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| Date | September 7, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena,Paradise, Nevada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson wins via 1st-roundKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson, billed asLiberation, was a professional boxing match fought on September 7, 1996 for theWBA heavyweight championship.[1]
The fight was part of apay-per-view event produced byDon King Productions and carried onpay-per-view byShowtime.
The fight is notable in the fact that in attendance was rapper and actorTupac Shakur, who would befatally shot just hours after the fight, following an altercation withCrips memberOrlando "Baby Lane" Anderson at the casino. Shakur died six days later on September 13 fromballistic trauma.
AfterGeorge Foreman was stripped of his WBA Heavyweight title for refusing to fight number one contenderTony Tucker, the WBA organized a fight between Tucker and little–known Bruce Seldon to determine who would become WBA Heavyweight champion. Seldon was able to defeat the aging Tucker by referee technical decision after the fight was stopped in the seventh round due to Tucker's eye being completely swollen shut. He would then successfully defend the title againstJoe Hipp, who became the first Native American to challenge for a major heavyweight title, on the undercard of theTyson–McNeeley fight on September 7, 1995.[2]
Since being released from prison, Mike Tyson had won all three of his fights in dominating fashion, defeating fringe contendersPeter McNeeley andBuster Mathis, Jr. and then capturing theWBC Heavyweight title by defeatingFrank Bruno via 3rd-round knockout. Tyson was then tasked with facing the WBC's number one contender,Lennox Lewis, who was next-in-line for a title shot against the winner of the Tyson–Bruno fight. After negotiations for a championship bout between them were halted when Lewis' team refused successive offers of $10 million and $13.5 million,[3][4][5] promoterDon King then agreed to pay Lewis $4 million in order for the challenger to step aside and allow Tyson to face Seldon, the reigning WBA champion, in what was planned to be a unification bout for their respective titles.[6][7] Seldon was a 22-1 underdog going in to the bout.[8][9]
The first of the televised bout sawChristy Martin score a 4th round knockout over Melinda Robinson with a overhand right to the chin.[10]
| Title(s) on the line | IBF welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trinidad defeats Lovato by 6th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the first of three world title bouts on the card, IBF welterweight championFélix Trinidad faced IBF No. 9 ranked contender Ray Lovato.[11]
Trinidad would start the bout slowly, measuring the elusive Lovato before rocking him in the fifth with a right hand. In the sixth, the champion caught Lovato with a sharp left-right combination near the ropes sending him staggered against the ropes, prompting refereeMitch Halpern to step in and wave off the bout.[12]
At the time of the stoppage, two judges had Trinidad ahead 49–46 with the other having him 48–47.
Lovato would criticize the stoppage saying "I thought it was stopped too soon. I thought I was winning."[10]
| Preceded by | Félix Trinidad's bouts 7 September 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by vs. Jose Luis Verdugo | Ray Lovato's bouts 7 September 1996 | Succeeded by vs. Leroy Owens |
The next world title bout saw unified 154 lb championTerry Norris faceWBC No. 9 ranked contender Alex Rios.[13][10][14]
Norris dropped Rios in the fourth and in the fifth round when a overhand right sent Rios in his own corner, with Norris winging away with combinations prompting refereeMills Lane to wave it off.
Tyson easily defeated Seldon by 1st-round knockout in one of the shortest Heavyweight championship fights in boxing history, lasting just 1:49. Tyson was the aggressor from the opening bell. Seldon attempted to weather Tyson’s storm by attempting to connect his powerful leftjab, but Tyson was able to dodge Seldon’s attempts. At around 1:12 of the fight, Seldon was knocked down by a left hook thrown by Tyson, immediately followed by a straight right that only grazed Seldon. Seldon answered the referee’s count at 8 and continued the fight only to almost immediately get knocked down again by another left hook. Seldon got back on his feet but was unable to maintain his balance, causing refereeRichard Steele to stop the fight and award Tyson the victory by technicalknockout.
Almost immediately after the fight, the audience began chanting "Fix!", having thought Seldon took a dive in order for Tyson to win the championship and move on to faceEvander Holyfield. The crowd would continue to serenade Seldon with chants of "Fix!" as he remained in the ring for an interview withJim Gray. Gray would openly ask Seldon if he did in fact take a dive, but Seldon professed his innocence, stating "I didn't train 12 weeks to come in here and take a dive."[15]
After his embarrassing loss, Seldon would retire from boxing, eventually staging a comeback in 2004 at the age of 37. Meanwhile, Tyson would officially vacate his WBC title and proceed with his much anticipatedmatch with Holyfield for the WBA Heavyweight championship. Though Tyson was 6–1 favorite, Holyfield had then scored a stunning upset victory by defeating Tyson via 11th-round technical knockout. Tyson would subsequently lose therematch by disqualification in 1997 as well as hisnext Heavyweight title match in 2002 against Lennox Lewis. As such, the Seldon match would be Tyson's final heavyweight championship victory.
The vacant WBC belt was contested inFebruary 1997, withLennox Lewis defeatingOliver McCall.
RapperTupac Shakur was attending the fight that night, andwas fatally shot after the fight in adrive-by shooting.[16]
Confirmed bouts:[17]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Terry Norris | Alex Rios | WBC andIBF Light Middleweight title | 5th round TKO. |
| Félix Trinidad | Ray Lovato | IBF World Welterweight title | 6th round TKO. |
| Christy Martin | Melinda Robinson | Welterweight (8 rounds) | 4th round KO. |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| Carl Daniels | Roland Rangel | Middleweight (10 rounds) | 4th round RTD |
 Yuichi Kasai |  Julio Cesar Cardona | Super bantamweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
 Andy Agosto | Raul Rios | Super flyweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
 Gary Ballard |  Abdullah Ramadan | Super middleweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Rodney Jones | Stephan Johnson | Light Middleweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Donald Stokes | Mark Fernandez | Light Middleweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United States | Showtime |
 Thailand | Channel 3 |
| Preceded by | Bruce Seldon's bouts 7 September 1996 | Succeeded by vs. Otis Tisdale |
| Preceded by | Mike Tyson's bouts 7 September 1996 | Succeeded by |