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| Date | June 24, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson wins via 1st-round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Tyson vs. Lou Savarese , billed as Tyson's Back, was a professional boxing match contested on June 24, 2000.
Mike Tyson embarked on a comeback in 1999, marking his return to the ring after a nine-month hiatus, primarily due to a four-month prison sentence. [1] His comeback journey began with a victory on January 16, 1999, when he knocked out former IBF Heavyweight champion Francois Botha in the fifth round. Following this, Tyson faced former WBA Cruiserweight champion Orlin Norris, but their bout ended in a no-contest due to an accidental punch that landed after the bell. [2]
Three months later, Tyson had his first-ever fight in the United Kingdom, defeating British journeyman Julius Francis by a second-round knockout. In February 2000, Tyson announced his next opponent, fringe contender Lou Savarese. Initially slated for Milan in May, [3] the bout was postponed after Tyson reportedly needed more time to train. [4] The fight was then moved to Hampden Park in Glasgow, and rescheduled for 24 June. The decision to allow Tyson back into the United Kingdom sparked protests due to his prior rape conviction, [5] but Glasgow city council ultimately voted 10–1 in favour of permitting the match to proceed. [6]
In the bout with Savarese, Tyson made a swift impact with a left hand that sent Savarese to the canvas. [7] Savarese managed to rise but faced a relentless onslaught from Tyson. Referee John Coyle attempted to intervene at 26 seconds, but Tyson continued to attack, even briefly taking down Coyle. Tyson's corner eventually entered the ring, and he regained his composure. The fight was declared a technical knockout victory for Tyson after only 38 seconds of action. [8] It was the second quickest fight of his career, behind only his 30-second victory over Marvis Frazier in 1986.
During his post-fight interview with Jim Gray of Showtime, Tyson called out Lennox Lewis, stating, "I want your heart, I want to eat your children. Praise be to Allah." [9]
Michael Gerard Tyson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. In 1990, Tyson was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division.
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the three belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
James "Buster" Douglas is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1981 and 1999. He reigned as undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1990 after knocking out Mike Tyson to win the title, handing the undefeated Tyson his first ever loss. He also defeated heavyweight world champions Oliver McCall, Trevor Berbick, and Greg Page.
Shannon Briggs is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1992 and 2016. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title from 2006 to 2007. Briggs was known for his formidable punching power and aggression, possessing an 88.3% knockout-to-win percentage with 37 knockout wins in the first round.
Lou Savarese is an American former professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed 1989 to 2013. He is from Greenwood Lake, New York. On April 26, 1997, he challenged for the Lineal Heavyweight Championship, and lost by a controversial split decision to the Lineal World Heavyweight Champion George Foreman. A year later on June 25, 1998, Savarese won the IBA World Heavyweight title against former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Buster Douglas by way of a first-round knockout. On June 24, 2000, he lost by a first-round technical knockout to former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson. On September 22, 2002, Savarese won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title, by way of a fifth-round TKO against former two-time World Heavyweight Champion Tim Witherspoon. On June 30, 2007, Savarese fought former four-time World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield. He fought with great heart but lost by unanimous decision to a sharp looking Holyfield. Savarese announced after the fight that he had given it his all but it wasn't good enough, and this would be his last bout.
Donovan "Razor" Ruddock is a Jamaican-born Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 2001 and in 2015. He is known for his two fights against Mike Tyson in 1991, a fight against Lennox Lewis in 1992, and a fight with Tommy Morrison in 1995. Ruddock was also known for his exceptionally heavy punching; some of the best examples of his left hand and overall power was his knockouts of former WBA heavyweight champions James Smith in 1989, Michael Dokes in 1990, and Greg Page in 1992. His favoured weapon at the ring proved to be a highly versatile half-hook, half-uppercut left-handed punch he called "The Smash" which accounted for the majority of his knockout wins -- it also happened to be his major downside throughout his career. Being a left-handed puncher fighting out of the orthodox stance, he didn't throw a single right hand during most knockout flurries.
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 between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson 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 a part of Holyfield's ear. Tyson was disqualified from the match and lost his boxing license, though it was later reinstated.
Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, billed as He's Back, was a professional boxing match contested on August 19, 1995. The match marked the return of Mike Tyson to professional boxing after over four years away due to his 1991 arrest and subsequent conviction for rape in 1992 which led to Tyson serving three years in prison.
Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "The Moment of Truth", was a professional boxing match contested on October 25, 1990, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. The bout took place at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada, USA and saw Douglas making the first defense of the titles he won from Mike Tyson in February 1990.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II, billed as The Rematch, was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1991. It was the second time the two fighters fought that year, as their first bout in March was mired in controversy.
Mike Tyson vs. Pinklon Thomas, billed as Hard Road to Glory, was a professional boxing match contested on May 30, 1987, for the WBA and WBC heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha was a professional boxing match on January 16, 1999. Tyson won the match by knocking out Botha in the fifth round.
Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota, billed as Showdown in Motown, was a professional boxing match contested on October 20, 2000.
Lennox Lewis vs. Francois Botha, billed as The Homecoming, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between WBC, IBF, and IBO champion Lennox Lewis and the WBC's #9 ranked contender Francois Botha. The bout took place on 15 July 2000 at the London Arena in England. Lewis defeated Botha via second-round technical knockout to retain his heavyweight titles.
Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "Thunder in Africa", was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between unified WBC, IBF, IBO, and lineal champion Lennox Lewis, and Hasim Rahman. The bout took place on 22 April 2001 in Brakpan, South Africa. Rahman, who was a 20–1 underdog, won by knockout in the fifth round. It was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
Mike Tyson vs. Orlin Norris was a professional boxing match contested on October 23, 1999. The match was stopped and ruled a no contest before the second round after Tyson committed a foul, injuring Norris, who could not continue the bout.
Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen was a professional boxing match contested on October 13, 2001.
Mike Tyson vs. Danny Williams, billed as Return for Revenge, was a professional boxing match contested on July 30, 2004. Although former heavyweight champion Tyson entered the fray as a 9-to-1 favorite with oddsmakers, the fight was won by Williams by knockout at 2:51 of the 4th round.
George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1997, for the Lineal heavyweight championship.
