After Tyson Fury licks Wilder’s blood, 6 more shock boxing moments from paragliding gatecrasher to stiletto-wielding mum
WATCHING Tyson Fury licking his opponent Deontay Wilder’s blood straight off his body during their match this weekend was enough to make anyone shudder.
But he’s far from the first to boxer take things to a new level in the ring, with crowds left shocked by ears being bitten off, referees being knocked out and even one star’s MUM pummelling his opponent with her stiletto in previous years.
Fury became a world champion for the second time when he sensationally beat world boxing champion heavyweight Wilder in a seventh-round technical knockout this weekend.
But it was his bizarre blood licking that really shocked fans during the fight.
Fury had said beforehand: “A fighting man tastes blood. I want to taste it, rub it, punch it, mix it up,” – and he quite literally delivered on the promise.
But it’s far from the first bizarre incident to overshadow a boxing match – with one fight even stopped when a paraglider flew into the crowd.
Here’s a look at some of the most extreme moments…
1. The paraglider in the ring
Perhaps one of the most shocking moments in boxing history came in the 1990s – and it had absolutely nothing to do with the sport itself.
On November 6, 1993, a gatecrasher – since dubbed ‘fan man’ – managed to fly a paraglider into a crowd as the startled spectators watched Riddick Bowe take on Evander Holyfield at the Caesars Palace outdoor arena in Las Vegas.
The man was a parachutist named James Miller, and his fly-by stunt went horribly wrong after the lines of his glider got tangled in the stadium’s overhead lights, leading to the bad landing.
He maintained afterwards that landing in the stadium was accidental.
Shockingly, he went on to repeat the stunt at two sporting matches, before he was eventually banned from the UK after landing on top of Buckingham Palace, wheree, he removed his trousers, in 1994.
Miller was arrested at the time, fined £200 and banned from re-entering the country. When quizzed about the motives behind his various stunts, Miller never gave clear answers
He was tragically reported missing in 2002, after disappearing in Alaska, before his body was discovered in 2003. His cause of death was ruled as suicide.
2. Stilettos at dawn for boxer’s mum
You can always rely on your mum to have your back, but British light heavyweight Tony Wilson had no idea just how protective his then 62-year-old mother Minna was of him until she barged into the ring in 1989 to fight off his opponent herself.
As Wilson took on Steve McCarthy, his mum seemingly grew tired of watching her son land a series of hits so jumped in the ring to help – with her heeled shoe at the ready.
Shocking video shows her begin pummelling McCarthy with her shoe, as he attempts to run from her.
He was left with a bleeding head and refused to return to the ring afterwards.
Wilson later barred his mum from watching any more of his matches and the British Boxing Board of Control declared the fight a no-contest, before ordering a rematch.
3. Cuban knocks referee to ground – twice
Being a referee in a brutal boxing match always comes with its risks, and accidents can happen.
But Cuban heavyweight Pedro Cardenas reportedly managed to hit not one, but two referees, while fighting Canadian Willie DeWitt at the 1982 American Boxing Championships in Las Vegas.
The match had to be stalled in the first round when Cardenas aimed a hard hit at his opponent, but accidentally hit referee Bert Lowes – knocking him to the floor.
According to several reports however, it didn’t end there.
While a second referee was found, the same thing is said to have happened again shortly after, with the new ref receiving a hard hit as well.
Luckily DeWitt beat Cardenas shortly after, ensuring no more referees were injured – with both thought to have recovered from their respective blows.
4. ‘Ear for the blood, sweat and tears
There have been some nasty injuries in boxing rings over the years, but one of the most savage came in 1997 when Mike Tyson bit a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear off.
On June 28 that year – during a fight billed as The Sound and the Fury – the sight of Tyson with his teeth round Holyfield’s ear sickened fight fans.
Referee Mills Lane initially allowed the fight in Las Vegas to continue and docked Tyson a mere two points.
However he was eventually fined three million dollars, given community service and banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for just over a year on appeal.
The amputated section of ear that Holyfield lost was actually picked up from the floor of the ring and put in ice.
It was eventually sewn back in place that night but the relationship between Tyson and Holyfield took longer to heal than the eight stitches.
Eventually the deeply religious Holyfield accepted Tyson’s apology and the star inducted his new-found friend into the Nevada boxing hall of fame in 2014.
5. A circus affair
While no-one has quite come close to beating fan man’s accidental paragliding entrance, Floyd Mayweather did manage to bring a whole lot of drama to his 2014 Las Vegas fight against Argentina’s Marcos Maidana.
With Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne by his side, he walked out into the MGM Grand in May that year with an entourage of showgirls, jugglers, clowns and jesters.
Mayweather went on to win the highly contested 12-round fight via a majority decision.
The pair then went on to fight again just months later, in a match that saw its own dramatic incident take place…
6. Gloves are off
Mayweather and Maidana faced off against each other again in September that year, but it was temporarily halted when Mayweather claimed his opponent had bitten his glove – leaving his hand numb with pain.
Photos appear to show Maidana with his mouth round the glove, but Maidana always vehemently denied biting Mayweather.
According to Boxing Scene, he said: “I did not bite him in the eighth round. Maybe they think I’m a dog. I never bit him. He had his glove right on my mouth but I did not bite him.”
Mayweather eventually won the fight.
It’s fair to say, looking back at these jaw-droppers, there’s been just as much drama outside of the actual boxing as there has in the fights themselves over the years.