Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
Ex-champs tell all to Piers Morgan
Heavyweight legends Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis have
spoken out on their respective run-ins with one-time ‘Baddest man on the Planet’
Mike Tyson as both were the victims of infamous bites by the boxer-turned
Broadway star.
Holyfield, 49, and 46 year-old Lewis, who themselves shared
the ring twice in 1999, told interviewer Piers Morgan on his CNN show from the Olympic Park in London of
being on the end of the youngest ever world heavyweight champion’s
extraordinary antics.
‘The Real Deal’ came off decidedly worse than Lewis as the four-time world heavyweight king lost the top of his ear in the
aptly-named ‘Bite fight’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1997.
"He snagged a piece of it, and it kind of went under
the gum, and he spit it out," Holyfield told Morgan on the show.
"I was shocked. Out of all the things that could have
happened, I never would have thought that would have happened."
Lewis then remembered the shocking incident himself, having
watched the drama unfold: "I was horrified. I was like, 'you know we're
gladiators, man. We don't bite,” he said.
The London-born fighter then recalled his own chomping
experience as the two champions clashed at their post-fight announcement in
January 2002.
"It was a press conference in New York, and he came
walking over to me. And my security stopped him, he threw a punch at my
security, and then I hit him. And then all of a sudden he dove at my
legs," explained Lewis.
"I was feeling pain, and I was pushing down on the
pain, and I see Mike Tyson looking up at me."
Tyson, 46, who has since cleaned up his act, is currently starring
on Broadway with his one-man show ‘The Undisputed Truth’ and is already on
board for a third instalment of the hit movie franchise ‘The Hangover’ due for
release next year.
Click here to see the full interview with Lewis, Holyfield and Morgan: piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com