Tyson defeats Bruce Seldon via TKO at 1:49 in Round 1.
OK, OK, maybe there was one or two hits.
On September 7, 1996, Mike Tyson smoothly succeeded Bruce Seldon as WBA heavyweight champion via first-round stoppage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The official time was 1:49.
Tyson had three fights in his return after spending three years in an Indiana state prison for a rape conviction. The former champion eliminated the desperate Peter McNeeley (DQ 1); stopped fringe contender Buster Mathis (KO 3); and he picked up the WBC title by scoring a repeat victory over Frank Bruno (TKO 3).
Lennox Lewis was waiting in the wings as the WBC’s mandatory challenger, but promoter Don King paid the Briton a staggering $4 million fee so that Tyson could relieve Seldon of his WBA hardware first. Shortly after Seldon’s victory, Tyson relinquished the WBC championship to face Evander Holyfield. Lewis and Oliver McCall then contested the vacant WBC title.
Seldon was, well, a hard sell. The Atlantic City native put losses to Tony Tubbs (UD 10), McCall (TKO 9) and Riddick Bowe (TKO 1) behind him to win the vacant WBA title at the expense of Tony Tucker (TKO 7). However, despite a 33-3 record and a stoppage win over Joe Hipp in his inaugural defense, The Ring had Seldon ranked outside the Top 5 of the best heavyweights.
The Ring was right.
Tyson came out on fire with a massive right hand that narrowly missed the target. Seldon backed away as fast as he could, but caught a hard left hook while the sound of the bell from Round 1 still hung in the air. As Tyson lunged at him, Seldon threw the jab and did his best to hit him.
Just as it was getting interesting, Tyson unleashed a right hand that, at best, just missed the target. Seldon fell to the middle of the ring as if he had been hit and seemed to ask himself a question or two before trying to get up. He finally stood up straight, but his confidence seemed shattered. Tyson closed the gap and landed, by his standards, a half left hook that put Seldon face for a second knockdown. The outmatched fighter got up again only to stagger in front of referee Richard Steele, who stopped the fight.
The crowd booed the replays of the stoppage and both won millions of dollars for very little. Tyson would go on to his first meeting with Holyfield. Seldon would be out of the ring for nearly eight years before making an ill-advised comeback.
Just hours after the Tyson-Seldon fight concluded, iconic rapper and songwriter Tupac Shakur was shot to death in Las Vegas. Tyson has since shared that Shakur, who attended the fight, visited him before he left the MGM Grand that night.
