Bite Club; Lend Me Your Ear

Boxing history changed forever on June 28, 1997, when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear during their heavyweight championship rematch. That shocking moment serves as the centerpiece of this deep dive into one of sports' most fascinating rivalries.

We journey through Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield's remarkable career path - from his humble beginnings as a boxing-obsessed 7-year-old in Atlanta to becoming the only four-time heavyweight champion in boxing history. His disciplined approach and resilience carried him from Olympic bronze to multiple world titles across two weight classes.

Contrasting Holyfield's story, Mike Tyson emerged from Brooklyn's toughest neighborhoods where he'd been arrested 38 times by age 13. When juvenile detention counselor Bobby Stewart recognized Tyson's potential and introduced him to legendary trainer Cus D'Amato, it changed the trajectory of boxing forever. Tyson's fearsome reputation as "The Baddest Man on the Planet" made him boxing's most intimidating figure before personal struggles derailed his career.

What makes this rivalry truly compelling isn't just their contrasting styles or the infamous ear bite - it's their unexpected evolution from bitter enemies to business partners. Today, they market "Holy Ears" cannabis gummies together, with Tyson quipping, "If I was on cannabis, I wouldn't have bit his ear." Their journey from that bloody night in Vegas to reconciliation offers a powerful story about redemption and second chances.

Have you followed other great sports rivalries? Share your thoughts with us at [e-mail] or connect with us on social media @likewhateverpod.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Like Whatever a podcast for, by and
about Gen X.
This is Nicole and this is myBFF, heather.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hey, you got the extra F in there today.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I did.
How about it?
I was very conscious of it.
How about it.
So how was your week?
It's really hot, it is, it'scrazy hot, it's ridiculous.
Yeah, it's like Arizona hot,yeah, and we have humidity in
Arizona.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
No, you can literally chew the air right now.
It's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
You step outside and you're immediately soft and
sweat.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
It's so gross Like you can't even get in the car,
Literally.
When I got in the car today, itsaid 111.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
When I left work.
Yep, yeah, I still stand bythough that I'm a summer person
and I hate the winters.
I will take this weather allday, long over being cold, I
would rather winters.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
I will take this weather all day long over being
cold.
I would rather be cold.
You can put more clothes on.
You can only get so naked.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, but sometimes when I get cold, I get cold to
the bone and I just cannot fall.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
But you can get in a hot shower.
Okay, we need to disagree.
So the one thing we disagree onI am a winter person.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yes, I'm not built for summer.
Yeah, ridiculous, true, summeris definitely not your thing.
No, it's um.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Also this week was the um anniversary of jaws yes,
happy 50 I know I love thatmovie.
I watched it.
I've watched it like threetimes this week, I forget what
else I was gonna watch too.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
There too, I posted it on our socials.
There's a 50th anniversarydocumentary coming out on Nat
Geo in July I don't rememberwhen, but the whole making of it
Spielberg's in it.
They talk in the commercialabout how the shark didn't work

(02:06):
half the time and like.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
So I am really excited for that that's the
reason that movie worked,because the shark didn't work.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, and that's what Spielberg says in the
commercial too, he said, themovie I thought that was going
to end my career launched thishuge career for me.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Jaws is just, you know, just one of those, just
the greatest movie ever made.
I don't care, it really is,it's perfect, I love it.
What else we?

Speaker 2 (02:31):
bombed Iran.
Yeah, that was fun to wake upto Monday morning Was it.
Monday morning or Sundaymorning.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
I don't remember, I don't know.
All the days just run together.
All the nonsense, just runstogether.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
No, when I went to bed last night, that I was going
to wake up to World War III thenext day.
Somebody go warn me.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
What a turn of events .
Is it 1994 again?
Yeah, so that's the thingthat's happening.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
I'm going to pull a Heather here and take leave of
explaining my week.
Yes, Because it has been a week.
She's had a week and I willshare with all of you at some
point.
But I am not ready at thispoint.
But know that I am good and Inever do anything during the
week, so I'm the most boringperson ever on the planet.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
I didn't, oh no, I know what I did this week.
You know my casino app and Ifound out that there's poker
tournaments, yeah.
So I had enough points to do aslot tournament and I was like

(03:47):
I'll do that because I didn'twant to put any more money on
there, and I ended up coming insecond place on that and I ended
up winning $30.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yay, I know, yeah, I love playing poker, but I get in
my own head Like I cannot folda pair.
I don't care how low it is, andI know that is not the right
thing to do.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
My issue is slow playing.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
It's hard to slow play.
Yes, yes.
I like it.
It's fun.
They do have some freetournaments on there.
Okay, ticket rolls or something.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
I haven't tried that because if I'm going to play I
want to win, but it's like $200you win for $5 buy-in To come in
first.
Yeah, you have to win it.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh, it's all, or nothing, okay yeah.
Are they all all or nothing?
Mm-hmm yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
And you're guaranteed it's.
If you're, you're guaranteed200 if you win and it goes up.
The more people that join, itgoes up, so at one point it was
up to like almost 400.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah see, I'm definitely not good enough to
win.
I could maybe get lucky and endup in a top 10 or a top five
maybe, but it's been so longthat I've played so I've played
with a lot of really good pokerplayers, like guys who go to
casinos and stuff and sit downand do those hours-long

(05:12):
tournaments and win, so I knowhow bad I am.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
And I know how good other people are.
If you ever play with Nicole,realize she doesn't fold a pair.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
So if I keep calling you she probably got a pair.
I probably have a pair ofthrees, so just pray and then
another three hits.
She's a bluffer.
I'm not really good at thateither.
My anxiety gets me and I startgetting antsy.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
They still do it Around here.
It's a poker club, I guess,kind of a thing, where it's like
a?
Um.
It's a poker club, I guess kindof a thing, where it's free and
um it's in the different barsand restaurants and you go and
yeah, anyway.
Um, so my dad and I would goall all the time and um as less
people are there, they movetables, they condense the tables

(06:01):
down so that you know you'renot.
It starts out really big andit's basically a big poker
tournament, right, but it's free.
And then the top I want to sayit's the top three or four get
um the winner, you, you earnpoints and then like, if you get
so many points, it gets youinto a tournament in dover I did
get into it if, if you win thetable, you automatically get a

(06:23):
tournament entry and over.
And anyway, so that I never sat.
He brought me in.
He it's his fault.
He was like you should comeplay.
So I did, and then, like myfourth or fifth time there we
ended up at the same table andeverybody knew him because he
had been playing for like a yearwhen I came in and they all

(06:46):
just was like and then of course, what happens?
But he and I have to have ashowdown where everybody else
and everybody's like oh, how'sthis gonna?
go and I bluffed him and I wonand everybody at the table was
like, oh damn, she bluffed youand she won Blah, blah, blah,

(07:07):
and I was like he never knowswhen I was lying to him.
He was like you think that andI was like I just proved it, but
it was good fun.
I should do that again, I don't.
Anyway, it's called Poker atthe Beach and it's a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
I would enjoy that sometime.
Yeah, we should do it it is alot of fun.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
I'll check and see where they.
I know it's just down here, butwe'll wait till the winter.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
There's far too many people down there.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
It's very limited in the summer here.
Oh, okay, because you're takingup like the whole.
The whole point of it is, youknow, a lot of these restaurants
and bars didn't have a wholelot of people in there in the
wintertime and it brings peoplein.
You're eating and drinking andwhatever.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
It's smart.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
It really was smart Anyway.
So yeah, that's our time.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yep.
So before she gets startedwhich, by the way, I literally
at this time right now have noidea what the topic is tonight
because I didn't tell her, shedidn't tell me and my head's
been in a million differentplaces this week and I didn't
even think to ask.
So but anyway, please like ratereview.
It really does help us on anyof the outlets that you use to

(08:25):
listen to your podcast or onsocial medias.
We would like to get ourfollowings up high enough so
that maybe we can start making alittle money off of our socials
.
It's starting to slowly growagain.
It went through like a growthspurt and then it plateaued for
a little bit and it's startingto grow again.
But we are on all the socials.
If you'd like to email, emailus, uh, anyway, on all the

(08:47):
socials, at like whatever pod,um, and you can email us at like
whatever pod at gmailcom, andplease just click that little
fifth star.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
there you go okay, so it is my week and I actually
knew what my subject was goingto be before we did last week's
episode.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
You know what I just thought of my next week's
episode?
I'm not telling you what it is,damn it.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
I'll ask her 500 times.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
I don't want to be surprised.
She will.
She has to know, you have toknow.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
So we are going to fuck around and find out about
tyson and holyfield?

Speaker 2 (09:30):
oh, I know you'll be so excited.
I named my cat after mike tyson.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
I know I get my information from um a whole
bunch of different britannicacomSports Illustrated.
There was a ton of different.
Yeah, so Evander, the Real DealHolyfield was born October 19th
1962, in Atmore, Alabama.

(09:55):
The youngest of nine, raised inAtlanta, he began boxing at age
seven and won the Boys ClubBoxing Tournament.
At 13, he qualified to competein his first Junior Olympics by
15,.
Holyfield became theSoutheastern Regional Champion,
winning the tournament and theBest Boxer Award by 84,.
He had a record of 160 wins and14 losses, with 76 by knockout.

(10:19):
When he was 20, Holyfieldrepresented the US in the 1983
Pan American Games in Caracas,Venezuela, where he won a silver
medal after losing to Cubanworld champion Pablo Romero.
Following year he was anational golden gloves champion
and won a bronze medal in the1984 Summer Olympics in Los
Angeles.
Holyfield started outprofessionally as a light

(10:42):
heavyweight with a televised winin six rounds over Lionel Byram
at Madison Square Garden onNovember 15th 1984.
On January 20th 1985, he wonanother six-round decision over
Eric Winbush in Atlantic City.
On March 13th he knocked outFred Brown in the first round in
Northbrook, Virginia, and onApril 20th he knocked out Mark
Rivera.

(11:02):
So what I thought I would?
Just?
I probably should have saidthis in the beginning.
Here we are.
I'm just going to do both oftheir careers up until that and
then yes, so hang on, I love it.
You get to know all aboutHolyfield.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
My dad loved boxing, so I grew up watching boxing, so
I have grew up watching boxingso I have a.
I have an affinity for it.
I'm not particularly intofighting like UFC stuff like
that I'm not into, but I do likea good boxing match.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
I don't mind boxing.
It's not my favorite thing towatch, but I will.
If it's on, I'll watch it.
Yeah, which is weird becauseRocky is my favorite movie.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
True, but that's a love story, not a box movie.
That's a good point.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Moving on.
On March 13th he knocked outFred Brown in the first round in
Norfolk, virginia, and on April20th he knocked out Mark
Riviera in two rounds in CorpusChristi.
Both he and his next opponent,tyrone Booze, moved up to the
cruiserweight division for theirfight.
On July 20th 1985 in Norfolk,holyfield won an eight round

(12:07):
decision over booze.
He then went on to knock outrick myers in the first round on
august 29th in his hometown ofatlanta.
On october 30th in atlanticcity, holyfield knocked out
opponent jeff meacham in fiverounds and his last fight for
1985 was against anthony davison december 21st in Virginia
Beach.
He began in 86 with a knockoutin three rounds over former

(12:29):
world cruiserweight challengeroh this one, I'll not know
Chiseandro Moody, and proceededto beat Jesse Shelby and Terry
Mims before he was given a worldtitle try by the WBA
cruiserweight champion, dwightMuhammad Kawhi, in what was
called by the ring as the bestcruiserweight bout of the 1980s.

(12:51):
Holyfield became world championby defeating Kawhi by a narrow
15-round split decision.
He culminated in 86 with a tripto Paris where he beat my
brothers by a knockout and threein a non-title bout, mike
Brothers by a knockout and threein a non-title bout.
In 87, he defended his titleagainst former Olympic teammate
and gold medal winner HarryTillman, who had beaten Mike

(13:12):
Tyson twice as an amateur.
He retained his belt, winningby seventh round knockout, and
then went on to unify his WBAbelt with the IBF belt held by
Ricky Parquet, knocking Parquetout in three rounds.
For his next bout, he returnedto France where he retained the
title with an 11-round knockoutagainst former world champion

(13:33):
Ozzy Osco.
In the last fight of 1987, heoffered Muhammad Kwai a rematch
and this time he beat Kwai byknockout in only four rounds.
I think I knew he was this good.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, I guess I did but I mean, yeah, of course he
was, but I didn't follow it likeI mean, as a kid I didn't right
no stats and who they'replaying and how good they are.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
But Tyson kind of took over the whole stratus.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Tyson was just, he was just his own entity yeah,
like he just took over the wholeyeah, yeah uh, 88 was another
product.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Well, that's why I did so much on holyfield,
because, like you, you mostlyknow, and actually to be
perfectly honest, up until theirfight there was not a whole lot
of like this kind of stuff ontyson.
It was hard to yeah, like itwas just like I don't.
I think he just really kind ofcame up on the.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
It was hard to yeah, like it was just like I don't.
I think he just really kind ofcame up on the streets and then
just hit the ground running yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
When he got into the professional 88 was another
productive year for Holyfield.
He started by becoming thefirst universally recognized
world cruiserweight champion.
After defeating the lineal andWC WBC champion Carlos de Leon
at Las Vegas, the fight wasstopped after eight rounds.
After that fight he announcedhe was moving up in weight to

(14:52):
pursue the World HeavyweightChampionship held by Tyson.
His first fight as aheavyweight took place on July
16th when he beat former Tysonrival James Quick Tillis by a
knockout in five in Lake Tahoe.
Tillis had gone the distancewith Tyson.
For his third and final bout of88, he beat former heavyweight
champion Pinklin Thompson, alsoby knockout, in seven rounds.

(15:14):
I do love a knockout man.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, when they hit the ground and they have no idea
where they are.
Yeah, it's my favorite, and Iknow that that is so savage, but
it's the game.
Yes, yes, they chose to be inthere.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
So yeah, um, holyfield began 89 meeting
another former heavyweightchampion, michael dokes.
The fight was named one of thebest fights of the 80s by ring
magazine.
But holyfield just had all thegood fights, um, as best
heavyweight bout of the 1980s,holyfield won by a knockout in
the 10th and then he metBrazilian champion Addison
Rodriguez, who lasted two rounds.

(15:51):
His last fight of the 80s wasagainst Alex Stewart, a
hard-punching fringe contender.
Stewart shocked Holyfield earlywith quick, hard punches but
eventually fell in eight.
Holyfield had been promised atitle shot against Tyson in 1990
, before that fight could occur.
In what many consider to be thebiggest upset in boxing history,
relatively unknown boxer, 29year old, 231 pound buster

(16:14):
douglas, defeated the 23 yearold, 218 pound mike tyson in 10
rounds in tokyo to become thenew undisputed heavyweight
champion.
Instead of fighting tyson,holyfield was douglas's first
title defense.
So they met.
October 25th 1990.
Douglas came into the fight at246 pounds and offered little in

(16:37):
a fight against holyfield whowas in ideal shape at 208 pounds
.
In the third round douglastried to start a combination
with a big right uppercut.
Holyfield countered with astraight right hand and Douglas
went down for the count.
Holyfield was the newundefeated, undisputed
heavyweight champion of theworld.
At the time of the knockout,holyfield was ahead on all three

(16:58):
judges' scorecards.
Also, I think I do rememberlike this time, did fights ever
go longer than three rounds?
I mean, everybody got knockedout in, like the third.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
It seemed like it was never it does feel like back
then it used to be just boomyeah, and I don't know if um,
boxers just are.
Well, I feel like all athletesare bigger, faster, stronger now
, yeah, um, just because youknow, they don't smoke and drink
in the gym, and that's true,they.

(17:30):
They eat very, very, veryselective diets, and that is
true.
There's all this other stuff,so maybe they just have more
stamina now, maybe I don't know,I just feel like I feel like
back then, like the strongestguy won, like hands down.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
And now it's like you could compete if you work hard
enough.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
And.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
Don't smoke and drink in the gym.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, I know baseball players did that, football
players did that.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
I'm sure all of them did I mean Mickey smoked a cigar
the whole time yeah, I knowhe's not real everybody but shut
up.
In his first defense he beatformer and future world champion
George Foreman by unanimousdecision.
The fight was billed as abattle for the ages, a reference
to the age difference betweenthe young undefeated champion,

(18:21):
who was 28, and the much olderGeorge Foreman, who was 42.
I remember that one.
Yeah, iorge, for I like georgeforeman.
Holyfield weighed in at 208pounds and foreman weighed in at
257.
I do remember them like I don'tknow that maybe he took that
one so serious.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Whatever, yeah, he probably thought it was an old
man.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah foreman, lost the fight by a unanimous
decision but surprised many bylasting the whole 12 rounds
against a much younger opponent,even staggering Holyfield a few
times and knocking him offbalance in the seventh round.
Then a deal was signed for himto defend his crown against Mike
Tyson in November of 91.
Tyson delayed the fight,claiming he was injured in

(19:01):
training, but was then convictedfor the rape of Desiree
Washington and sentenced to sixyears in prison.
So the fight, claiming he wasinjured in training but was then
convicted for the rape ofdesiree washington and sentenced
to six years in prison.
So the fight did not happen atthat time.
They did fight in 96.
Uh, holyfield won by a tko inone yeah, in 11 and a rematch in
97, which I will go into later.
Okay, uh, 92.

(19:24):
He faced 42 year old formerheavyweight champion larry
holmes and had just pulled offan upset against who had just
pulled off uh, upset against raymercer.
During the bout, holyfieldsuffered the first scar of his
career, with a gash opening upover his eye.
The result of holmes elbow hisfirst scar yeah.
The fight ended with a unanimousdecision in favor holyfield, in

(19:47):
the beginning of a trilogy ofbouts with the 25 year old
riddick bow, who had won asilver medal in the 88 olympics
in the super heavyweightdivision.
He suffered his first defeatwhen bow won the undisputed
title by a 12 round unanimousdecision in Vegas.
Round 10 of that bout was namedthe round of the year by the

(20:08):
ring.
Holyfield was knocked down inround 11.
He made the mistake of gettinginto a slug fest with the
younger, bigger and stronger bow, leading to his defeat.
He began at 93 by beating AlexStewart in a rematch, but this
time it was a 12-round unanimousdecision.

(20:28):
The second of the Bo Holyfieldsaga was November 6, 1993.
In what is considered by manysporting historians as one of
the most bizarre moments inboxing's history, during round
seven the crowd got off theirfeet and many people started to
run for cover and yell.
Holyfield took his eyes off bowfor one moment and then told

(20:51):
bow to look up to the skies.
What they saw was a man in aparachute flying dangerously
close to them.
Yeah, the man almost enteredthe ring, but his parachute had
gotten entangled in the lightsand he landed on the ropes and
apron of the ring.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
What an idiot.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
He was then pulled into the crowd where he was
beaten by members of Bo'sentourage.
Oh shit.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
There was testosterone flying everywhere.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Bo's pregnant wife, Judy, fainted and he had to be
taken to the hospital from thearena.
20 minutes later, calm wasrestored and Holyfield went on
to recover his world heavyweighttitle with a closed 12-round
majority decision.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Do you know why the guy Came down in the parachute?

Speaker 1 (21:43):
No.
The man who parachuted down tothe middle of the ring became
known as the fan man, and thefight itself became known as the
fan man fight.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Oh, okay, so he just wanted to.
I guess he just wanted to.
He was trying to beinsta-famous, I guess Go viral.
Yeah, he went.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
He did go viral.
Oh, okay, go viral.
Yeah, he went.
He did go viral.
Um, oh, okay, so holyfield'svictory over bow that year
helped holyfield be named as wbceight.
No abc is because it's wb,abc's wide world of sports
athlete of the year for 1993 Ilove the wide world of sports, I
know is this the one Iseriously doubt?

(22:24):
It with all the sports channelsand stuff that are on.
Huh, In 1990, Holyfield beatSeamus McDonald knocking him out
in four rounds by this time,holyfield had been Ring
Magazine's number one contenderfor two years and had yet to
receive a shot at Tyson'sheavyweight title.

(22:45):
His next fight, april 94, hemet former WBO light heavyweight
Michael Moore, who wasattempting to become the first
Southpaw to become theuniversally recognized world
heavyweight champion.
He dropped Moore in round twobut lost a 12-round majority
decision.
When he went to the hospital tohave his shoulder checked, he

(23:06):
was diagnosed with a heartcondition and had to announce
his retirement from boxing.
It later surfaced that thechairman of the Medical Advisory
Board for the Nevada StateAthletic Commission believed his
condition to be consistent withHGH use Cheater.
However, watching a televisionshow hosted by preacher Benny
Hinn Do you remember Benny Hinn?

Speaker 2 (23:29):
I do remember Benny Hinn.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Holyfield says he felt his heart heal.
He and Hinn subsequently becamefriends and he became a
frequent visitor to Hinn'scrusades.
In fact, during this timeHolyfield went to visitor to
Hinn's crusades.
In fact, during this timeHolyfield went to a Benny Hinn
crusade in Philadelphia, had him, he had him lay hands on him
and gave him a check for$265,000.

(23:53):
After he was told he was healed, he then passed his next
examination by the boxingcommission.
So I don't know, Maybe, I guesshe was healed Apparently.
But he did later state that hisheart was misdiagnosed due to
the morphine pumped into hisbody.
He returned to the ring with a10 round decision with versus

(24:18):
former Olympic gold medalist RayMercer in 95.
And he was the first man toknock down Mercer.
And then Holyfield and Bowe hadtheir rubber match.
Holyfield knocked Bowe downwith a single left hook, but
Bowe prevailed by a knockout ineight.
Holyfield later claimed that hecontracted hepatitis before the

(24:39):
fight.
In 1996, Holyfield met formerworld champion Bobby Size,
beating him by a knockout in six.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Wait, what'd you say about hepatitis?

Speaker 1 (24:51):
Holyfield claimed he had contracted hepatitis before
the fight.
I guess that's why he wasdidn't go.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
He didn't win.
He probably shouldn't have beenfighting.
I feel like that's probablyjust an excuse.
Did his partner?
Did the guy who fought?

Speaker 1 (25:04):
with you get hepatitis.
I think it was just an excuse.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Because I know you can get hepatitis from like
getting tattoos if things aren'tclean.
Yeah.
It didn't say anything abouthim I think you can get it from
like the dentist.
So I know it's passed throughbodily fluids and things.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
I don't think he actually had it.
I think he was just saying thatbecause he lost.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
And he'd been punched in the head too many times to
realize that and was like ohwait, no, I meant the flu.
I meant the flu.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
I forgot it all.
I'm very sick.
That's why I didn't win.
Tyson had recovered the WBC andWBA heavyweight championship

(25:55):
and, after being stripped of theWBC title for not facing Lennox
Lewis, defended the WBA titleagainst Holyfield on November
9th of that year.
Tyson was heavily favored towin, but Holyfield made history
by defeating Tyson in 11th roundTKO.
This was the third occasion onwhich Holyfield won the WBA
heavyweight title.
However, the fight was notrecognized as being for the
lineal championship, which washeld by George Foreman at the

(26:15):
time.
He is the only professionalfighter to win the heavyweight
championship four separate timesand thereby surpasses the
record of Muhammad Ali, who wonit three times.
As an amateur boxer, holyfieldcompiled a record of 168 to 14
and won the National GoldenGlobes Championship.
I told you all that Bronzemedals Blah, blah, blah.

(26:41):
Yes, michael Gerard Tyson wasborn June 30th 1966.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
I did not know his middle name was Gerard.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
No, you do what year 1966.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
He is an American former professional boxer who
competed between 85 and 2024.
In case you don't remember,2024.
Yeah, I knew that wasn't goingto be a good idea.
That was so stupid.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
Well, it's all just a money grab now.
It's so annoying.
I really wanted him to killthat kid though.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
I know what was it.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
One of the Paul brothers.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Jake Paul.
I wanted him to kill that kid.
I'm sorry, I know, I just putthat on the internet.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
I wanted just put that on the internet.
I know and I honestly likethought tyson would have a
chance, but I just I guess thatwas just fantasy in my head like
there's just no way you'regonna beat somebody that much
younger than you, not in thatsport.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
No, he's just too old yeah nicknamed iron mike and
kid dynamite in his early careerand later known as the baddest
man on the planet.
Tyson is regarded as one of thegreatest heavyweight boxers of
all time.
He reigned as the undisputedworld heavyweight champion from
87 to 90.
He was born in Fort Greene,Brooklyn, New York City, on June

(27:58):
30th 1966.
He has an older brother namedRodney and an older sister named
Denise, who died of a heartattack at age 24 in 1990.
Tyson's mother.
You can really see how Tysongot to where.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Oh, he had a really rough upbringing.
He really had it.
He did not have a good time ofit.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
No, I did not have a good time of it.
No.
Tyson's mother, born inCharlottesville, virginia, was
described as a promiscuous womanwho might have been a
prostitute.
Tyson's biological father islisted as Purcell Tyson, a

(28:39):
humble cab driver who was fromJamaica it's on his birth
certificate but the man Tysonhad known as his father was a
pimp named Jimmy Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick was from Greertown,north Carolina.
That's a city that was annexedby the city of Charlotte, where
he was one of the neighborhood'stop baseball players.

(29:00):
Kirkpatrick married and had ason, tyson's half-brother, jimmy
Lee, who would help tointegrate Charlotte high school
football in 1965.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
So that's where he gets his athleticism from.
So his dad was a ballplayer.
No, oh, the man who raised him,yeah, and his half-brother was
a baseball player.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
The man who raised him was a pimp oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Sorry, my brain's kind of going in 50 different
directions right now I mightjump off focus a little bit here
um, that's okay.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
It's kind of hard to follow.
Anyway, it's a real shame I ampaying attention though jimmy
kirkpatrick left his family andmoved to Brooklyn where he met
Tyson's mother.
He frequented pool halls,gambled and hung out on the
streets my kind of guy.
My father was just a regularstreet guy caught up in the
street world.
Tyson said Kirkpatrickabandoned the Tyson family

(29:56):
around the time Mike was born,leaving Tyson's mother to care
for the children on her own.
He died in 92.
So he didn't.
He was not pimping.
He's not big pimping.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
The family lived.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Pimping ain't easy.
No, it's not.
It's not, it's not easy.
Out here, oh my God.

Speaker 2 (30:11):
Speaking of which, I just watched the other guys the
other night again.
Have you ever seen that withWill Ferrell and Marky Mark?
Marky Mark, no, dude, it's sofunny Like I'm not even worried
about like spoiler alertsbecause the movie's old but
they're both cops and WillFerrell's a very nerdy desk cop.

(30:34):
He like has a wooden gun theydon't even give him a real gun
and stuff but and he's marriedto Ava Mendes, who I just think
is one of the most stunninglybeautiful people in the world,
and he acts like she's justplain.
And marky mark is always sofunny because he was, like, is
that really your wife?
Like.
But anyway, um, will ferrellwas a pimp in college and she

(31:02):
held.
She was the nurse.
When he came in he had likesomething in his butthole or
something.
He came into the hospital andshe was his nurse and that's how
they met and got married.
So it's just hard to see.
So when I think of pimps,that's what I think of.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Does he have the big feather in his hat?
That's what I think of.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
She sings a song.
She holds his head to herbreast and sings a song called
pimps, don't cry.
It's very sweet big pimp.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
The family lived in the bed stye and neighborhood
until their financial burdensnecessitated a move to
brownsville when tyson was 10.
Throughout his childhood Tysonlived in and around
neighborhoods with a high rateof crime.
According to an interview inDetails, his first fight was
with a bigger youth who hadpulled the head off of one of
Tyson's pigeons, which I thinkwe all know.

(31:53):
Tyson loves his pigeons.
He does, which it's crazy, butit's not.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
I don't see it as crazy at all, like if he has a
passion for animals, he probablycouldn't have pets because his
mom probably couldn't affordthem and there are pigeons all
over the street, so he probablyconnected with them.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
There this is I always think pigeon raisin
fascinates me.
I know, it's just so fuckingfascinating yeah, especially
racing pigeons.

Speaker 2 (32:22):
They're very smart birds.
Yes, it's just so fuckingfascinating.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, especially racing pigeons, very smart birds
yes, it's a shame too, becausethey're they're.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
They're not an unattractive bird when they're
clean no, but they're seen aslike city rats, like they're
just.
It's a shame they get.
I had um doves and pigeons arekind of the same.
I had had some doves out in myyard and they're so cute they
cry.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
When they cry, this is what it sounds like my
favorite Prince song yes.
Tyson was repeatedly caughtcommitting petty crimes and
fighting those who ridiculed hishigh-pitched voice and lisp.
And that's like I get that manvoice and lisp and that's an

(33:04):
like.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
I get that man that probably.
I mean he owns that voice andlisp now, but I can't even
fathom growing up, I mean it'sno wonder he grew up like it's
no wonder he had to be a fighteryeah, with that voice he had to
have gotten picked on all thetime with that voice with that
lisp, and then raising pigeonson top of it like I feel like he
had a lot yeah that he wastrying to overcome.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, by the time he was 13, he had been arrested 38
times.
He ended up at the Tryon Schoolfor Boys in Johnstown, new York
.
Tyson's emerging boxing abilitywas discovered there by Bobby
Stewart, a juvenile detentioncenter counselor and former
boxer.
Stewart considered Tyson to bean outstanding fighter and
trained him for a few monthsbefore introducing him to boxing

(33:46):
manager and trainer Gus D'Amato.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
My favorite people in the world are ones who find the
potential in a kid and helpthem fulfill that.
It's part of what I do for myjob.
But just hearing like a commonman, just just a regular person,
just hey, you're getting intotrouble.
Yeah, I see you're good at this.

(34:11):
Let's put this let's let's giveyou somewhere an outlet to put
all your rage and yeah um tysondropped out of high school as a
junior.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
He was later awarded an honorary doctorate in humane
letters from Central StateUniversity in 1989.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
89 seems a bit early for an honorable degree.
I can't take me and Gus tomotto honestly, I might have
screwed that up.
Okay, we never promised thetruth.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
No, I never said I was gonna tell the truth,
especially heather.
I try to be factual I don't, Idon't, I just make shit up
whatever sounds the best,whatever kevin rooney also
trained tyson and well.
He was occasionally assisted byteddy atlas, although atlas was
dismissed by demato whenato whenTyson was 15.

(35:03):
Rooney eventually took over alltraining duties for the young
fighter.
Tyson's mother died when he was16, leaving him in the care of
D'Amato, who had become hislegal guardian.
Tyson later said I never saw mymother happy with me and proud
of me for doing something.
She only knew me as being awild kid running the streets,
coming home with new clothesthat she knew I didn't pay for.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Well, and it's a shame that he feels that way,
because I don't want to say it'sher fault, but his upbringing
is what caused him to do thesethings.
She didn't help.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
She didn't help.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Exactly, but I'm sure she did the best she could with
what she had big pimping, hesaid.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her
.
Professionally.
It has no effect, but it'scrushing emotionally and
personally.
As an amateur, tyson won goldmedals at the 81 and 82 Junior
Olympic Games, defeating JoeCortez in 81 and beating Kelton
Brown in 82.
In 1984, tyson won the goldmedal at the National Golden

(36:11):
Gloves held in New York, beatingJonathan Littles.
He fought Henry Tillman twiceas an amateur, losing both bouts
by decision.
Tillman went on to winheavyweight gold at the 84
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Tyson made his professionaldebut as an 18-year-old on March
6, 1985 in Albany, new York.
He defeated Hector Mercedes viafirst round TKO.

(36:33):
He had 15 bouts in his firstyear as a professional, fighting
frequently.
Tyson won 26 of his first 28fights by knockout or TKO.
16 of those came in the firstround.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
I'm not a fan of the TKO.
I want to see a knockout.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
The quality of his opponents gradually increased to
journeyman fighters andborderline contenders like James
Tillis, david Jocko, jesseFerguson, mitch Green and Marvis
Frazier.
His win streak attracted mediaattention and Tyson was billed
as the next great heavyweightchampion.
D'amato died in November of 85,relatively early into Tyson's
professional career, and somespeculate that his death was the
catalyst to many of thetroubles Tyson was to experience

(37:19):
as his life and careerprogressed.
Tyson's first nationallytelevised bout took place on
February 16, 1986, at HoustonFieldhouse in Troy, new York,
against journeyman heavyweightJesse Ferguson, and was carried
by ABC Sports.
Tyson knocked down Fergusonwith an uppercut in the fifth
round that broke Ferguson's nose.
During the sixth round,Ferguson began to hold and

(37:42):
clinch Tyson in an apparentattempt to avoid further
punishment.
Smart Huh.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
Smart.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah.
After admonishing Fergusonseveral times to obey his
commands to box, the refereefinally stopped the fight near
the middle of the sixth round.
The fight was initially ruled awin for Tyson by
disqualification of his opponent.
The ruling was adjusted to awin by technical knockout after
Tyson's corner protested that aDQ win would end Tyson's string

(38:09):
of knockout victories and that aknockout would have been the
inevitable result.
In July, after recording sixmore knockout victories, Tyson
fought former world titlechallenger Marvis Frazier in
Glen Falls, New York on anotherABC Sports broadcast.
Tyson won easily, charging atFrazier at the opening bell and
hitting with two consecutiveuppercuts, the second of which

(38:31):
knocked Frazier unconscious 30seconds into the fight.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
I remember that one Yep.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
Although I thought they were all pay-per-view.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
What year was it?
90s, 90s, 90s 80s Did they havepay-per-view back then, of
course.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, because you could watch WWF.
It's now WWE, yeah, but Ithought all that was just
televised.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
I didn't think they used to make you pay for all
that stuff.
I think you could.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
I want to say, like WrestleManias were all
pay-per-view, if you say it.
So then it's so.
I say it Again I like facts.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
Exactly I am fact-filled, exactly.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
After his win over Frazier, tyson was booked to
fight Jose Robalta at the TrumpPlaza Hotel and Casino in
Atlantic City, new Jersey, in1986.
Robalta would hit Tyson in thebody throughout the fight.
Tyson knocked down Robaltathree times in the second,
eighth and 10th.
When he, when the refereecalled the fight off, tyson
would go on to say that Robaltawas his toughest fight,

(39:40):
commenting I hit Jose Robaltawith everything and he took
everything and kept coming backfor more.
Jose stood toe-to-toe with me.
He was very strong in theclinches.
That was probably veryflattering for Jose.
Oh, it gets better.
Robalta was a game fighter whoactually engaged me.
I felt nauseous from all ofRobalta's body blows even hours

(40:02):
after the fight.
I never felt that much generalpain again.
Tyson came to the attention ofgaming company Nintendo After
witnessing one of Tyson's fights.
Nintendo of America presidentMinoru Arakawa was impressed by
the fighter's power and skill,prompting him to suggest Tyson

(40:24):
be included in the upcomingNintendo Entertainment System
port of the Punch-Out arcadegame.
In 1987, nintendo released MikeTyson's Punch-Out, which was
well-received and sold more thana million copies.
It has retrospectively beenconsidered one of the greatest
games of all time.
Tyson had three fights in 1988.

(40:44):
He faced Larry Holmes onJanuary 22nd and defeated the
legendary former champion byknockout in the fourth round.
This was the only knockout lossHolmes had in 75 professional
bouts.
In March Tyson then foughtcontender Tony Tubbs in Tokyo,
fitting in an easy second roundTKO victory amid promotional and

(41:06):
marketing work.
On June 27, 88, he facedMichael Spinks.
Spinks, who had taken theheavyweight championship from
Larry Holmes via 15 rounddecision in 1985, had not lost
his title in the the ring butwas not recognized as the
champion by the major majorboxing organizations.
Holmes had previously given upall but the IBF title, and that

(41:29):
was eventually stripped fromSphinx after he elected to fight
Jerry Cooney, winning by a TKOin the fifth round rather than
IBF number one contender TonyTucker, as the Cooney fight
provided him a larger purse.
However, sphinx did become thelineal champion by beating

(41:49):
Holmes, and many, including RingMagazine, consider him to have
a legitimate claim to being thetrue heavyweight champion.
The bout was, at the time, therichest fight in history and
expectations were high.
Boxing pundits were predictinga titanic battle of styles, with
tyson's aggressive infightingconflicting with sphinx skillful
out boxing and footwork.
The fight ended after 91seconds when tyson knocked

(42:14):
sphinx out in the first round Ilove it many consider this to be
the pinnacle of Tyson's fameand boxing ability.
That I remember.
That's why, see, that's why Iwas saying like I think it was
because Tyson's fights werealways like build so high and he
knocked everybody out and likethe first.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Right, and we were teenagers by then, like older
teenagers and able to pay moreattention to things.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
Yeah, I guess that's why I thought, because when I
was going through the Holyfieldones I was like wait, he didn't
knock everybody out.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Yeah, I knew he was a great boxer, but I didn't know
how great.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
During this period, tyson's problems outside the
ring were also beginning toemerge.
His marriage to Robin Givenswas heading for divorce and his
future contract was being foughtover by Don King and Bill Gaten
.
In late 1988, tyson parted withBill manager Bill Gaten and
fired longtime trainer KevinRooney, the man many credit for
honing Tyson's craft.

(43:11):
After the death of D'Amato.
Following Rooney's departure,critics alleged that Tyson began
to show less head movements andcombination punching by 90,.
Tyson seemed to have lostdirection and his personal life
was in disarray, amidst reportsof less vigorous training prior
to Douglas in Tokyo.
No yes, tyson was a hugefavorite in his fight with

(43:36):
Douglas Indeed, the Mirage, theonly casino to put out odds for
the fight, made Tyson a 42-1favorite.
Tyson failed to find a way pastDouglas' quick jab and had a
12-inch reach advantage over hisown.
Tyson did catch Douglas with anuppercut in the eighth and
knocked him to the floor, butDouglas recovered sufficiently

(43:56):
to hand Tyson a heavy beating inthe subsequent two rounds.
After the fight, tyson campwould complain that the count
was slow and that Douglas hadtaken longer than 10 seconds to
get back on his feet, cheating,just 35 seconds into the 10th
round, douglas unleashed abrutal uppercut, followed by a
four-punch combination of hooksthat knocked Tyson down for the

(44:16):
first time in his career.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
Sounds like he was feeling pretty okay.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
He was counted out by referee Octavio Mayron.
The knockout victory by Douglasover Tyson, the previous
undefeated baddest man on theplanet and arguably the most
feared boxer in professionalboxing at the time, had been
described as one of the mostshocking upsets in modern sports
history.
I do remember that as well.
Despite the shocking loss,Tyson has said that losing to

(44:42):
Douglas was the greatest momentof his career.
I needed that fight to make mea better person and fighter.
I have a broader perspective ofmyself and boxing.

Speaker 2 (44:51):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
After the loss Tyson recovered with first round
knockout of Henry Tillman andAlex Stewart in his next two
fights.
In his next two fights Tyson'svictory over Tillman, the 84
Olympic heavyweight goldmedalist, enabled Tyson to
avenge his amateur losses atTillman's hand.
The bout set up an eliminationmatch for another shot at the
Undisputed World HeavyweightChampionship which Evander

(45:14):
Holyfield had taken from Douglas.
In his first defense of thetitle, Tyson, who was the number
one contender, faced number twocontender donovan razor ruddick
on march 18th 1901 in las vegas.
Ruddick was seen as the mostdangerous heavyweight around and
was thought as of as one of thehardest punching heavyweights.
Tyson and ruddick went back andforth for most of the fight

(45:34):
until referee richard steelcontroversially controversially
stopped the fight during theseventh round in favor of tyson.
Tyson and holy field fight wasscheduled for november 8th 1991
at caesar's palace in las vegas,but tyson pulled out after
sustaining a rib cartilageinjury during training.
Tyson was convicted of the rapecharge on february 10th 1992

(45:55):
and was released in 95 afterbeing paroled from prison.
Tyson easily won his comebackbouts against peter mcNeely and
Buster Mathis Jr.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Hell yeah, he did.
He had nothing but time toexercise.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
Exactly Tyson's first comeback fight was marketed as
he's Back and grossed more than$96 million worldwide, including
a United States record $63million for pay-per-view
television.
The viewing of the fight waspurchased by 1.52 million homes,
setting both pay-per-viewviewership and revenue records.
The 89-second fight electedcriticism that Tyson's

(46:27):
management lined up tomato cansto ensure easy victory for his
return.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
Well, I mean, that's not a bad idea.
You got to work your way backin.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
TV Guide included the Tyson-McNeely fight in their
list of the 50 greatest TVsports moments of all time.
Well, there you go.
In 98, Tyson attempted todefend the WBA against Evander
Holyfield, who was in the fourthfight of his own comeback.
Holyfield had retired in 94following the loss of his
championship to Michael Moore.
It was said that Don King andothers saw former champion
Holyfield, who was 34 at thetime of the fight, as a huge

(47:00):
underdog, as a washed-up fighter.
On November 9th 1986, in LasVegas, Nevada, Tyson faced
Holyfield in a title bout dubbedFinally.
In a surprising turn of events,Holyfield, who was given
virtually no chance to win bynumerous commentators, defeated
Tyson by TKO when referee MitchHalpern stopped the bout in

(47:20):
round 11.
Holyfield became the secondboxer to win a heavyweight
championship bout three times.
Holyfield's victory was marredby allegations from Tyson's camp
of Holyfield's frequentheadbutts during the bout.
Although the headbutts wereruled accidental by the referee,
they would become a point ofcontention in the rematch.
Tyson and Holyfield fought againon June 28th, which is why I

(47:43):
did it this week 1997.
A highly anticipated rematchwas dubbed the Sound and the
Fury and it was held at the LasVegas MGM Grand Garden Arena,
site of the first belt and ifanybody ever wanted to, you know
, sponsor us.
The MGM Grand Garden Arenawould be great.
She dreams big.

(48:06):
I know Gotta reach for them.
Stars, hell yeah.
And it was a lucrative event,drawing even more attention than
the first bout and grossing 100million.
Tyson received 30 million inholyfield 35 the highest paid
professional boxing purses until2007.
The fight was purchased by 1.99million households, setting a
pay-per-view buy record thatstood until May 5, 2007, being

(48:31):
surpassed by Oscar De La Hoya vsFloyd Mayweather.
Not gonna tell you whathappened.

Speaker 2 (48:38):
I can't stand Floyd Mayweather.
He just jumps around the ringout of reach.
Yeah, he's a joke, a very richjoke, but still a joke.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
Holyfield won the first three rounds.
At 219 of the first round, anoverhand right punch from
Holyfield stunned Tyson, butTyson fought back immediately,
pushing Holyfield backwards.
At 32 seconds into the secondround, Holyfield ducked under a
right punch from Tyson.
In doing so he headbutted Tyson, producing a large cut over
Tyson's right eye, althoughtrainer Richie Giacci believed

(49:15):
the injury happened in the firstround.
Tyson had reportedly complainedabout headbutting in the first
bout between the two fighters.
Upon reviewing replays, refereeMills Lane stated that the
headbutts were unintentional andnon-punishable.
As the third round was about tobegin, Tyson came out of his
corner without his mouthpiece.
Lane ordered Tyson back to hiscorner to insert it.

(49:37):
Tyson inserted his mouthpiece,got back into position and the
match resumed.
Tyson began the third roundwith a furious attack.
With 40 seconds remaining inthe round, holyfield got tyson
in a clinch and tyson rolled hishead above holyfield's shoulder
and bit holyfield on his rightear.
That was so nuts.
A one inch piece of cartilagewas torn from the top of

(49:57):
holyfield's ear, which tysonspat out onto the ring apron it.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
It was just so crazy, but so amazing.
Amazing, like all at the sametime.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
Holyfield leapt into the air in pain and spun in a
circle, bleeding profusely fromthe bite wound.
Lane stop the action, but Tysonmanaged to rush Holyfield from
behind and shove him into hiscorner.
Lane separated the men, movedTyson to a neutral corner and
went back to check on an enragedHolyfield.
The fight would be delayed forthe next few minutes as Lane
decided on what to do.
Lane called Mark Ratner, thechairman of Nevada's Athletic

(50:31):
Commission, up to the ring apronand informed him that Tyson had
bitten Holyfield's ear.
He was going to disqualify andend the fight.
Meanwhile, ringside physicianFlip Homansky was performing his
own check on the champion andLane decided to defer to him.
Onceansky cleared holyfield tocontinue the fight.
Lane decided to allow the boutto continue, but not before
penalizing tyson with atwo-point deduction that's so

(50:55):
badass um, as lane explained thedecision to tyson and his uh oh
, he got a yeah asserted thatthe injury to holyfield's ear
was a result of a punch.
Come on, yeah, we all saw it.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
Yeah, during another clinch.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
Tyson bit Holyfield's left ear.
Holyfield threw his handsaround to escape the clinch and
jump back.
Tyson's second bit just scarredHolyfield's ear.
At the time of the second bite,lane failed to notice it and
did not stop the match, and bothcombatants continued fighting
until time expired.
The men walked back to theirrespective corners and when the
second bite was discovered, thematch was halted again, soon to

(51:35):
become one of the mostcontroversial events in modern
sports.
The fight was stopped at theend of the third round, with
tyson disqualified for bitingholyfield on both ears.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
Man, they should have let that shit go Like Tyson,
you're disqualified, but you twostill fight it out and let's
see what happens.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
Tyson later stated that his actions were
retaliation for Holyfieldrepeatedly headbutting him
without penalty and theconfusion that followed the
ending of the bout andannouncement of the decision.
A near riot occurred in thearena and several people were
injured.
Tyson Holyfield, too, was thefirst heavyweight title fight in
over 50 years to end in adisqualification.

(52:14):
After the match was stopped,tyson went on a rampage at
Holyfield and his trainer Brookswhile they were still in their
corner.
Lane told Tyson's corner thathe was disqualifying Tyson for
biting Holyfield to.
To protect Holyfield, securitysurrounded him in his corner and
Tyson was taken back to hiscorner by security.
Lane was interviewed and saidthat the bites were intentional.

(52:35):
He had told Tyson not to biteanymore and Tyson asked to be
disqualified by disobeying thatorder.
Holyfield left the ring secondsafter the interview, which gave
the fans and audience the hintthat the match was over.
Holyfield told the ring secondsafter the interview, which gave
the fans and audience the hintthat the match was over.
Holyfield told the pressafterwards that Tyson bit him
because he knew he was going toget knocked out and he chose to
lose in a disqualificationinstead.
That's fair.

(52:58):
Reporters then interviewedTyson's instructor, john Hum,
who was upset about Lane'sdecision.
Horn said they will have toexplain that I do not agree with
it, but it is what it is.
All I know is Mike Tyson had acut in his eye.
Horn also attempted to justifyTyson's biting by claiming it
was retaliation for theheadbutts.
One headbutt might beaccidental, but 15 is not 25.

(53:20):
Minutes after the brawl ended,announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr read
the decision.
Ladies and gentlemen, thisballot has been stopped.
At the end of round numberthree, the referee in charge,
mills Lane, disqualifies MikeTyson for biting Evander
Holyfield in both ears.
The winner by way ofdisqualification and still the
WBA heavyweight champion of theworld, the Evander Holyfield.

(53:43):
As a result, holyfield remainedthe WBA World Heavyweight
Champion.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
Neither one of us has said are you ready to rumble
yet?
I'm kind of disappointed.
You can't.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
You know he has that trademark, right?
Oh shit, never mind Forget.
I said that he has thattrademark.
Tyson still was going with that.
It was for the headbutts.
Later, during post-matchinterviews, tyson was walking
back to his locker room when afan from the venue tossed a
bottle of water in his direction.
Tyson, his instructor and apain manager climbed over a

(54:17):
temporary railing and up thestands, made obscene gestures to
the crowd and made their way upto the side of a stairwell.
Tyson had to be restrained ashe was let off.
Can you imagine being in theand tyson's coming after?

Speaker 2 (54:36):
you.
No, dear god, I am an angryperson.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
I'd rather have like square up with mike tyson and
just take the beating.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
I deserve it.
You die, okay.
Oh yeah, even better.
I forgot.
That's not a threat to you.
Nope, not a threat to me umtyson had to be trained.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
When interviewed about the championship and the
incident with mike tyson,holyfield said he already
forgave tyson for biting him.
The commentators for the skysports broadcast of the bout,
ian dark and glenn mccrory,noted that no one had been
disqualified in a title bout formore than 50 years, correctly
estimating that the lastdisqualification was during a
bout between Joe Lewis and BuddyBayer in 1941, where Bayer was

(55:11):
disqualified after his cornermanrefused to leave the ring in
protest of what they believe wasa late hit.
They also compared the match tothe long count fight and the
phantom punch incident.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
You know what?
It really is pretty crazy thatfor 50 years nobody got
disqualified for as um, likebrutal and knuckleheaded as that
sport is, for them to staywithin the rules and the
boundaries for 50 years likethat's pretty impressive as
fallout from the incident.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
Three million was immediately withheld from
tyson's 30 million purse by thenevada state boxing commission
the most it could legally holdback at the time.
Two days after the fight, tysonissued a statement apologizing
to Holyfield for his actions andasked not to be banned for life
.
Over the incident, tyson wasroundly condemned in the news
media, but was not withoutdefenders.

(56:01):
Novelist and commentatorCatherine Dunn wrote a column
that criticized Holyfield'ssportsmanship in the
controversial bout and chargedthe news media with being biased
against Tyson.
July 9th 1997, tyson's boxinglicense was rescinded by the
Nevada State Athletic Commissionin a unanimous vote.
He was also fined $3 million inorder to pay the legal costs of

(56:22):
the hearing.
As most state athleticcommissions honor sanctions
imposed by other states, thiseffectively madeyson unable to
box in the united states.
The revocation was notpermanent, as the commission
voted four to one to restoretyson's boxing license on
october 18th 1998.
And that is where I stopped,because that is the end of the

(56:42):
tyson holyfield.
But yes, I have fun facts thankgod this one is the most fun
fact ever.
Oh, I mean in the history of funfacts, this one, I decided,
greatest fun fact ever.
Okay, holy ears edible is in anot in a humorous turn of events

(57:05):
, tyson and holyfield teamed upto launch a line of ear-shaped
cannabis edibles called holyears shut the fuck.
Playing on the famous bitingincident, the ear-shaped thc
infused holy ear snacks arereleased via the tyson 2.0
global company, in whichholyfield is set to launch his
own line in 2023.
What?
Mike and I have a long historyof competition and respect for

(57:27):
one another, and that nightchanged both of our lives.
Back then, we didn't realizethat even as power athletes, we
were also in a lot of pain.
Now, nearly 20 years later, wehave the opportunity to share
the medicine we really neededthroughout our careers.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
That is the funnest fact ever.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
And Tyson echoed the sentiment, saying if I was on
cannabis, I wouldn't have bithis ear.
Foley Ear Gummies are said tobe 25 milligrams per piece and
arrive in three flavors,including Cherry Pie Punch, sour
Apple Punch and Black Eye Berry.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
They are all natural vegan and gluten-free and
they're $30.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
A piece Per bag.
Oh.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
Oh, and they're $30.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
A piece Per bag.
Oh, okay, so that was myfavorite.
Yeah, I do have other.
Tyson appeared in the Hangover.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Yes, he's so good in the Hangover.

Speaker 1 (58:17):
Famously performing Phil Collins in the air tonight.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Tyson and then punching Zach Galifianakis out.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
Tyson adopted a vegan diet later in his life.
When the Olympic torch was onits way to his hometown of
Atlanta for that year's Olympics, Holyfield was granted the
opportunity to carry it in 1996.
Holyfield established Real DealRecords, which he used to sign
the band Exhale, which saw briefsuccess.
Boxer Randy Holyfield andbusiness partner Rochester

(58:46):
Johnson Jr established Real DealRecords on February 11, 1999.
And they have quite a fewrappers.
And a well-known Filipino singerNew Wine.
Very cool Exhale.
I do remember Exhale.
I remember Exhale.
Holyfield appeared on thepremiere season of Dancing with

(59:06):
the stars in 2006.
Um although his first dancewith partner adidas whiskey
earned him a reputable 18, hewas eliminated after his third
performance, which received alow score at 13.
Though new to dancing andeliminated early, holyfield was
praised by judges len Goodman,carrie Ann Aneba and Bruno Tonel

(59:30):
.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
I don't ever watch the show Me neither For his
effort and improvement.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Holyfield also had a video game released for the Sega
Genesis and Game Gear EvanderHolyfield's Real Deal Boxing.
Holyfield's popularity has ledto numerous television
appearances for the boxer.
His first television appearancewas the Christmas special of
the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in1990.
He played himself.
Other television appearancesover the years include Home

(59:55):
Improvement, living Single, newYork Undercover and NCIS Los
Angeles.
Holyfield had minor roles inthree movies during the 90s
Blood Salvage, necessaryRoughness and Summer of Sam.
I remember Necessary Roughness.

Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
I remember Necessary Roughness.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
He made a great guest appearance on Nickelodeon's
game show Nickelodeon Gutsduring its third season in 94.
He appeared once in an episodeof the children's animated
series Phineas and Ferb.
In the episode he is ananimated character, but the
producers wanted to make themost of Holyfield's ears so his
animated character was onlygiven half of an ear.

(01:00:33):
In 2006, Tyson appeared ashimself in a cameo role in the
film Rocky Balboa.
Yes, A hangover, I said.
In early March 2015,.
Tyson appeared on the trackIconic on Madonna's album Rebel
Heart.
Tyson says some lines at thebeginning of the song I didn't

(01:00:57):
know that one the last, I didn'teither the last.
He actually had a couple ofsongs.
He's appeared on a couple ofdifferent albums singing.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
He's not good because he sings in one of the
hangovers.
Yeah, at the end maybe thesecond I don't remember one.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I have to.
I have to watch it.
Um last one both appear in themovie grudge match with stallone
and denaro.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
Kevin hart and the ll cool j hottest man on the
planet ever so there you have it, that's the Tyson Holyfield.
That was so much fun.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
Saga.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
So much fun.
I learned so much.
That was awesome.
Thank you so much Thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
I did the build up because well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
I'll have to play this episode for my cat Tyson,
so he can learn.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Can learn about his namesake I just think tyson.
I mean, I remember, I feel liketyson has come so far I really
that's why.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
So the rape?
Um, obviously we have expressedmany times we're not okay with
that.
And it is not okay that he didthat and he did not serve enough
time for what he did, for thedamage that he caused to that
woman.
However, he actually madesomething of himself and he
actually overcame hiscircumstances and didn't go on.

(01:02:24):
I mean, he could have went onand raped and beat and whoever
the hell he wanted to, and justbeen a dirtbag and I don't know
all of his personal life.
I don't know if it happenedagain somewhere else, but I feel
like, considering where he camefrom, he really, really made a
concerted effort and wassuccessful in making himself a

(01:02:49):
good person.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
I feel like he did.
I mean, obviously I don't knowhis personal life after that
either, right?
Um, I don't think anything hascome to light since nothing's
come to light.
But that doesn't mean somebodydidn't get paid off, so that's
why we wouldn't know about it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:03):
So I mean, I'm not naive, but I do feel like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
I also feel like people would have come out by
now.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
Yeah, that's a lot of money, yeah, and after someone
else comes out usually the otherones feel braver to step up
because they know they havesupport, and they're not the
only one yes, it's, and it'snever.

Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
He.
Nobody ever gets enough timefor rape.
Um, and I feel like I watched adocumentary.
I almost want to say we talkedabout tyson in a college class
that I took once.

Speaker 2 (01:03:24):
Nobody ever gets enough time for rape and I feel
like I watched a documentary.
I almost want to say we talkedabout Tyson in a college class
that I took once and I we did,cause we went really, really
deep into his childhood and likeall the things he went and it
was awful yeah, it was reallybad.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
You know you have to say it's the problem with a lot
of the true crime also, is youOne of my podcasts say it.
You can feel sorry for thechild, correct, but then as an
adult, correct and which is howI feel about myself.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
I feel sorry for my child self.
Yes, but I have worked my wholeentire adult life to get myself
to where I am.
Yes, but I have worked my wholeentire adult life to get myself
to where I am.

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
Yes, I am also a believer in when you pay for
your crime which, again, he didnot pay long enough, correct,
and then you try to redeemyourself Correct.
I think that I know I am thenthe minority of the Mike Vick.

(01:04:30):
I know I'm a dog lover.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
I do the same thing with him as well.
It's the culture he came upwith.
That's what you did when youwere wealthy.
Do you honestly want to knowhow I feel?

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
about Mike Vick.
I think he got railroaded.
I don't think you cannot tellme that that man, in the middle
of his NFL career, was goinginto a room with a bunch of dogs
that could rip his damn arm off.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
True.

Speaker 1 (01:04:55):
And discipline anything, kill anything.
He wasn't.
They set him up because theythought he could get out of it
because of his money, and Ireally think that's what
happened.
I really do.
I really think he took on thebrunt of that because they
thought that he could get out ofit because of his money, but I
do not.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
I wasn't there so I don't know, but it is my belief.
Well, my thought on it wasalways kind of um, it's a
cultural thing and in somecultures that's what you do.
I mean that that is a sign ofsuccess and wealth that you have
these things.
Go on, um.
But so maybe to him you knowI've made it, you know I can do

(01:05:39):
this.
I don't know it's it was I.
If he was involved, I think itwas just a stupid mistake and it
probably as soon as he gotarrested he was probably just
like whoa, what the fuck am I?
doing here so yeah, and he hasreally turned into a really
upstanding guy as well andthat's what I'm trying to say in
this country.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
it's very important to remember that what we try to
do not always very successfully,but it's the whole point of the
penal system used to be.
Now, the whole point of thepenal system is just to take
money from people.
Exactly, it used to be rehab.

Speaker 2 (01:06:18):
And that's how a lot of countries are now.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
It is a rehabilitation facility Because
just having the same people rollin and out and in and out and
the recidivism is ridiculous.
So I don't know.
I probably shouldn't go toodeep into it.
But yeah, we'll save that foranother day tyson did not kill
jake paul and that's unfortunate.
Yeah, anyway, anyhow.

(01:06:43):
So that's that about that.
Um, Thanks for listening.
You can like share rate review.
Follow us where you listen topodcasts, Please.
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Please tell a friend and youcan send us an email about what

(01:07:04):
your favorite, tyson fight was.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
To likewhateverpod at gmailcom or don't like whatever
.
Whatever, bye.