Last weekend Mike Tyson proved that, despite being 54-years-old, he is still capable of putting on a captivating spectacle inside the squared circle. On Saturday he fought to a draw with fellow former boxing great Roy Jones Jr.. And, from the sounds of it, this won’t be the last time we see ‘Iron Mike’ do this kind of thing.
“I say I’ll be better the next one,” said Tyson at the post-fight press conference (ht MMA Fighting). “I could have done everything better. Everything I was doing, I could have done it better. God willing, I’ll be better the next exhibition.”
“This is where I belong,” continued Tyson. “I never once, even when my first day sparring and I got my rib cracked and a guy was just smashing my jaw, I never once said ‘what the hell am I doing here? Am I crazy?’ I just said I’m in the right place. I said I’m in the right place.”
Tyson repeatedly told the media in attendance how happy he was after hard-sparring for eight rounds. “I will do it again,” he said over and over again adding that “The sky’s the limit” for this kind of set-up.
Tyson also said that there are a number of boxing ‘legends’ who are interested in either fighting him or being involved in similar contests. He also said that this experience has made him want to maintain this level of fitness, not just for fighting but for his overall quality of life.
“It’s become my lifestyle now. I’m never going to be that guy ‘Fat Mike’ and stuff, ‘Cokehead Mike.’ I ain’t going to be that guy no more.”
When asked about his future plans Tyson said he’d like to approach the kind of work-rate he had in his prime years, where he once fought 15 times in 12 months. This time around he said he’s setting his sights on fighting once every two months.
After the conversation moved to future opponents, Tyson threw out a name of one of his most fierce rivals from the past.
“Maybe Evander [Holyfield] needs to talk to me because every time my business associates talk to his business associates, it doesn’t turn out well. So I don’t know. If you could see what we made tonight, if these guys really care about the welfare of Evander they would have had this fight with Evander.”
Tyson first met Holyfield on November 9th, 1996. ‘The Real Deal’ won that battle by 11th round TKO to claim Tyson’s WBA heavyweight title. A rematch between the two was set up for six months later.
Holyfield vs. Tyson 2 was one of the most anticipated fights of the 90s. The end product may not have lived up to its sporting expectations, but—because of what happened in the fight—the contest would go down in infamy as one of the most controversial fights in the televised era.
In the third round of their fight Tyson, incensed from what he deemed were headbutts from Holyfield, got into a clinch with his opponent and proceeded to clamp down on Holyfield’s ear with his teeth. Holyfield recoiled in pain and horror, revealing that Tyson had bitten off a chunk of his ear.
The fight was called off and Holyfield was handed a win by disqualification. After the fight was stopped Tyson and his entourage brawled with members of Holyfield’s team. After he left the ring Tyson also attempted to fight a fan.
After the fight Tyson was handed a permanent suspension from boxing and was fined $3,000,000. Tyson’s suspension was repealed a year later.
After ‘The Bite’ Holyfield defended his heavyweight titles three times before losing them to Lennox Lewis in November 1999. Holyfield went 8-6-1 (1 NC) in the 2000s before hanging it up after a win over Brian Nelson in 2011 (at age 48).
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