On June 28, 1997, at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield made the first defence of his WBA heavyweight title against ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, from whom he had won the title, by technical knockout, at the same venue the previous September. Originally billed as ‘The Sound and the Fury’, the rematch was, at the time, the highest grossing match in the history of boxing.

Holyfield started well, winning the first two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. However, early in round two, Tyson sustained a cut over his right eye from an ‘accidental’ headbutt, which spurred him into ferocious action at the start of round three. Nevertheless, despite landing several solid right hands, Tyson failed to make much impression on Holyfield and, after two minutes, his frustration boiled over.

Inexplicably, as the pair came together in a clinch, Tyson viciously bit Holyfield on his right ear, removing a piece, and as he retreated to his corner, rushed across the ring and pushed him from behind. Bemused referee Miles Lane called time-out to assess the situation and after consultation with ringside officials, deducted two points from Tyson before allowing the bout to continue. Shortly afterwards, Tyson bit Holyfield again, this time on the left ear, and was, unsurprisingly, disqualified at the end of the round. Tyson was fined $3 million – the maximum allowed by law – by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and had his boxing licence revoked for just over a year.

Fourteen months after their first meeting, in Los Angeles, California, which ended in a controversial, split-decision draw, Tyson ‘The Gypsy King’ Wilder and hitherto unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder fought a highly anticipated rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas on February 22, 2020.

Billed as ‘Unfinished Business’, the fight proved to be a one-sided contest, with Wilder backpedalling right from the start and never able to throw his trademark right hand effectively. Standing 6’9″ tall and weighing in at 273lb, Fury held a height, weight and reach advantage over his opponent, who was unable to deal with his jab.

In the third round, Fury knocked Wilder down for the first time, with a left-right combination. He continued to batter his increasingly groggy opponent before knocking him onto the seat of pants, again, with a left-hand body shot in the fifth round. Shattered, unsteady on his feet and clearly in desperate trouble, Wilder survived the sixth round, but, halfway through the seventh, with their man backed into a corner, his corner threw in the towel to spare him further punishment. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the contest, awarding Fury a win by technical knockout.

In his post-fight interview, Wilder said, ‘I just wish that my corner would’ve let me go out on my shield’, and subsequently sacked trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel. However, with Wilder having been comprehensively outboxed for seven rounds, knocked down twice and miles behind on points, it’s difficult to argue that Breland wasn’t acting in his best interest.

Read about the fight here

On August 26, 2017, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr., who had previously retired, for the second time, in 2015, came out of retirement to face UFC lightweight champion Conor ‘Notorious’ McGregor in a pay-per-view contest at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Known as ‘The Money Fight’, it was, in fact, one of the richest bouts in boxing history, with minimum earnings of $100 million for Mayweather and $30 million for McGregor.

Scheduled for twelve rounds, at the light-middleweight, 154lb, limit, the bout represented a first professional boxing match for McGregor, whereas Mayweather was seeking to extend his perfect career to 50 fights unbeaten. McGregor, 29, started brightly, connecting with a crisp uppercut in the opening round but, after a slow start, Mayweather started to gain the upper hand over his visibly tiring opponent from the fourth round onwards.

In the sixth and seventh rounds, Mayweather landed a series of solid head shots that pushed his opponent backwards and, as McGregor ran out of steam, continued to land crisp, clean punches. In round nine, Mayweather began stalking an exhausted McGregor around the ring and, in round ten, landed several telling right hands before trapping him, all but defenceless, against the ropes. With McGregor having nothing left to offer, and well behind on the ringside scorecards, referee Robert Byrd had little choice but to stop the contest.