was going pretty much the same as the first fight. Tyson's lack of mental toughness surfaced and he snapped.

[KananKrus]

I don't buy that Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear because it was an easy way out of a beating he knew he couldn't get out of... I don't buy that hogwash!

If memory serves right, what was remarkable was how inefficient a referee in the caliber of a Judge, Mills Lane, if I remember correctly, have missed those blatantly and inexplicably repetitive head butting on 'Iron' Mike.

It was weird; most Tyson fans felt that there was a disparity in the level of officiating that was on display that night. Inexplicably too, the violations went on all night and only put to a halt once Tyson took it upon himself and taken steps to deliver the very first vicious thought that entered his mind... probably rationalized it as such as an act of self preservation towards someone administering a foul laden beating on him WITH THE BLESSING FROM THE REFEREE!
Several attempts were actually made by Mike to bring the arbitrator's attention to the infractions, but to no avail. Clearly, the chomping of Holyfield's ear was a frustration move on the part of Mike Tyson. I remember in his loss the first time to Evander, he likewise attributed it later to the successive and unopposed head butting that he experienced. So by this, clearly in his mind, he would not have allowed the same infraction to cost him a victory. Kind of a fool me once... but not fool me twice kind of a scenario.

I don't buy into that HOGWASH one bit!

[Sleepwalker]

Just from the few comments, it appears to be split down the middle years later.

[Dark Lord Al]

Tyson copped out because he was not winning , he lost every big fight were the other guy didnt cave in.

[Beanflicker]

Tyson is a complete maniac (or was) and deserves the reputation he has with the public, but I do sympathize with him on the ear biting thing.

Holyfield was headbutting the hell out of him, busting his face up, and Mills Lane just wasn't calling it. People will always remember it as Mike just going crazy for no reason and biting his ear, which is a shame because Mike had good reason to flip out IMO.

[Manos de Piedra]

think he bit his ear because he wanted out. If he was retaliating to the headbutts then he would have gone low or headbutted back. He decided to take a chunck out of his ear and didn't get DQ'd so he went and done it again. That shows he wanted out by making sure he got the DQ.