Mike Tyson Says Evander Holyfield Fight Is Official; Twitter Jokes About Ear Biting

Mike Tyson announced that his fight against Evander Holyfield is already official even though the latter said the negotiations didn't work out a day before his announcement.

Tyson, 54, announced that he will be facing Holyfield, 58, in the boxing ring on May 29. He made the announcement during an Instagram Live session with Haute Living.

"I just want everybody to know the fight is on with me and Holyfield," Tyson was quoted by TMZ as saying. "Holyfield's a humble man I know that and he's a man of God but I'm God's man. Listen, I'm going to be successful May 29."

A day before Tyson's announcement, Holyfield's manager issued a statement saying the negotiations on the fight had "fallen apart."

"We were negotiating in good faith all along and it appears we just ended up wasting our time," Kris Lawrence said.

Tyson and Holyfield's fight was set on May 29 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Holyfield's team claimed Tyson's camp wanted a huge cut from the fight and even turned down a $25 million guarantee.

Meanwhile, Twitter users immediately reacted to the news on their upcoming fight. Many joked about ear biting because Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear during their fight in June 1997.

The incident cut quarter-to-half-inch long of Holyfield's ear, which an MGM Grand employee found and gave to his team. They placed it in an ice bucket and hoped surgeons could reattach it, but the piece of ear disappeared during the ambulance ride. Holyfield's left ear was damaged but remained intact, Sportscasting reported.

"No ear biting Mike," one commented with an ear and laughing emoji.

"Hopefully no ear biting this time," another wrote.

"There goes the other ear," a third user added.

"Don’t do it! He wants your OTHER ear this time!!" a fourth netizen joked.

Holyfield has already forgiven Tyson and even asked other people to do the same. He joked that his mangled ear has now become a form of identification.

"Everybody [in his backroom team] was complaining and I asked them: ‘Did he bite you?" Holyfield was quoted by Talksport as saying. "No. He bit me, so I said I’m going to forgive him and that means all of you have to."

"Mike and I do a lot of things together [now] because of that. It's two people who came from the ghetto who boxed – that and football were the only things I was good at – and look how much money we made by doing something properly," he added.