Editing Evander Holyfield (section)

===Holyfield–Tyson rivalry===
====Holyfield vs. Tyson====
{{Main|Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield|Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II}}
In 1996, Holyfield met former world champion [[Bobby Czyz]], beating him by a knockout in six. Afterwards, he and [[Mike Tyson]] met.

Tyson had recovered the WBC and WBA Heavyweight Championship and, after being stripped of the WBC title for not facing [[Lennox Lewis]], defended the WBA title against Holyfield on November 9 of that year. Tyson was heavily favored to win, but Holyfield made history by [[Tyson-Holyfield I|defeating Tyson]] in an 11th round [[technical knockout|TKO]]. This was the third occasion on which Holyfield won the WBA Heavyweight title. However, the fight was not recognized as being for the [[lineal championship]], which was held by [[George Foreman]] at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/achamp.htm |title=The Lineal Heavyweight Boxing Champs |publisher=The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603092447/http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/achamp.htm |archive-date=2009-06-03 }}</ref>

====Holyfield vs. Tyson II: The Bite Fight====
Holyfield's rematch with Tyson took place on June 28, 1997. Known as "The Bite Fight", it went into the annals of boxing as one of the most bizarre fights in history. The infamous incident occurred in the third round, when Tyson bit Holyfield on one of his ears and had two points deducted. Referee Mills Lane decided to disqualify Tyson initially, but after Holyfield and the ringside doctor intervened and said Holyfield could continue, he relented and allowed the fight to go on. Tyson bit Holyfield again, this time on the other ear. Tyson's teeth tore off a small section of the top of his opponent's ear, known as the [[Helix (ear)|helix]], and spat that bit of flesh out onto the canvas.

The immediate aftermath of the incident was bedlam. Tyson was disqualified and a melee ensued. Tyson claimed his bites were a retaliation to Holyfield's unchecked [[headbutt]]s, which had cut him in both fights. Others argued that Tyson, knowing he was on his way to another knockout loss, was looking for a way out of the fight. [[Teddy Atlas]], who had briefly trained Tyson seventeen years earlier, predicted that Tyson would get himself disqualified, calling Tyson "a very weak and flawed person".<ref>"Atlas Shrugged, He Knows What's Eating Tyson," Michael Katz, ''New Daily News'', June 30, 1997</ref>