Well, at least Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield have a pretty good sense of humor about their notorious history together.
The two former heavyweight boxing champions are making the most of their infamous June 28, 1997 rematch at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, where Tyson lost his composure and bit off part of Holyfield’s ear.
The shocking act was one of the bizarre in boxing annals and earned “Iron Mike” a $3 million fine and a ban from the sport.
The two are at it again 15 years later, this time as friendly business partners helping one another market their products. The most recent exchange came earlier this week when Holyfield tweeted a photo of himself wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of Tyson’s very recognizable facial tattoo.
Holyfield wrote, “@MikeTyson bit my ear and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
The line of T-shirts is part of the Mike Tyson Collection the former champion is hawking.
Tyson had kicked their unofficial partnership off in Junes with a Twitter exchange between the two men that helped Holyfield sell his Real Deal Barbecue Sauce.
That the two men can joke with one another is far cry from the first few years following that memorable night in Vegas. It wasn’t until 2009 that Tyson appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and finally apologized to Holyfield.
Tyson later cited what he believed to be a string of intentional head-butts by Holyfield as his reason for assaulting the then-reigning champion. He first bit Holyfield’s ear in the third round, but the fight continued. Tyson attacked again later, this time biting off a part of Holyfield’s other ear before spitting the flesh out on the ring.
The attack prompted a rash of fighting in and around the MGM Grand Casino and forever branded Tyson as an out-of-control rogue.
Holyfield had won the earlier match between the two a few months earlier on Nov. 9, 1996, stopping the heavily-favored Tyson with an 11th-round TKO.
