Inside the Ropes 08.23.10: 5 Fouls I'd Hate to Be Involved In, Plus Weekend Thoughts

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 08.23.2010

From Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear to Alexander Abraham kicking Edison Miranda while he's down, 411's Ramon Aranda looks at five boxing fouls he'd hate to be involved with! Plus thoughts on all the weekend's boxing action!


Ouch!

Going over a few fight tapes the other day, I happened to come across a couple of bouts that featured fouls that made me cringe for one reason or another. Perhaps they're not the worst fouls I've ever seen but for some reason, they stood out when compiling a list of ten fouls I'd hate to be on the receiving end of.

I would love to get some feedback from all of you of any fouls you've all seen that stay with you and let me know why.

Now onto that list (which is NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

1. Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield's ear

Ah, the "Bite Fight"! Seems like it was only a few years ago that Mike Tyson was getting so flustered by Evander Holyfield's offense (and some say, headbutts) that he resorted to "other" tactics to express his discontent. As we all know, Tyson came in as a large favorite over Holyfield in their first fight before getting dropped for only the second time in his career, en route to an 11th round TKO loss. Tyson was pretty gracious in defeat but he and many in his team complained of Holyfield's head butting which hurt Tyson on more than one occasion. With the second fight coming only 7 months later, Holyfield began by dominating Tyson over the first two rounds. During the 2nd, the two clashed heads which opened up a bad cut over Tyson's right eye.

In the 3rd round Tyson came out swinging before Holyfield eventually got him into a clinch. Moments later, Tyson bit Holyfield's right ear before spitting a piece of it out on the ground; not a fun night! After the initial mayhem, the fight resumed (unfortunately for Holyfield) before Tyson bit the other ear. The rest is history but the sight of Tyson having a mouthful of ear was both shocking and despicable at the same time. I'll let the video give you a visual reminder:

Case in point, I'd hate to be missing a piece of my ear; that can't be enjoyable. But to be bitten twice on the world stage is quite the embarrassment that would be hard to live down. No one would forget you as the guy who got his ear bitten off! (or a piece of it)



2. Alexander Abraham kicks Edison Miranda while he's down

After the rematch between Arthur Abraham and Edison Miranda was all said and done; a 4th round TKO win for Abraham, Arthur's brother made his way up to the ring, while Miranda was being attended to. If that knockout wasn't bad enough, Miranda was about to get another shot to the head – this one came courtesy of Alexander's foot. According to witnesses and various boxing writers at ringside, Abraham confused boxing with a game of soccer as he punted Miranda's head before being pulled away. Cheap shot city! What the hell was he so mad at anyway? His brother had already kicked his ass!



Abraham just wanted to "kick it"

3. Andrew Golota bites Samson Po'uha

"The Foul Pole" Andrew Golota has had his share of extreme lash-outs during his career but this particular one from 1995 was pretty bad. Golota was in control of his heavyweight bout with Po'uha until the 4th round when Po'uha landed a shot to the chin that buzzed Golota. Po'uha then followed it up with another series of punches that apparently didn't please Golota and during a clinch, Golota sunk his fangs into Po'uha's neck. Unfortunately for Po'uha, no one, including referee Eddie Cotton who allowed the fight to continue until Golota finally stopped him a round later. Now imagine being Po'uha and you're getting fresh with a young lady when she notices teeth marks on your neck. Not exactly the kind of impression you want to make, am I right? I'm sure it's not the kind of "impression" Po'uha wanted on his neck either.



You can see the neck bite at about 21 seconds into the video….I miss USA Tuesday Night Fights

4. Elijah Tillery kicks Bowe, then gets knocked out of the ring

Didn't I just say I loved USA Tuesday Night Fights? In 1991, Riddick Bowe was taking on Elijah Tillery. After an opening first round that saw Bowe dominate and then drop Tillery, Tillery got to his feet with the round over. As he walked back to his corner, Tillery taunted Bowe who then punched him in the mouth. Tillery then retaliated by kicking Bowe in the leg. If that wasn't bad enough, Bowe then backed Tillery up towards the ropes where Bowe's manager Rock Newman grabbed Tillery around the neck and essentially pulled him over the top rope, Royal Rumble style while Bowe throw a right hand that flipped him over. Folks, you don't want to be on the receiving end of a Bowe right hand but when you're getting choked out in the process, your measly kick to the shin now looks pretty girly by comparison. Check out the video below. The foul happens right around the 3 minute mark:



Tillery wanted to "kick it" too, but Newman says playtime's over

5. James Butler sucker punches Richard Grant

After a hard fought battle, it's pretty customary for the two fighters to engage in a bit of congratulations for the evening's work. In 2001, Richard Grant upset James Butler on ESPN and after the fight was over, Grant went over to hug Butler which ultimately wasn't the smartest decision he's ever made. As he went over to where Butler was standing, Butler, obviously enraged by the loss clocked Grant with a bare fist right hook to the jaw. Grant's jaw was broken and Butler would end up in prison. Talk about bad sportsmanship eh?



Teddy Atlas sounds pretty pissed off doesn't he?

Random Thoughts

• We got to see a solid main event on Saturday night as Tomasz Adamek decisioned Michael Grant in an action packed heavyweight clash. Kudos to Adamek for fighting through some tough spots but I must say, given his performance, I just can't see him doing any real damage to either Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko.
  
  
• Don't know if I'm in the minority hear but lately, I've enjoyed watching Marco Huck and his Saturday destruction of Matt Godfrey made him must-watch cruiserweight TV. Would love to see him in the ring with Steve Cunningham next.
  
  
• The current season of ESPN Friday Night Fights is set to end soon...not happy about that.
  
  
• So what does everyone think about Margarito now trying for a Texas license? Anyone think he gets denied? My gut instinct tells me he'll get it. Texas smells money with Pacquiao vs. Margarito.

Till next time, see you at the fights!