Twenty-five years after Mike Tyson’s infamous bite of Evander Holyfield’s ear, boxing saw history repeat itself during a super middleweight bout on ESPN on Saturday night.
During the seventh round of a 10-round match at Madison Square Garden, boxer Edgar Berlanga bit into the shoulder and ear of his opponent, Alexis Angulo, while the two were clinched together. The bite was immediately noticed by the ESPN commentators, and Angulo protested to the referee; but Berlanga was not disciplined. Berlanga would go on to win the fight by unanimous decision, keeping him undefeated at 20-0.
After the fight, Berlanga said he bit into Angulo as payback for getting hit with illegal elbows. “He was throwing elbows. I was about to do a Mike Tyson on him,” Berlanga told ESPN. “He kept throwing his elbows, and I didn’t want to get cut.”
Though Berlanga won the fight, he was excoriated by commentators for using his teeth instead of his fists in the ring; with many agreeing that even without the bite, he did not look impressive in his victory and did not look like a future championship contender.
“I thought it was terrible! I really did. It’s not a goof. You don’t bite another fighter,” ESPN commentator Mark Kriegel said after the fight. “He came here to be remembered in the same way of the great Miguel Cotto, who’s put together an extraordinary record on this weekend. You don’t bite another fighter, it’s not a goof.”
ESPN boxing commentator Teddy Atlas was even sharper on Twitter, saying that “Berlanga’s record is more impressive than his fighting,” while promoter Lou DiBella tweeted that the bite should have cost Berlanga the match.
“If you bite your opponent like you’re a rabid dog you should be disqualified,” he said.
