Bruce Seldon Bruce Samuel Seldon (born January 30, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 1996, and 2004 to 2009. He held the WBA heavyweight title from 1995 to 1996, most notably losing to Mike Tyson via knockout in his se ...

vs. Mike Tyson, billed as ''Liberation'', was a professional boxing match fought on September 7, 1996 for the WBA heavyweight championship. The fight was part of a pay-per-view event produced by

Don King Productions Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well a ...

and carried on pay-per-view by

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

. The fight is notable in the fact that in attendance was rapper

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

, who would be fatally shot just hours after the fight, following an altercation with Crip Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson at the casino. Shakur died six days later on September 13 from ballistic trauma.

Background

After George Foreman was stripped of his WBA Heavyweight title for refusing to fight number one contender

Tony Tucker Tony Craig Tucker (born December 27, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an inte ...

, 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 against

Joe Hipp Joe "The Boss" Hipp (born December 7, 1962) is a retired professional Native American heavyweight boxer. A member of the Blackfeet Tribe, he became the first Native American to challenge for a world heavyweight boxing championship on August ...

, who became the first Native American to challenge for a major heavyweight title, on the undercard of the Tyson–McNeeley fight on September 7, 1995. Since being released from prison, Mike Tyson had won all three of his fights in dominating fashion, easily defeating obscure fighters

Peter McNeeley Peter McNeeley (born October 6, 1968) is an American former heavyweight boxer, best known for his 1995 fight with Mike Tyson, before which McNeeley had said he would wrap Tyson in a "cocoon of horror." McNeeley fought aggressively but was kn ...

and Buster Mathis, Jr. before capturing the WBC Heavyweight title by defeating

Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...

via 3rd-round knockout. However, Tyson would now have to deal with the WBC's number one contender, Lennox Lewis, who was guaranteed a title match against the winner of the Tyson–Bruno fight. Rather than face Lewis, Tyson paid Lewis $4 million in order to step aside and allow Tyson to face Seldon for the WBA Heavyweight title.

The fight

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 left

jab A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of ...

, 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 referee

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in D ...

to stop the fight and award Tyson the victory by technical knockout.

"Fix" controversy

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 face Evander Holyfield. The crowd would continue to serenade Seldon with chants of "Fix!" as he remained in the ring for an interview with Jim 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."

Aftermath

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 anticipated match 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 the

rematch ''Rematch'' is the first US-released Sammy Hagar compilation album. After Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981, and after Rick Springfield had a hit with the Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You", this collection was released to ...

by disqualification in 1997 as well as his next Heavyweight title match in 2002 against Lennox Lewis. As such, the Seldon match would be Tyson's final heavyweight championship victory. Rapper

was attending the fight that night, and was fatally shot after the fight in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

.Star Rapper Tupac Shakur Badly Wounded
LA Times article, 1996-09-09, Retrieved on 2014-02-24. He died six days later on September 13, 1996 at 4:03 pm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seldon, Tyson World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches 1996 in boxing Boxing in Las Vegas Boxing on Showtime 1996 in sports in Nevada Boxing matches involving Mike Tyson Tupac Shakur September 1996 sports events in the United States MGM Grand Garden Arena