Mike Tyson‘s fight with Bruce Seldon in September 1996 is famous for two reasons. First, it marked the last public appearance of Tupac Shakur. The American rapper would leave the MGM Grand Arena and would be shot mere hours after the fight. Secondly, there was a ‘phantom’ punch. The challenger took the tumble and dived, without any force or impact from the champion. That controversy continues to make rounds on the internet. Almost 28 years later, it seems it continues to tangle more.

Tyson, now 58, had just come out of prison and had won three fights devastatingly. In the process, he picked up the WBC gold strap and eyed the WBA one against Seldon, now 57, in a unification bout. As expected, ‘Iron Mike’ started strong and aggressive, and when he threw a left hook, followed by a straight right, it left Seldon on the canvas face flat. He would get up but again go down with another left hook, and the referee didn’t take long to stop the fight, and Tyson became the unified champion. But the Brooklyn native believes that’s not what happened.

Tyson, at 50-6, in a clip uploaded on his YouTube channel, recalled the fight night when he met another boxer who fought on the same card. The boxer recalled, “I was also a boxer. I fought under your card when you fought Bruce Seldon, the night that Tupac got shot.” When asked about what he remembered about the fight against Seldon, Tyson admitted he didn’t catch Seldon with his punches. The former heavyweight champion declared, “Man, what I remembered is that I thought the guy just fainted, and I didn’t hit him.”

Mike Tyson continued, “I didn’t think- I didn’t hit the guy. You saw that too. None of my friends saw it. I said you gotta see I didn’t hit this guy. None of my friends saw it. Mike, you caught him off the head. I said, I didn’t hit him.”

When the audience saw the replay on the screen, they started shouting the chants of “fix,” and the fight would soon engulf into controversy with the accusations of Seldon taking a dive or getting paid for doing it. Others have also pointed out that it could be due to Seldon’s fear of Tyson, which affected his performance. ‘The Atlantic City Express’ would plead his innocence in an in-ring interview with Jim Gray.

Bruce Seldon comes clean on the ghost punch in the Mike Tyson fight

Seldon had put forth his fight camp and the power of Tyson to shun the accusations. He said, “I didn’t train 12 weeks to come in here and take a dive. On the second knockdown, he caught me so flush on the chin, he rattled my eyes.” Seldon would immediately retire after this fight, whereas Tyson would go on to relinquish his title and pick the fight with Evander Holyfield and suffer the second defeat of his career.

But the Tyson-Seldon would go down in history for all the controversial reasons, and people have almost forgotten that it was the last time Tyson won a championship fight and found himself back on the top of the heavyweight division’s food chain. Years have gone by, but Tyson still wonders what happened in that fight.

What do you make of this comment by Mike Tyson about his Bruce Seldon fight? Do you think there was some foul play? Let us know in the comments below.