Mike Tyson vs Bruce Seldon

In one of Mike Tyson’s most controversial title fights, he won the World Boxing Association heavyweight championship from Bruce Seldon in one minute and 49 seconds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. Seldon went down twice in the opening round and was stopped by referee Richard Steele after rising unsteadily from the second knockdown. The official verdict was a technical knockout. Tyson weighed 219 pounds and Seldon 229.

The contest had originally been arranged for July but was postponed after Tyson contracted bronchitis. Seldon was making the second defence of the WBA title he had won when Tony Tucker retired after seven rounds in April 1995. He had subsequently stopped Joe Hipp in ten rounds, but entered against Tyson as an underdog of approximately 22 to one. Tyson had returned from prison the previous year and regained the WBC championship by stopping Frank Bruno in three rounds in March. That belt was not at stake against Seldon and became vacant amid Tyson’s refusal to meet mandatory challenger Lennox Lewis. He was officially stripped of it later in September.

The match drew a paid attendance reported as 9,511 and receipts of $6,305,900. Tyson received $15 million and Seldon $5 million. Showtime carried the promotion on pay-per-view, where it attracted approximately one million purchases. These figures reflected Tyson’s continued drawing power rather than public confidence in a competitive contest. Seldon possessed a good jab, useful speed for a heavyweight and a record of 33 victories in 36 fights, but Oliver McCall and Riddick Bowe had previously stopped him and were not expected to withstand Tyson at close quarters.

Seldon appeared tense during the referee’s instructions and avoided looking directly at Tyson. When the bell sounded, he moved rapidly around the perimeter of the ring and tried to establish his left jab. Tyson advanced behind his raised guard, bending at the waist and cutting off the challenger’s escape rather than following him in a straight line. Seldon managed to clinch when Tyson first reached him, but his jab lacked sufficient authority to interrupt the challenger’s advance. He was already giving away ground without presenting an effective counterattack.

The first knockdown came after little more than a minute. Tyson drove forward with a right hand which appeared to glance high across Seldon’s forehead or temple, with some observers believing that Tyson’s forearm or elbow also made contact. Seldon pitched forward and landed face down. Steele initially moved as though he intended to rule a slip, but changed his decision after seeing that Seldon appeared dazed. The champion rose during the count and was allowed to continue after receiving the mandatory eight.

Tyson closed upon him immediately. Seldon attempted to move away but was caught by a left hook to the jaw and fell forward for the second time. This punch landed more clearly than the first, although it did not appear to carry the full force of Tyson’s heavier knockouts. Seldon struggled upright once more, but his legs buckled, and he lurched towards the ropes. Steele judged that he could not defend himself and stopped the contest at 1:49. No foul was called in connection with the first knockdown, and there had been too little action for any other infringement to arise.

The crowd responded with sustained booing, followed by chants alleging that the fight had been fixed. Replays, particularly of the glancing first blow, increased the spectators’ dissatisfaction. Seldon denied taking a dive and maintained that the first punch had disorientated him before the left hook disturbed his vision. Steele explained that although he had not initially seen a clean punch, Seldon’s condition upon rising persuaded him to administer a count. No evidence was produced to establish that the result had been arranged, but the challenger’s anxious manner, the inconclusive appearance of the opening knockdown and the ease of the finish left the contest under a suspicion that never entirely disappeared.

Tyson improved his record to 45 victories against one defeat, with 39 knockouts, and moved directly towards a November defence against Evander Holyfield. Seldon did not box again for more than seven years and never returned to championship level. The evening also became associated with an event outside boxing. Rapper Tupac Shakur, who had watched the contest from ringside and later became involved in an altercation inside the MGM Grand, was shot while travelling from the hotel that night. He died from his wounds six days later.

As a championship contest, Tyson against Seldon provided little evidence of the winner’s condition beyond his ability to intimidate, pursue and finish a vulnerable opponent. Tyson performed the limited work required of him, but the finish did not resemble the sustained combinations with which he had dismantled leading heavyweights during his first championship reign. Seldon lost before establishing either his jab or his composure, and the WBA title changed hands after only 109 seconds of uncertain action.

When I watched this live, I felt Seldon took the easy way out, and watching it again hasn’t changed my mind. I’m not saying the fight was fixed, because there’s no proof of that, but Seldon looked beaten before Tyson landed anything meaningful.

That was the shame of it because Bruce was a very decent heavyweight. He had a sharp jab, quick hands and enough ability to stop Joe Hipp and beat an ageing Tony Tucker. Against Tyson, though, his nerve disappeared. The first knockdown came from a grazing right, and although the second left hook landed, it was hardly one of Tyson’s murderous shots.

Seldon got up with rubbery legs and Richard Steele correctly stopped it, but the real surrender had already happened mentally. Tyson’s reputation did most of the damage. Seldon had the tools to ask questions from range, yet he never committed to his jab or stood his ground. For a heavyweight champion, it was a poor showing and an embarrassing way to lose the title.