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.
"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.”
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.
