Throughout his career, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson had plenty of highs and lows in the ring. One of those disappointing moments was biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during a match. It’s something that has stuck with him well after his boxing career came to a close. Looking back at that incident, Tyson has an interesting perspective on how he would have handled it again.

Mike Tyson’s infamous bite of Evander Holyfield’s ear

Before Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield clashed in June 1997, the two had taken on each other nearly a year before in November 1996. It was a match with plenty of hype as Tyson was heading into his fifth fight into his comeback.

He had won his three previous fights by knockout heading into that mega-fight with only the Buster Douglas loss to his resume. Meanwhile, Holyfield was going into his fourth fight in his comeback after he had retired in 1994. The first fight saw the bought go 11 rounds before the referee Mitch Halpern stopped the match.

That set the table for the infamous rematch with Tyson motivated to bounce back after his second-career loss. The second match had a very different tone as it was one that Holyfield took control early on before things took a crazy turn in the third round after Tyson bit part of his right ear.
Referee Mills Lane had initially disqualified Tyson, but after consulting with ringside doctors docked him two points. After the fight resumed, He bit Holyfield again on the other ear.

Following the round, Tyson was disqualified, leading to much controversy. In the years that have followed, the former heavyweight champion has taken an intriguing perspective at the situation.

Mike Tyson would have bit Evander Holyfield again

In the years that have followed, it has allowed Mike Tyson to gather a greater outlook on the matter that played a part in changing the course of his career.

Tyson and Evander Holyfield have each patched things up with an amended friendship of sorts. The former voiced back in 2017 to Steiner Sports he would have gone through with the same actions that he did during that fight all over again.

“I would probably do the same thing. He was really kicking my ass and bumping my head. So yeah, I think I would do it again. I’m sorry guys, but I am kind of redeeming myself.”

Tyson has revealed that he had gone that because he felt he was getting unfair treatment during the fight. His camp firmly held the belief that Holyfield was headbutting him in both matches, which led to his retaliation of biting part of his opponent’s ear.

In many ways, the expectation is that he would have handled the situation differently in hindsight, but Tyson doesn’t believe he would have acted in any other way. It adds another layer of craziness to the entire ordeal that has forever linked the two all-time great fighters.

Mike Tyson’s unpredictability

One thing that has become blatantly clear over the years is that Mike Tyson has quite an unpredictable personality.

It hasn’t been easy at times to gauge how he will react to certain situations, given his life experiences. There have been any many ups and downs along the way, with much of that shading toward the latter.

Tyson’s comments are puzzling when given the fallout from the incident, but his mindset in the ring is much different from anywhere else. At that moment, he was looking to retaliate any way he could, and biting Evander Holyfield’s ear was what he thought was the best method.

It’s a part of the intriguing and fascination that many have with Tyson over the years, especially now with his reported comeback attempt.