Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield’s infamous 1997 face-off in Las Vegas remains one of the most unforgettable matches in boxing history. In the heat of the fight, Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ear, leading to a bloody mess in the ring and a disqualification and suspension from boxing on Tyson’s part.
It must have been something else to experience the moment firsthand; just ask Jeff Goldblum. The Emmy-winning actor stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Feb. 21 and revealed he was sitting in the audience that night, just a few feet from where the violence took place.
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“I’ll bet if you look up some of that footage—I’m sure you don’t have it now—but I was like in the third row!” he remembered. “So, when I saw playback of it, I see me and my friend Gary Kress—who was there at the Super Bowl believe it or not, we’ve been friends a long time—we were there, and you see us.”
Anticipation was high before the match even kicked off. “It’s a very exciting, electric event as you can imagine,” he said. “I’m on the edge of my seat. Violence, you know, gets you going.”
As for the iconic ear-biting moment, Goldblum admitted he was confused at first then freaked out when he realized what was happening. So when Tyson went to bite Holyfield’s other ear just a few minutes later, Goldblum was aware of what he was seeing.
“I see blood, I was close enough to see blood, and I go ‘What? What? What happened? He bit his ear! He bit his ear!’ I jump up, I yelled something at him, I’m yelling,” Goldblum recalled. “I sort of knew it was coming—I mean, I knew it was happening. And then he did it again of course.”
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Kimmel calls it “the craziest sporting event in history,” and with good reason. Meanwhile, Tyson and Holyfield have since buried the hatchet and Holyfield’s ears have healed.
