I believe it's safe to say that "Iron Mike" Tyson has lived a rather fascinating life. However, the year 1988 was of particular note. It was the year that a rematch between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. The former came out on top by TKO in the 11th round.
The rematch was dubbed, "The Sound and the Fury." Afterwards, the fight became nortorious. It was referred to as The Bite Fight. It took place on 28 June 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.
Mike Tyson's boxing fate was left to a psychiatrist to determine whether the former heavyweight champ was ready to return to the ring. At a hearing on whether Tyson should get his license back, the Nevada Athletic Commission decided it wanted an outside source to help decide the matter.
"If they say he's normal and can fight again, then we have the responsibility to maybe, probably, license him to fight again," commission chairman, Dr. Elias Ghanem, said.
The commission will pick three psychiatrists and Tyson will be able to choose one of them for an examination expected within a week or so. Another hearing was scheduled for 3 October.
Tyson's lawyer, Dale Kinsella, said he was pleased with the decision, which came after a 40-minute break during which the boxer's attorneys and the commissioners huddled in a hallway to try to reach a solution.
The commission's decision came despite testimony from a psychologist hired by Tyson's camp that the fighter had learned to control his temper.
"He's not crazy," Dr. Norton Roitman told the commission that banned Tyson from boxing on 9 July 1997, after he bit Evander Holyfield's ears in a title bout.
Tyson earlier said he wouldn't mind mental rehabilitation. "I'm not opposed to anything. I don't mind seeing a psychiatrist now and then."
Tyson was, at times, testy but ultimately felt remorseful during the hearing, apologised and said the ban had left him all but broke. He promised he was a changed man and would never misbehave again.
The report summary was prepared by Dr. Ronald Schouten of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of six doctors who met with Tyson last month. Mental Status Examination by Drs. Schouten and David Henderson (a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital):
Throughout the five-day evaluation period, Mr. Tyson repeatedly indicated his sense of responsibility to his family and community, as well as his feelings of guilt over his own success.
Mr. Tyson reported that, "I have no self-esteem but the biggest ego in the world." Upon further exploration, he was aware that his inflated ego was a psychological defense to his poor self-esteem. He stated that he is uncomfortable with his celebrity status, indicating "I don't want super stardom."
Mr. Tyson reported his mood as being depressed. His affect was marked by instability, with a tendency to shift over the course of the day in response to events in his life. He reported that he experiences several symptoms of depression and that these are chronic. He reported these symptoms to include depressed mood, decreased energy, feelings of guilt and increased appetite.
Mr. Tyson denied a desire to harm himself or others. He noted that he feels better when training and doesn't find fighting stressful. He gave a history of periods of increased energy and rapid thoughts, although these were not confirmed by his wife. He reported feeling anxious and described a state of hypervigilance (hyperalertness to the people and events around him) which he attributes to the number of times his trust has been betrayed. Other than this general level of alertness, there are no other indicators of an anxiety disorder, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Mr. Tyson denied symptoms of a psychotic disorder and no signs or symptoms of psychosis were detected....
Psychological Evaluation:
The results of the psychological evaluation conducted by Dr. (David) Medoff revealed Mr. Tyson's moderate depression, self-criticism, irritability, anger, individualism and difficulty in interpersonal relationships. His profile was consistent with those of people who experience anger and irritability but are ordinarily able to control these feelings. It also revealed a tendency to rely on others to a greater extent than expected, as well as naivetDe in these relationships. The testing did not suggest the presence of any major mental illness or personality disorder. These findings are consistent with our clinical observations.
Clinical Impression:
Mr. Tyson is a 32-year-old married man who reports a long history of low level depression. His personal history is marked by significant psychological and physical trauma, as well as a belief that he has been betrayed by individuals close to him. This has caused Mr. Tyson to have significant problems with trust, as he fears being betrayed. In addition, he struggles with low self-esteem.
On mental status examination, neurological evaluation and psychological and neuropsychological evaluation, Mr. Tyson exhibited shifts in his mood in response to events around him. Mr. Tyson's changes from normal mood to anger seem to be triggered by his belief that he is being used, victimized and treated unfairly. When this occurs, he becomes defensive and uses anger to push people away.
These mood shifts are responsive to intervention, structure, and clear expectations. Mr. Tyson denies any desire to harm others. While he has difficulty trusting others, Mr. Tyson was able to develop rapport with the evaluators and he has the capacity to establish appropriate interpersonal relationships.
Mr. Tyson demonstrated relative cognitive difficulties in the areas of attention, short term/working memory, verbal learning and memory and fine motor coordination. He also has deficits on some select measures of executive control. These deficits are not necessarily the result of boxing, and may well have been present prior to the initiation of Mr. Tyson's boxing career. They are not of such proportion that they would preclude Mr. Tyson from boxing.
In conjunction with his psychological vulnerabilities, however, they place him at some increased risk of impulsivity and poor judgment. We emphasize that because of the lack of an appropriate comparison group, caution must be taken in the interpretation of these test results. We recommend that Mr. Tyson repeat a neuropsychological evaluation in one year to document that these deficits are nonprogressive, in light of the fact that there is no comparison group.
Responses to Specific Inquiries:
What is the current necessary or proposed treatment, if any recommended for Mr. Tyson?
It is the unanimous opinion of the evaluation team that Mr. Tyson should be engaged in a course or regular psychotherapy with the goal of building trusting relationships, understanding and managing his emotional responses to specific situations and anger management skills. It is expected that this therapy will help him compensate for his relative deficits in executive control. Mr. Tyson should have a primary treating therapist with whom he will have personal or telephone contact at least weekly. In light of Mr. Tyson's training and travel schedules, it will be helpful for him to have a team of treating clinicians who can be available to him when his location changes.
While antidepressant medications can be a useful adjunct in Dysthymic Disorder, they are not always necessary or helpful. When medications are recommended, that recommendation is made based on numerous factors, including the necessity of the medication, the side effects of the medication and effect on the patient's lifestyle, and the availability of alternative treatments. In Mr. Tyson's situation, it is our recommendation that his treatment be centered on the management of emotions through psychotherapeutic interventions rather than medication. Such treatment is more likely to have persistent benefits in terms of Mr. Tyson's modification of his behaviour over the long term.
What is Mr. Tyson's ability to handle stress in unpredictable situations?
Based upon our observations, Mr. Tyson's ability in this area appears to be fair to good. We observed Mr. Tyson under circumstances of high stress. In addition to his feeling humiliated and singled-out by the process, his physical and mental processes were the subject of intense scrutiny with the knowledge that this information might be produced for public consumption once submitted.
These are the circumstances in which Mr. Tyson says he ordinarily becomes angry and defensive. While we saw irritability and outright anger on Mr. Tyson's part on several occasions in connection with the evaluation process, he was able to recompose himself and responded readily to support and encouragement from members of his support staff.
What is the potential that Mr. Tyson could commit another major foul in the boxing ring?
It is not possible to predict future behavior of any individual. Fouls are committed in boxing, as they are in other sports. There is thus some risk of a foul occurring by virtue of being a boxer or an athlete in general. While past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, that fact argues both ways for Mr. Tyson. On the one hand, it could be said that his commission of a foul puts him at increased risk of committing another offense. On the other hand, Mr. Tyson's history of limited point deductions in 48 previous bouts suggests that he is at low risk of another foul, especially given the consequences to date of the June 28, 1997 incident.
It appears that Mr. Tyson's foul was the product of several factors: depression, impulse control problems exacerbated by depression, a sense that no one was protecting his interests and a variety of social and financial pressures. Mr. Tyson has changed his management and support staff and has begun addressing his depression. He is remorseful regarding the incident and is highly motivated to avoid repetition of that behaviour. We believe that the risk of such a re-offense is low.
Does the chosen medical institution believe that Mr. Tyson is mentally fit to compete within the rules and regulations of the sport of boxing, without succumbing to another incident wherein Mr. Tyson says he "snapped"?
It is the opinion of the evaluation team that Mr. Tyson is mentally fit to return to boxing, to comply with the rules and regulations and to do so without repetition of the events of June 28, 1997. While we take note of the impulsivity, emotional problems and cognitive problems outlined above, it is our opinion that none of these, alone or in combination, render Mr. Tyson mentally unfit in this regard. We feel that the treatment recommended above will further increase his fitness and ability to participate successfully in boxing.
The commission voted 4–1 to reinstate Tyson's license on October 18, 1998.
After both men retired from boxing, they became close friends.
The match generated a total revenue of $180 million (equivalent to $342 million adjusted for inflation), from live gate, pay-per-view, closed-circuit telecasts, foreign television rights and casino profits. In the 2008 documentary Tyson, the boxer claimed he did it as retaliation for the headbutting.
On 16 October 2009, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Tyson made amends with Holyfield, telling him "It's been a pleasure passing through life, being acquainted with you." Holyfield accepted Tyson's overture and forgave him.
A book titled, The Bite Fight was made in 2013 by journalist, George Willis, illustrating the lives of Tyson and Holyfield before, during and after the fight. The fight was also examined from the perspective of both boxers in the 30 for 30 documentary Chasing Tyson.
In 2022, Tyson and Holyfield teamed up to produce edible cannabis sweets in the shape of Holyfield's ear, called "Holy Ears", and created a comedic Christmas advertisement to promote the product.
I find it amazing that a simple bite could lead to all this. At the end of the day, I'm glad that he was able to return to boxing. I, in no way, support the biting. The important part of all this is that Mike Tyson recognised his actions and knew it was wrong. It seems obvious that there were extenuating circumstances that led to the bite.
Seeking help in whatever manner is always beneficial and recommended.