There are few people in sports who are more recognizable than Mike Tyson.
Often regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, he has also made a name for himself through various bizarre incidents.
We’re not talking about his cameos on “The Hangover” or even getting a huge tribal tattoo on his face, but his iconic, and now infamous, feud with Evander Holyfield.
Most notably, today marks the 26th anniversary of that legendary fight between these two legends, when Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear off.
Holyfield was obviously declared the winner following Tyson’s disqualification, and fans took to Twitter to reminisce about that legendary fight nearly three decades later.
Holyfield beat him twice, yes. But he is still in the top 5 of all.
—Clarence Beeks, Jr. (@ClarenceBeeksJr) June 28, 2023
This is funny 😱😱
— Smart Gadgets (@smartgadgetsg) June 28, 2023
Well this makes me feel old 😬
—Scott Jacobsen (@statobsession) June 28, 2023
Show me in the rule book where it says you can’t bite
— Joshua (@JoshySpeez) June 28, 2023
And 26 years later, Loma fans are still crying over a “robbery”
— RealOG (@realOGfr) June 28, 2023
It’s worth noting that Tyson was out for revenge at the time.
Just a year before that fight, Holyfield had handed him the second loss of his entire professional career, so it obviously meant more to him.
At just 30 years old, Mike was still looking to get back to the top of the boxing scene, and another loss to Holyfield would have been a disaster for his aspirations.
Iron Tyson was also looking to get back on his feet after spending 13 months in prison, arguably the prime of his career, always arguing that he would have beaten Holyfield in 1991 when they were originally supposed to fight.
But Holyfield was too much to handle in the first two rounds of that rematch, so Tyson felt he had no choice but to go to some desperate measures to beat him.
It’s safe to say it didn’t work.
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