…which we were the other day, in the comments section on this thread in which I’d said I couldn’t stand the sport—caused me to recall the single worst moment of boxing history I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness.
It occured on June 28, 1997. Does that ring a bell for any of you boxing aficionados? I was with my husband and son visiting my husband’s family, which had paid to watch the Tyson-Holyfield rematch on TV. Yes folks, I got to see the famous ear-chomping in real time, an experience that was a great deal worse (or better, depending on your point of view) than having merely heard about it afterward and watching the replay.
I hadn’t remembered, until I looked it up just now, that Tyson was angry at Holyfield for a head-butt that Tyson thought intentional but that the ref (and most onlookers) considered accidental. Nor did I recall that Tyson came into the ring for the crucial round without his mouthpiece and was ordered to put it in before the action began (so the bite seems to have been planned with malice aforethought; Tyson spit out the mouthpiece again right before he lunged forward to make a meal out of Holyfield’s ear). I do remember my perception that Holyfield had been dominating Tyson in the earlier rounds, and that Tyson had a wild look of desperation in his eyes.
I also hadn’t remembered that Tyson was allowed to continue with the fight after biting Holyfield, a decision almost as shocking as the bite itself, and which enabled him to go on to take a chunk out of Holyfield’s other ear (which fortunately was later surgically re-attached after being found in the ring where Tyson had spit it out—no cannibal, he!).
Mike Tyson is a brutal and angry man. The fact that he’s also clearly troubled, and that his childhood was a vale of tears, goes a little way towards explaining him but certainly does not excuse him. For example, “According to an interview in Details [Tyson's] first fight was with a bigger youth who had pulled the head off one of Tyson’s pigeons.”
After the Holyfield debacle Tyson should have never been allowed in a ring again. But he was too valuable a money-making commodity to ban forever, and so he fought another day. I couldn’t bring myself to watch a YouTube video of the moment, or post one here; it’s just too repulsive.
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
March 10th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
For the record, that was not boxing.
March 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
T: say what you will ex post facto, at the time it was one of the biggest boxing matches ever, and incredibly large numbers of people watched it. And the ref did not stop the fight at the first bite, which is still almost unbelievable to me. And then boxing let Tyson fight again after a certain interval.
March 10th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Listening to the View: Now there’s real retching material.
March 10th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
I think it was the NY Post that reported the event with the best headline of all: “Chump Chomps Champ”.
March 10th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Not as bad as the death of Duk koo Kim (don’t get me on the spelling) during a bout with Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini.
Mancini was never the same. Purely accidental. Mancini was a true “boxer”, not a brawler. He caught Kim in the forehead and Kim went down. It was awful.
March 10th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
DirecTV has a commercial for an upcoming PPV fight- only $49.50!
I’ll stick with college ball, thanks.
March 10th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Neoneocon,
My point was that prior to the match, people expected to see a boxing match. What they got, at least in regard to Mike Tyson, was a street fight.
I lost all respect for and interest in him as an athelete after that.
March 10th, 2011 at 7:53 pm
At least there’s seldom any biting in baseball.
March 10th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
I’m not much of a sports fan but I’m enjoying the NFL’s labor conflict.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
it marked the final end of sports as they were…
the last nail in the coffin..
March 10th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Deeka,
that was bad… but how about the few women who dies when they signed a waiver and got into a ring? looked it up.. Stacy Young got into the ring in a toughman type competition, brain damage and dead… a lot of guys watching the news basically had the attitude that her disrespect kind of killed her.
this death by lack of respect is actually a lot more common now!!
the show where people almost died… a lot of it if you notice is that they didn’t respect nature as being a tough mother… (no pun intended)… and that really simple dumb stuff can get you killed and it doesn’t have to happen right away… that is you can be dead by crossing some event horizon, and not know it…
[like hiking too far in the desert and not having enough water. you have enough to get you out there, but what about back?]
healthy respect is a good thing to learn the easy way, you might not survive the hard way
March 10th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
To Neoneocon,
I can’t stand Tyson. He was a willing thug who used people and was used by people to generate a lot of wealth from the blood lust of a willing audience. You know like ALL boxers.
That said, HBO did what appeared to be a a pretty honest interview with Tyson recently and I can’t believe I’m saying this but I was almost sympathetic to the guy. I don’t know how well (or if) he was coached beforehand but I don’t think he is frankly bright enough to come off as anything other than who he is. He’s definately mellowed with age and seems to get (and be profiting in movies from) the bad joke of who he was.
That or it’s all bullshit.. but it was sincere looking bullshit.
2 cents..
March 11th, 2011 at 12:32 am
When I was about 10 or 11 years old I remember watching on TV the fight in which Emile Griffith inflicted a savage beating on Benny Paret, who died a few days later. Griffith knocked Paret onto the ropes and the ref let him keep pounding Paret long after it was clear Paret was knocked out. The background was that at the weigh-in, Paret mocked Griffith for his other profession – hairdresser.
March 11th, 2011 at 7:27 am
Boxing is sort of like America. You prepare yourself for intense competitiveness and make advancements on individual merit. But both fall into an ugly chaos when engaged by too many lacking in honor and respect for the rules set forth.
The problem is not the sport of boxing or the American experiment. It is the character of the players involved.
March 11th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
It’s easy to whip on Mike, but face it. He was ahead of his time. He was made to fight in the cage!
March 11th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
rickl said:
“At least there’s seldom any biting in baseball.”
Didn’t Ty Cobb bite somebody? If not, I’m sure he wanted to.
March 11th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Casca,
Even in cage fighting there are rules. No guns, no knives, no rocks, no pointy sticks, no broken bottles, no bleach to throw in the enemy’s eyes, no Molotov cocktails , etc. Plus, no element of surprise. At least in street fights one can use any weapon either brought to the fight or found at hand.
IMO its all (boxing, wrestling, mixed material arts, cage fighting) pretense. They are all sports. Concerning the topic at hand, yes, boxers are very athletic. They are strong, tend to be well coordinated, and fast. But its not reality. In reality there are no rules and the only limits are what you can bring to the fight.
Reality is a 120 pound 60 year old woman with a 12 gauge shotgun facing a young, strong street punk armed with his macho attitude and his 9 millimeter. I ‘d bet on the woman with the shotgun every time provided she is savvy enough to get off the first shot.
March 12th, 2011 at 1:59 am
Gary, the story was that Benny Paret called Griffith “Maricon,” which is Spanish for “faggot,” before the fight. Griffith was a closeted homosexual then (he’s since come out). There’s a very moving documentary on the story called “Ring of Fire,” that even non-boxing fans would enjoy.
I’ve a been a hardcore boxing fan for almost 20 years. Holyfield is my all-time favorite fighter, and Tyson is probably my least-favorite, but replays showed that Tyson bit the top of Holyfield’s ear off while wearing his mouthpiece. He immediately spit both the ear and the mouthpiece out.
Boxing is indeed brutal, but beautiful. When a boxing match is great, there is no sporting event that is as exciting, and it’s something that EVERYONE can understand and enjoy, unlike other sports. In no other sport are athletes vilified for losing as they are in boxing. When a fighter loses, especially by knockout, the media and fans call him a bum, a chump, etc. If a man has the nerve to QUIT, no matter how badly he’s injured, he is called much worse and branded a coward for the rest of his career. And on top of all that, losing/quitting pretty much guarantees that your asking price will be cut in half for your next fight (and no, all fighters are NOT multi-millionaires). This culture is not necessarily a good thing, but it creates some titanic battles with both men fighting as if it’s to the death. Not even the UFC/MMA, which is popular right now, features these kinds of struggles. In that sport, quitting, or “tapping out” is seen as honorable. That’s noble, but it keeps the sport from reaching the drama of boxing.