Holyfield-Tyson bout most lucrative of ‘97

Ed Schuyler Jr

Friday, Dec. 26, 1997 | 10:20 a.m.

Mike Tyson, who made his mark in boxing by becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20 in 1986, left his mark on Evander Holyfield in 1997.

Cut over his right eye from an unintention al head-butt, Tyson lost his cool in his rematch with the man who had taken his WBA title. He bit off a chunk of Holyfield's right ear in the third round and spit it out.

Tyson then bit Holyfield's left ear, leading to his disqualification, a $3 million fine and the revocation of his license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Tyson, who publicly apologized two days after the fight, can apply for reinstatement next July.

The actions of the 31-year-old boxer the night of June 28 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas drew cries of outrage, calls to ban boxing and many bad jokes. They also made the Bite Fight one of the most talked about boxing matches in a long time and the most lucrative.

Jay Larkin of Showtime-SET said there were 2 million pay-per-view buys; the worldwide gross reportedly was about $125 million. Holyfield's purse was $35 million and Tyson got $30 million.

Despite the Tyson fight, 1997 was a good year for Holyfield, and it ended on an upbeat note for Lennox Lewis and possibly marked the end of George Foreman's boxing career.

Foreman, who turns 49 on Jan. 10, said he would not fight again following his controversial 12-round majority decision loss to Shannon Briggs on Nov. 22 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Holyfield followed the defense of his WBA title against Tyson by stopping Michael Moorer after eight rounds and winning the IBF championship on Nov. 8 in Las Vegas.

Lewis, of Britain, was in two of the year's other weird fights. On Feb. 7 in Las Vegas, he won the vacant WBC heavyweight title when a sobbing Oliver McCall refused to fight and the referee stopped the bout in the fifth round.

Then, on July 12 in Stateline, Nev., Lewis won again when Henry Akinwande of Britain was disqualified in the fifth round for holding. Lewis closed the year with a bang by stopping Andrew Golota in 95 seconds on Oct. 5 in Atlantic City.

Another heavyweight who made news was former champion Riddick Bowe.

On Jan. 27 he enlisted in the Marine Reserves to fulfill a lifelong dream, but he left on Feb. 24 after only 10 days of boot camp on Parris Island, N.C. On April 30, he announced his retirement from boxing.

Other newsmakers included Ray Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, David Reid and Ricardo Lopez.

Jones suffered the only loss of his 36-bout career on March 21 in Atlantic City when he was disqualified in the ninth round for hitting Montell Griffin twice while Griffin was down. That mistake cost him the WBC light heavyweight title, but he regained it by knocking out Griffin in 91 seconds on Aug. 7 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino near Ledyard, Conn.

De La Hoya, the only U.S. boxer to win a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, fought five times for a total of $33 million. He successfully defended his WBC super lightweight title by outpointing Miguel Angel Gonzales on Jan. 18, won the WBC welterweight title in a unanimous but disputed decision over Pernell Whitaker on April 12, then defended that title three times.

Reid, the only American gold medalist in boxing at the 1996 Olympics, won his first six pro fights, showing steady improvement. His biggest win was a 41-second knockout of Jorge Vaca, a former welterweight champion, on Oct. 3 in Atlantic City.

When Ricardo Lopez of Mexico stopped Alexander "Nene" Sanchez of Puerto Rico in the fifth round to defend his WBC strawweight (105 pounds) title it was the 46th victory, 35 by knockout, in an unbeaten career. It also made him only the third fighter to make 20 consecutive successful defenses in one weight class. The others were Joe Louis (25) and Larry Holmes (20).

There is no doubt, however, that the Bite Fight was the biggest boxing story of '97.

Tyson also made news in the courtroom and on -- actually off -- a motorcycle.

On Oct. 15, a New York state court jury awarded Mitch Green, a one-time Tyson opponent, $45,000 for injuries suffered in a 1988 street fight with the ex-champ.

Later that month, Tyson broke a rib and punctured a lung when he fell off his motorcycle, which skidded near Farmington, Conn. He was hospitalized for two days and fined $77 for not having a license to drive a motorcycle.

Three former world champions died during the year: Edwin Rosario, 34, a lightweight champion three times and a junior welterweight champion from 1983-1992; Willie Pastrano, 62, light heavyweight champion from 1963-65; and Joe Brown, 72, lightweight champion from 1956-62.