Evander Holyfield claims he was going to bite Mike Tyson before disqualification

Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear in their controversial rematch, but ‘The Real Deal’ claims he was close to biting his rival before the stoppage

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Mike Tyson lets out roar in training footage

Moments before Mike Tyson bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield ‘s ear in their rematch, ‘The Real Deal’ admitted he was considering biting his rival in the face.

Holyfield first stopped Tyson in 1996 to win the WBA heavyweight title, but their rivalry was far from over as they met in a rematch just eight months later. Now referred to as ‘The Bite Fight’, it will forever be ingrained in history after Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ear in the third round.

Before the disqualification, Tyson was complaining about illegal headbutts from Holyfield that opened up a cut above his eye. He came out of his corner without his mouthpiece in the third round, before being forced to put it back in.

The bite took an inch of cartilage off of Holyfield’s ear as he shrieked in pain in the middle of the ring. He now claims that a prophet “told him” his rival would do something to irritate him during the fight.

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“A prophet told me that it would happen,” Holyfield said on the I Am Athlete podcast. “He’s going to do something to tick you off. You gotta keep your mind on the lord.

“In the ghetto, if they do something to you, you do it worse. People didn’t realise I was getting ready to bite him right in the doggone face! My grandmother always said, ‘They always catch the second person’.”

Holyfield and Tyson were pencilled in to meet in an exhibition fight last year, but a deal between the heavyweight rivals was never made official. Holyfield went on to fight UFC legend Vitor Belfort in September, losing by first-round knockout.

Tyson fought for the first time since 2005 in an exhibition meeting with Roy Jones Jr two years ago. ‘Iron Mike’ has been heavily linked to another exhibition fight, with Jake Paul calling for a $300m clash against the former undisputed champion.

Holyfield was looking forward to fighting Tyson last year, but admits the outcome of their two previous meetings makes a trilogy seem wrong. He continued: “I beat him twice. I felt it was wrong for me to ask him to fight me. I don’t know [if he’s scared]. Therefore, I would never ask a person. But if they called me to fight in two days, I’d be there to fight in two days. I always want to be the best that I can be.”