On November 9, 1996, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson made the first defence of his World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Title against Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield at MGM Grand, Las Vegas. The bout was seen by many observers – including bookmakers, who initially quoted Holyfield at 25/1 – as little more than a formality for the self-styled ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’, against a washed up opponent.

Indeed, when Tyson landed a clean right hand, which sent Holyfield staggering across the ring, in the opening seconds, a quick, dramatic knockout looked on the cards. However, Holyfield refused to be intimidated, kept his head and landed some good shots of his own. Having connected several times in round one, he did so again in round two, with a straight left that stopped Tyson in his tracks.

Holyfield continued to crowd in on Tyson, removing the efficacy of his hook and, although caught with a ferocious right uppercut, which sent him backpeddling, in the fifth round, showed no sign of crumbling. In the sixth round, Tyson sustained a cut above his left eye from an accidental headbutt and as the chant of ‘Holyfield!’ rang out from the crowd, suffered just the second knockdown of his career.

Thereafter, Tyson appeared increasingly tired and lacking in confidence. Late in the tenth round, Holyfield connected with two powerful right hands, which sent Tyson stumbling across the ring. Dazed and unsteady on his feet, Tyson came out for the eleventh round, but lasted only 37 seconds, with the referee stepping in to stop the contest and hand Holyfield victory by technical knockout. The bout was named ‘Fight of the Year’ and ‘Upset of the Year’ by ‘The Ring’ magazine.

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Originally billed simply as ‘The Fight’, the world middleweight championship bout between Thomas ‘Hitman’ Hearns and ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas on April 15, 1985 lasted just three rounds, yet was named ‘Fight of the Year’ by ‘The Ring’ magazine.Hagler, 30, was the undisputed world middleweight champion – and had been since September, 1980 – while Hearns, 26, was the reigning WBC light-middleweight, but moved up in weight to face Hagler.

The opening round was truly unforgettable. Both fighters started aggressively, with Hearns hurting Hagler, more than once, with flush right-hand punches – one which fractured his hand – and Hagler countering, with a right hand of his own, late in the round. After a breathless, action-packed first round, the tempo had to drop and it did. Nevertheless, boxing on the outside, Hearns used his jab to open cuts, which bled copiously, over both the eyes of his opponent. Hagler responded by increasing his work rate on the inside and, late on in round two, trapped Hearns against the ropes and hurt him with several blows to his head and body.

In the third, and final, round, Hearns once again started on the outside, but after a short timeout, for the ringside doctor to examine Hagler, the defending champion resumed with renewed vigour. Shortly afterwards, he caught Hearns with a right hand, followed by another, and another, which dropped him to the canvas. Remarkably, Hearns rose to his feet at the count of nine, but was clearly unfit to continue and the fight was stopped.

Read about the fight here