The Greatest Boxing Matches of the 90s: Evender Holyfield - Mike Tyson
The fight that put Holyfield next to Muhammad Ali
In the 1990s, boxing fans dreamed of only one thing - a high-profile professional match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. A fight between the two best boxers at the time. And maybe for all time.
And the dream comes true. On November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Tyson made his first defense of the WBA world heavyweight title against then-ranked number two Holyfield.
The match is considered one of the greatest boxing duels of the 90s, but we can also count it among the greatest TKO matches. In the following lines, we will recall how the meeting itself developed.
Before the start of the fight, the odds according to the bookies were 25 to 1 in favor of Tyson. Everything suggests that Iron will dominate and should easily win the match. But is this exactly what is happening?
In the beginning yes! Very quickly, Tyson began to land punch after punch and Holyfield was badly shaken. Then comes surprising actions by the world champion, who surprises with a powerful right straight instead of the left hook expected by the challenger. Time for a response on the part of Evander, who decides to pressure Tyson and force him to retreat.
Until the end of the match, there is not a single moment in which Zheleznia manages to hurt his opponent again. By the end of the first round, in which Holyfield was shaken, brilliant defense and counterattacks were demonstrated, in which it almost came to an even score on the judges' cards.
The second round is dominated by Evander, who presses Tyson to the ropes and makes a very good combination. Mike's attempt to land a heavy blow also fails as Holyfield blocks the first attack and then uses his power to clinch. Shortly after, the contender for the world title also gets a chance to deliver more accurate blows to the opponent's head after a super combination.
As the rounds went by, Tyson never adjusted to his opponent's game. In the fifth round, the world champion lands a brutal combination, and Holyfield shows that he has no room to relax. In the sixth part, we get to the most controversial moment in the match - a head kick from Evander, which opened a wound above the left eye of Mike Tyson, but the main referee of the match considered that Holyfield's action was accidental. This immediately gives the challenger a chance to deliver a heavy left hook to the champion's chest and drop him to the ground. Tyson stands up and gets aggressive, but Holyfield's brilliant defense is textbook.
The end of the seventh round is also memorable. In a call of desperation, Mike aggressively lunges at his opponent with 15 seconds remaining, but because of Evander's reaction, only a heavy collision ensues, from which the champion is injured. Again there are complaints against the judge, but he is still of the opinion that everything is accidental. After the intervention of the doctors, the fight continued, but in the next two rounds, the champion's punches did not find the target, and instead Tyson received bomb after bomb to his head.
At the end of the tenth round, Holyfield managed to seriously shake his opponent and deliver a heavy series of blows, while Tyson ran to the ropes. Only the fact that the champion's headquarters do not broadcast allows viewers to see the 11th part as well. However, she is the last one for the match as Holyfield quickly lands a powerful combination and sends Tyson into the ropes. This causes the referee to stop the match and give the challenger the world title.
The match will also be remembered for the fact that Evander Holyfield became the first boxer since Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight championship belt three times, although this victory was not for the same organization that the previous two came for. And the words of Mike Tyson after the match are eloquent: "Thank you! I respect you immensely.”