Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley

Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, billed as He's Back, was a professional boxing match contested on August 19, 1995. The match marked the return of Mike Tyson to professional boxing after over four years away due to his 1991 arrest and subsequent conviction for rape in 1992 which led to Tyson serving three years in prison.

He's Back

Date	August 19, 1995
Venue	MGM Grand Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada
Tale of the tape
Boxer Mike Tyson Peter McNeeley Nickname Iron Hurricane Hometown Catskill, New York Medfield, Massachusetts Purse $25,000,000 $400,000 Pre-fight record 41–1 (36 KO) 36–1 (30 KO) Age 29 years, 1 month 26 years, 10 months Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) Weight 220 lb (100 kg) 224 lb (102 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA/WBC/IBF No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight Former undisputed heavyweight champion WBA No. 7 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Tyson wins via 1st-round disqualification

Background

Tyson had twice defeated the number two ranked heavyweight, Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, in 1991. Shortly after his second victory over Ruddock, a blockbuster deal was made that would see Tyson face the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield on November 8, 1991. Before this match could take place, however, Tyson was arrested for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. He was subsequently convicted on February 10, 1992, and then sentenced to six years in prison on March 26. After serving three years, Tyson was paroled on March 25, 1995, and on March 29, he would hold a short press conference that would announce his return to boxing as well as that Don King would remain his promoter. After much debate over who would be Tyson's first opponent in his comeback, including talks about a potential superfight with George Foreman, it was announced that Tyson would face little-known Peter McNeeley on August 19, 1995.

The fights

Undercard

Middleweight contender Keith Holmes scored a 4th round TKO over Tommy Small.

Santana vs. Norris III

He's Back:Luis Santana vs. Terry Norris III

Title(s) on the line	WBC light middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Luis Santana Terry Norris Nickname "Cucuso" "Terrible" Hometown La Romana, La Romana Province, Dominican Republic Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Pre-fight record 40–15–2 (29 KO) 38–6 (23 KO) Age 36 years, 9 months 28 years, 2 months Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) Weight 154 lb (70 kg) 152 lb (69 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC Light Middleweight Champion WBC No. 1 Ranked Light Middleweight
Result
Norris defeats Santana by 2nd round TKO

The first televised bout on the card saw Luis Santana make the second defence of his WBC Light middleweight title against former champion Terry Norris.

This was the third consecutive fight between the two, Norris having twice been disqualified, firstly for a rabbit punch and for hitting after the bell in the second.

Promoter Don King made the bout available on ABC to act as an infomercial for the $50 pay-per-view card later that night. Fans were allowed in free, then the MGM Grand Arena was cleared for customers who payed between $200 to $1,5000 to watch Tyson.

The fight

Norris would dominate the fight and had Santana in trouble at the end of the first round.

Santana was knocked down three times in the second round, with the third knockdown prompting referee Joe Cortez to step in to immediately stop the bout, giving Norris a TKO victory and making him a three time champion.

After the fight, Norris said, "I knew if I set him up and dropped bombs on him, we could get him out of there." before vowing "I will never fight him again." He would also say that he wanted to eventually move up to middleweight.

González vs. Murphy

The first bout on the PPV card saw Miguel Ángel González defend his WBC Lightweight title against No. 7 ranked Lamar Murphy.

In a very even bout, while Murphy typically threw more punches González was landing more frequently. González would be deduced a point in both the 2nd and the 6th for low blows.

At the end of 12 rounds, one judge scored it even at 114–114, one had it 114–112 and the another 117–109 both in favour of the champion giving him a Majority decision victory. This resulted in a number of boos from the crowd.

Seldon vs. Hipp

He's Back:Bruce Seldon vs. Joe Hipp

Title(s) on the line	WBA heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Bruce Seldon Joe Hipp Nickname "The Atlantic City Express" "The Boss" Hometown Atlantic City, New Jersey Yakima, Washington Purse $700,000 $180,000 Pre-fight record 32–3 (28 KO) 30–3 (19 KO) Age 28 years, 6 months 32 years, 8 months Height 6 ft 1+1⁄4 in (186 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) Weight 234 lb (106 kg) 233 lb (106 kg) Style Orthodox Southpaw Recognition WBA Heavyweight Champion WBA No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Seldon defeats Hipp by 10th round TKO

The next bout saw WBA Heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon make the first defence of his title against Joe Hipp

Hipp became the first Native American to challenge for one of the three recognized heavyweight title belts, having previously signed to face unified heavyweight champion Michael Moorer before he choose to make his first defence against George Foreman.

Hipp promised to give his all saying "I'm going to fight like I've never fought before, I'm not going to leave anything out of the ring." Seldon meanwhile did not believe Hipp's skills match his own saying "Joe Hipp doesn't have my movement, he doesn't have my speed. Joe Hipp's not going to take my title from me. It's not going to go the distance."

Don King said that the winner of this bout would be Tyson's next opponent in November.

The fight

Seldon would use his jap to control the action in a slow paced affair, with neither man throwing many punches. From the 5th round onwards Hipp's left eye would appeared marked, nearly closing completely by the 8th. Hipp briefly hurt Seldon late in the 7th with a counter left, but the champion wasn't perturbed. A gash under Hipp's left eye would open up from the 8th round and by the 10th his right was also badly swelled. Eventually referee Richard Steele decided to stop the bout because of the damage around the eyes.

At the time of the stoppage, Seldon led on all three scorecards, 88–84, 88–84 and 87–84.

Main Event

The fight lasted only 89 seconds with Tyson earning an easy victory via disqualification. McNeeley started the fight by aggressively attacking Tyson as soon as the opening bell rang. Tyson was able to avoid McNeeley's wild punches and land a straight right that dropped McNeeley to the canvas less than 10 seconds into the fight. After taking referee Mills Lane's standing eight count, McNeeley was allowed to continue and again continued his assault on Tyson. The two men exchanged punches in the corner as the first minute of the round passed. Less than 20 seconds later, Tyson landed a right uppercut that again sent McNeeley down. With McNeeley clearly hurt from the exchange, his manager Vinnie Vecchione entered the ring to prevent McNeeley from taking any more damage, causing Lane to end the fight and award Tyson the victory by disqualification.

Jackson vs. Taylor

He's Back:Julian Jackson vs. Quincy Taylor

Title(s) on the line	WBC middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Julian Jackson Quincy Taylor Nickname "The Hawk" Hometown Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Dallas, Texas, U.S. Pre-fight record 51–3 (47 KO) 26–3 (22 KO) Age 34 years, 11 months 32 years, 1 month Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) 5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (177 cm) Weight 160 lb (73 kg) 159+1⁄2 lb (72 kg) Style Orthodox Southpaw Recognition WBC Middleweight Champion WBC No. 2 Ranked Middleweight
Result
Taylor defeats Jackson by 6th round TKO

The final bout of the night saw WBC middleweight champion Julian Jackson defend the title against No. 2 ranked Quincy Taylor

In order to get the main event on pay-per-view sometime near its advertised starting time, this bout was rescheduled to follow the Tyson-McNeeley bout.

The fight

After a slow few rounds the champion was dropped by a big straight left from Taylor right at the end of the 4th. Jackson beat the count but was hit by more big shots in the 5th as the challenger moved him into the ropes while keeping his hands high and not letting Jackson catch him with his renowned power. Both men exchanged hard punches in the 6th round and with less than 50 seconds left in the round Taylor hurt Jackson with another left hand. Taylor would move in, landing a number more clean shots prompting referee Jay Nady to wave the fight off with Jackson appearing to be out in his feet.

After the bout it emerged that Jackson tore his rotator cuff during the bout with Taylor.

Aftermath

Highly anticipated, the fight was an overwhelming financial success, grossing $96 million worldwide, including a then-record $63 million in Pay-per-view buys with the fight being purchased by 1.52 million American homes. Tyson later eclipsed this figure with three fights; two in 1996, his rematch with Frank Bruno and a match with Evander Holyfield and then the subsequent 1997 rematch between Tyson and Holyfield.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Winner	Loser	Weight division/title belt(s) disputed	Result
Quincy Taylor	Julian Jackson	WBC World Middleweight title	6th round TKO.
Bruce Seldon	Joe Hipp	WBA World Heavyweight title	10th round TKO.
Miguel Ángel González	Lamar Murphy	WBC World Lightweight title	Majority Decision
Preliminary bouts
Terry Norris	Luis Santana	WBC World Light Middleweight title	2nd round TKO
Non-TV bouts
Keith Holmes	Tommy Small	Middleweight (10 rounds)	4th round TKO
Jose Badillo	Fernando Sanchez	Featherweight (8 rounds)	Unanimous decision
Tim Dendy	Lennard Jackson	Super middleweight (6 rounds)	Unanimous decision

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Mexico	Televisa
Thailand	Channel 3
United States	Showtime

External links

• Sports Illustrated Article on the fight