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| Date | December 16, 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | CoreStates Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | None | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr. , billed as Presumption of Innocence, was a professional boxing match contested on December 16, 1995.
Mike Tyson had returned to boxing after a three-year prison stint with an 89-second victory over Peter McNeeley. After his victory, Tyson's rank as the number one ranked heavyweight was restored by the three major boxing organizations (the WBA, WBC and International Boxing Federation). Before he would fight for one of the three World Heavyweight titles, he would first partake in second comeback fight. Only days after his victory over McNeeley, it was announced that he would face the undefeated but virtually unknown Buster Mathis Jr. on November 4, 1995 at the MGM Grand Arena. [1] The bout was originally scheduled to go up against the highly anticipated rubber match between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield on pay-per-view, with Tyson–Mathis to be aired on Showtime, while Bowe–Holyfield would be broadcast on rival HBO. [2] However, on September 14, Tyson promoter Don King would stun the boxing world by announcing that the Tyson–Mathis match would instead be broadcast for free on Fox. [3] Three weeks before the fight, Tyson suffered a broken thumb, but did not announce it until November 1, three days before the fight. In a press conference at the MGM Grand, Tyson announced the cancellation of the fight because of the injury. [4] Then, on November 22, it was announced that the bout had been moved to Atlantic City with a December 16 date in place and that Showtime would air the fight instead of Fox. [5] Plans were changed after New Jersey gaming authorities ruled against having the fight in Atlantic City because Don King had been under suspension in New Jersey since 1994 because of legal troubles. On November 30, Philadelphia's CoreStates Spectrum was announced to host the fight with Fox regaining the rights to air it. [6]
Tyson had a slow start in the fight. In the first round, Tyson was unable to land many punches as Mathis was able to dodge most of Tyson's attempts while also staying close to Tyson to prevent Tyson from unloading his power punches. In the second round Mathis successfully continued to use his defensive strategy of slipping, bobbing and clinching to survive the round. However, with about 40 seconds left in round 3, Tyson was able to land successive right uppercuts that dropped Mathis to the canvas. Mathis was unable to answer the referee's 10 count and Tyson was awarded the victory via knockout. [7]
After his victory over Mathis, Tyson's promoter officially announced that he would receive his first Heavyweight title fight against WBC Heavyweight Champion Frank Bruno in March 1996. Tyson and Bruno had previously met in 1989 with Tyson's Undisputed Heavyweight Championship on the line. In that fight, Bruno rocked Tyson for the first time in Tyson's career with a left hook towards the end of the first round. Tyson recovered and otherwise dominated the fight before knocking Bruno out in the fifth round. In the 1996 rematch, Tyson again dominated Bruno, this time knocking him out in the third round to capture the WBC Heavyweight title.
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.
As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the mid to late 1990s.
Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defense of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
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.
Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match that took place on November 13, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was contested for the undisputed world heavyweight championship, which consisted of the WBA, WBC, and IBF championships.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II, billed as Repeat or Revenge, was a professional boxing match that took place on November 6, 1993, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III, billed as "The Final Chapter", was a professional boxing match contested on November 4, 1995. The non-title match marked the third and final fight in the Bowe–Holyfield trilogy.
Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II was a professional boxing match contested November 8, 1997 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis, billed as Undisputed, was a professional boxing match contested on March 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. The result was a split draw, which proved controversial.
Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson, billed as Liberation, was a professional boxing match fought on September 7, 1996 for the WBA heavyweight championship.
Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II, billed as The Championship: Part I, was a professional boxing match contested on March 16, 1996 for the WBC heavyweight championship.
Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno was a professional boxing match contested on February 25, 1989 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring heavyweight championships.
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.
Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes, billed as "Class of Champions", was a professional boxing match contested on June 19, 1992, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships.
Herbie Hide vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match contested on March 11, 1995, for the World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship. The bout took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and was televised by HBO. Hide was making the first defense of the title he had won from Michael Bentt in a fight that resulted in Bentt suffering career ending injuries while Bowe was trying to find his way back into the world championship picture sixteen months after he lost his place as champion to Evander Holyfield. Bowe defeated Hide in the 6th round.
Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González, billed as "Mortal Enemies", was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 1995 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota, billed as "Big Daddy's Home", was a professional boxing match contested on July 11, 1996. The fight was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was televised on HBO in the United States, and on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
Lennox Lewis vs. Ray Mercer was a professional boxing match contested on May 10, 1996.
Riddick Bowe vs. Larry Donald was a professional boxing match contested on December 3, 1994.
The heavyweight unification series, also known as the Heavyweight World Series, was a sequence of professional boxing matches held in 1986 and 1987 to crown an undisputed champion of the heavyweight class. The series was produced by HBO Sports and promoted by Don King. It ended with Mike Tyson as undisputed champion, holding the championship belts of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA), and World Boxing Council (WBC).
