25 years ago

Date: 7th September 1996

Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Title: WBA World Heavyweight Title

Promoted by: Don King Productions

Tv: Showtime

Mike Tyson
( 44 - 1 - 0 )
Weight: 219 lbs

Bruce Seldon
( 33 - 3 - 0 )
Weight: 229 lbs

 A crowd of 9,511 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas came to see a WBC and WBA world heavyweight unification match but left the arena disappointed after only 1 minute and 49 seconds of action. WBA champion Seldon, known as 'The Atlantic City Express', tarnished his reputation with a meek surrender of his world title belt.

Video footage of the first knockdown shown to the crowd lead to boos and shouts of 'Fix' to reverberate around the less than half-filled arena. 

The second knockdown was not caused by the type of Tyson bomb that we have seen drop an opponent so many time before. Seldon was moving away from the left hook that supposedly dumped him on his belly.

Tyson now the holder of two of the three world titles said afterwards "Cus, that's two down and one to go," referring to the late Cus D'Amato who took Tyson from a street thus to the heavyweight championship o the world.