Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley
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Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, billed as He's Back, was a professional boxing match contested on August 19, 1995.[1] The match marked the return of Mike Tyson to professional boxing after over four years away due to his 1991 arrest and subsequent conviction for rape in 1992 which led to Tyson serving three years in prison.
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| Date | August 19, 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson wins via 1st-round disqualification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
Tyson had twice defeated the number two ranked heavyweight, Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, in 1991. Shortly after his second victory over Ruddock, a blockbuster deal was made that would see Tyson face the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield on November 8, 1991. Before this match could take place, however, Tyson was arrested for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. He was subsequently convicted on February 10, 1992, and then sentenced to six years in prison on March 26.[2] After serving three years, Tyson was paroled on March 25, 1995, and on March 29, he would hold a short press conference that would announce his return to boxing as well as that Don King would remain his promoter.[3] After much debate over who would be Tyson's first opponent in his comeback, including talks about a potential superfight with George Foreman,[4] it was announced that Tyson would face little-known Peter McNeeley on August 19, 1995.[5]
The fights
Summarize
Perspective
Undercard
Middleweight contender Keith Holmes scored a 4th round TKO over Tommy Small.
Santana vs. Norris III
| Title(s) on the line | WBC light middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norris defeats Santana by 2nd round TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first televised bout on the card saw Luis Santana make the second defence of his WBC Light middleweight title against former champion Terry Norris.[6]
This was the third consecutive fight between the two, Norris having twice been disqualified, firstly for a rabbit punch and for hitting after the bell in the second.
Promoter Don King made the bout available on ABC to act as an infomercial for the $50 pay-per-view card later that night. Fans were allowed in free, then the MGM Grand Arena was cleared for customers who paid $200 to $1,500 to watch Tyson.[7]
The fight
Norris would dominate the fight and had Santana in trouble at the end of the first round.
Santana was knocked down three times in the second round, with the third knockdown prompting referee Joe Cortez to step in to immediately stop the bout, giving Norris a TKO victory and making him a three time champion.[8]
After the fight, Norris said, "I knew if I set him up and dropped bombs on him, we could get him out of there." before vowing "I will never fight him again." He would also say that he wanted to eventually move up to middleweight.[7]
González vs. Murphy
The first bout on the PPV card saw Miguel Ángel González defend his WBC Lightweight title against No. 7 ranked Lamar Murphy.
| Title(s) on the line | WBC Lightweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzalez wins by Majority Decision (114-114, 114-112, 117-109) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The fight
In a very even bout, while Murphy typically threw more punches González was landing more frequently. González would be deducted a point in both the 2nd and the 6th for low blows.[9]
At the end of 12 rounds, one judge scored it even at 114–114, one had it 114–112 and the another 117–109 both in favour of the champion giving him a Majority decision victory.[7] This resulted in a number of boos from the crowd.
Seldon vs. Hipp
| Title(s) on the line | WBA heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seldon defeats Hipp by 10th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The next bout saw WBA Heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon make the first defence of his title against Joe Hipp[10]
Hipp became the first Native American to challenge for one of the three recognized heavyweight title belts, having previously signed to face unified heavyweight champion Michael Moorer before he choose to make his first defence against George Foreman.
Hipp promised to give his all saying "I'm going to fight like I've never fought before, I'm not going to leave anything out of the ring." Seldon meanwhile did not believe Hipp's skills match his own saying "Joe Hipp doesn't have my movement, he doesn't have my speed. Joe Hipp's not going to take my title from me. It's not going to go the distance."[11]
Don King said that the winner of this bout would be Tyson's next opponent in November.[12]
The fight
Seldon would use his jab to control the action in a slow-paced affair, with neither man throwing many punches. From the 5th round onwards, Hipp's left eye would appeared marked, nearly closing completely by the 8th. Hipp briefly hurt Seldon late in the 7th with a counter left, but the champion wasn't perturbed. A gash under Hipp's left eye would open up from the 8th round and by the 10th his right was also badly swelled. Eventually referee Richard Steele decided to stop the bout because of the damage around the eyes.[13][9]
At the time of the stoppage, Seldon led on all three scorecards, 88–84, 88–84 and 87–84.
Main Event
The fight lasted only 89 seconds with Tyson earning an easy victory via disqualification. McNeeley started the fight by aggressively attacking Tyson as soon as the opening bell rang. Tyson was able to avoid McNeeley's wild punches and land a straight right that dropped McNeeley to the canvas less than 10 seconds into the fight. After taking referee Mills Lane's standing eight count, McNeeley was allowed to continue and again continued his assault on Tyson. The two men exchanged punches in the corner as the first minute of the round passed. Less than 20 seconds later, Tyson landed a right uppercut that again sent McNeeley down. With McNeeley clearly hurt from the exchange, his manager Vinnie Vecchione entered the ring to prevent McNeeley from taking any more damage, causing Lane to end the fight and award Tyson the victory by disqualification.[14][15]
Jackson vs. Taylor
| Title(s) on the line | WBC middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taylor defeats Jackson by 6th round TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The final bout of the night saw WBC middleweight champion Julian Jackson defend the title against No. 2 ranked Quincy Taylor[16]
In order to get the main event on pay-per-view sometime near its advertised starting time, this bout was rescheduled to follow the Tyson-McNeeley bout.[7]
The fight
After a slow few rounds the champion was dropped by a big straight left from Taylor right at the end of the 4th. Jackson beat the count but was hit by more big shots in the 5th as the challenger moved him into the ropes while keeping his hands high and not letting Jackson catch him with his renowned power. Both men exchanged hard punches in the 6th round and with less than 50 seconds left in the round Taylor hurt Jackson with another left hand. Taylor would move in, landing a number more clean shots prompting referee Jay Nady to wave the fight off with Jackson appearing to be out in his feet.[9]
After the bout it emerged that Jackson tore his rotator cuff during the bout with Taylor.
Aftermath
Highly anticipated, the fight was an overwhelming financial success, grossing $96 million worldwide, including a then-record $63 million in Pay-per-view buys with the fight being purchased by 1.52 million American homes. Tyson later eclipsed this figure with three fights; two in 1996, his rematch with Frank Bruno and a match with Evander Holyfield and then the subsequent 1997 rematch between Tyson and Holyfield.
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[17]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Quincy Taylor |
 Julian Jackson |
WBC World Middleweight title | 6th round TKO. |
| Bruce Seldon |
Joe Hipp |
WBA World Heavyweight title | 10th round TKO. |
 Miguel Ángel González |
Lamar Murphy |
WBC World Lightweight title | Majority Decision |
| Preliminary bouts | |||
| Terry Norris |
 Luis Santana |
WBC World Light Middleweight title | 2nd round TKO |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| Keith Holmes |
Tommy Small |
Middleweight (10 rounds) | 4th round TKO |
 Jose Badillo |
Fernando Sanchez |
Featherweight (8 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Tim Dendy |
Lennard Jackson |
Super middleweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
Broadcasting
References
External links
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