Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, billed as "The Sound and the Fury" and afterwards infamously referred to as "The Bite Fight", was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1997 for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. It achieved notoriety as one of the most bizarre fights in boxing history, after Tyson bit off part of Holyfield's ear. Tyson was disqualified from the match and lost his boxing license, though it was later reinstated. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The referee officiating the fight was
Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha of 4–1 on October 18, 1998. After much speculation over who Tyson would face in his return bout, it was officially announced that Tyson would face former IBF Heavyweight champion Francois Botha on January 16, 1999. Despite his long layoff, Tyson was forthright about his chances of collecting a victory over Botha by way of knockout. On one occasion, Tyson stated "I am going right at him and I expect him to go down cold. I expect him to die." The comment would cause some controversy, with some in the boxing world claiming that Tyson had gone too far. Botha