On November 9, 1996 Mike Tyson was supposed to get his first real test since his release from jail.
That test was Evander Holyfield, a man who wouldn't get scared of Tyson. But Holyfield was
considered to be a warm-up fight before Tyson unified the titles. Holyfield openned as 25-1
underdog, was previously diagnosed with a heart condition and was considered a "spent bullet".
Holyfield looked far from impressive in his fight with Michael Moorer and his most recent fights with Riddick Bowe
and Bobby Czyz. The most popular bet was a Tyson Knockout by the end of the 3rd round. No sportswriter (except one)
in the world gave Holyfield a chance. On the Cover of the Winter 96 edition of KO magazine it said "Holyfield-Tyson
Will Be Explosive And Short" and their writer called it "Tyson in three". But they were all wrong, Tyson-Holyfield
wasn't short, Tyson didn't knock him out in three, instead it went into the 11th where Holyfield was the victor when he
stopped Tyson. The second the fight started, Tyson cranked Holyfield with a right and I thought this fight would be over
quick. Tyson continued to land, but Holyfield fought back. Tyson won the 1st round. In the Second, Holyfield used his reach
advantage. He out-boxed and countered Tyson. Holyfield won the 2nd. The same thing went on during the 3rd and 4th. Holyfield
was now ahead by 2 points. In the Fifth, Tyson openned up and landed several hard punches which hurt Holyfield. Tyson won
the 5th, but that was the last round he won. In the Sixth, Tyson came at Holyfield looking for Knockout, but Holyfield
boxed and countered. Holyfield began to out-slug Tyson and frustrated him. The crowd came alive and began to chant
"Holyfield" and an off-balanced Tyson then ran into a big left hook to the Chest/Chin and he hit the canvas. From then
on, it looked like Tokyo all over again. Tyson quickly got up and didn't appear to be hurt. Holyfield poured it on
Tyson for the rest of the round. Holyfield won the sixth. Holyfield continued to dominate the 7th, 8th and 9th rounds.
In the 10th, Holyfield continued to beat Tyson. But towards the end of the round, Holyfield landed several hard shots.
Tyson was now holding on. Tyson came foward and got banged some more. Again Tyson clinched. After they broke, Tyson
walked into another devastating left hook and he staggered back into the ropes. Holyfield immediately came forward and
landed several more solid punches. The bell rang and Tyson got saved. He staggered back to his corner. In the 11th,
Holyfield came right after Tyson and again landed several shots. He staggered Tyson into the ropes and continued to
pound him. The referee came in and saved Tyson by stopping the fight. This fight was easily the biggest upset of 1996.
Holyfield became the only man except Muhammad Ali to regain the Heavyweight championship 3 times. Holyfield is now a
4-time world champion (3 Heavyweight, 1 Cruiserweight).
