Mike Tyson got his profession back heading in the right direction by knocking out Francois Botha in January 1999.
The previous undisputed heavyweight champion was banned from boxing after his second loss to Evander Holyfield.
‘Iron Mike’ got disqualified after he took a bite out of his rival’s ear within the third round of their June 1997 rematch.
Mike Tyson was hit with a $3 million high-quality and a 15-month ban from boxing for his infamous foul.
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Mike Tyson vs Francois Botha revisited
It took lower than three minutes for Mike Tyson to commit one other foul in his comeback fight.
In the ultimate 10 seconds of round one, Tyson grabbed Francois Botha’s arm, twisted it, and hit him with an illegal elbow from the clinch position.
The South African heavyweight tried to punch his way out of his opponent’s grip, but shots continued to fly when the bell sounded to finish the round. Several cornermen and a bunch of security guards rushed into the ring to interrupt up the melee when referee Richard Steele was unable to achieve this.
Each men got warnings from the referee, but after a transient delay, round two got underway.
Tyson continued to grab Botha, who told the referee his arm could break if the fouling continued.
Steele gave Tyson three warnings before finally deducting some extent when the boxing legend pushed Botha after being instructed to interrupt.
Botha continued to box beautifully in rounds three and 4. After 12 minutes of motion, ‘The White Buffalo’ was up on two of the scorecards by a 40-35 margin and 39-36 within the eyes of the third judge.
The fifth frame was going his way, too, until Tyson landed an enormous right-hand punch on his chin in the ultimate 10 seconds.
Botha tried to stand up, but he fell into the ropes, and the fight was waved off at 2:59 of round five.
Do you think that Mike Tyson vs Floyd Mayweather goes to occur?
After a blockbuster announcement, the trail seems to have gone cold on Tyson v Mayweather. Do you reckon it is going to go ahead, and if it does, who wins?
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Mike Tyson’s next fight
Mike Tyson returned from almost 20 years in retirement to fight Jake Paul in November 2024.
The 59-year-old managed to go the eight-round distance, but he looked like a shadow of his former self as he lost by unanimous decision.
10 months later, Tyson announced that he’s signed a deal to face Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition.
Tyson made claims in regards to the fight date and venue – but no official announcement has been made.
“It’s going to be in March, and it’s going to be in Africa,” he told UFC legend Conor McGregor during his trip to Dublin, Ireland, in December.
“It’s going to be incredible, it’s going to interrupt all of the records, and it’s going to be one in every of the largest events within the history of the game.”
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