Holyfield Too Much For Tyson Challenger Scores Huge Upset, By Stopping Wba Champ In 11th

Evander Holyfield scored one of the biggest upsets in boxing history Saturday night, stopping the once-invincible Mike Tyson on a technical knockout in the 11th round.

Referee Mitch Halpern stepped between the two warriors in the 37th second of the round, when Tyson, seemingly out on his feet, could not answer nine straight blows to the head by Holyfield, an 8-1 underdog at fight time.

The victory gave Holyfield the World Boxing Association heavyweight crown, which had belonged to Tyson.

Holyfield, who said he had been fighting for God, knocked down Tyson in the sixth round, had him out on his feet at the end of the 10th, and finished the job with a vicious barrage of blows at the start of the 11th.

Holyfield was ahead on all three cards at the end - 96-92 on two of them and 100-93 on the third.

This was Tyson’s first defense of the WBA title he won from Bruce Seldon in September.

Holyfield, wearing a purple satin robe trimmed in white, was first in the ring. Tyson followed 2 minutes later. The cheers seemed about even for both fighters as they stepped through the ropes, but Tyson’s greeting was mixed with some boos.

Tyson threw the first blow, a glancing right hand that started Holyfield backtracking, although he was unhurt. Holyfield stepped back toward Tyson and landed a right to the body, and the two exchanged blows at the center of the ring.

Holyfield, as advertised, was not intimidated, was not backing off, and he was throwing punches equally as hard as Tyson’s. He moved inside late in Round 1 and scored with short punches that brought the crowd to its feet. A left hook to the head quickly followed, and Tyson held on. The referee had to separate them at the bell.

By the second round, Tyson was no longer lunging, as is his habit. He waded in to get to Holyfield, but Holyfield fought him off. Midway through the round, Holyfield hurt Tyson and had him on the ropes, looking to clinch.

Not only was Holyfield beating Tyson to the punch, Tyson was beginning to miss punches and swing wildly.

It went that way though Round 3, each man countering to the other’s bombs.

Holyfield, who had had stamina problems, began to show signs of slowing late in Round 4, and early in Round 5, when he took a right to the body and a right uppercut and backed away from Tyson.

Tyson scored a thumping right to Holyfield’s head late in Round 5, and for the first time, the challenger didn’t offer a counterpunch. Tyson was taking control.

The champion sprang at Holyfield like a tiger at the start of Round 6 and landed a left hook, but he came away from a brutal exchange with a cut about his left eye. Referee Mitch Halpern called time to have a ringside doctor look at the cut, but the fight continued.

Just seconds later, Hollyfield landed a left hook that put Tyson on his seat. It was a knockdown that surprised Tyson more than hurt him. Tyson got up immediately.

Tyson, 29, weighed in at 222 pounds, the heaviest of his career. He took a 45-1 record and 39 knockouts into the fight. Holyfield, 34, weighed 215 and had a record of 32-3 with 23 knockouts.

Tyson was 12-1 in title fights, Holyfield 11-2.

Tyson’s purse was $30 million. Holyfield received $11 million. Before Saturday night, Tyson had easily beaten four challengers in the 20 months since his release from prison, winning as much by intimidation as by force, and he had reestablished his aura of invincibility. Holyfield figured to be his first unintimidated foe since 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas beat him in 1990 in one of boxing’s greatest upsets.

The prospect of a real fight - Tyson had needed less than eight rounds and just over 18 minutes to dispose of his four post-prison opponents - sent receipts soaring, perhaps to $100 million, including pay-per-view and a live gate that topped $15 million.

The Douglas upset halted a planned fight between Tyson and Holyfield early in 1991. The two again were scheduled to meet after Holyfield beat Douglas for the undisputed title, but the bout was postponed because of a rib injury to Tyson and canceled when Tyson was incarcerated for three years for rape.

On the undercard, Michael Moorer, who had South African Frans Botha virtually out on his feet in the third round and again in the ninth, finally scored a technical knockout 18 seconds into the 12th round and successfully defended his International Boxing Federation heavyweight title.

Before that fight, Henry Akinwande, the tallest heavyweight champion in history at 6-foot-7, successfully defended his World Boxing Organization title with a technical knockout of Alex Zolkin.

In the other fights, Venezuela’s Antonio Cermano, the WBA junior-featherweight champion, stopped Eddie Saenz of Nicaragua after five rounds. Mexcio’s Ricardo Lopez, the World Boxing Council strawweight champion, halted Morgan Nduma of South Africa in the sixth round.