Probably the single most famous event throughout his career that caused Mike Tyson’s fame to skyrocket is his biting off Evander Holyfield‘s’ ear. He did so during their match-up back in 1997 in the fight that was billed as ‘The Sound and the Fury’, but is now infamous as ‘The Bite Fight’. The reason Mike Tyson did so was because Holyfield continually headbutted him during their trilogy fight.
This angered the former champion and he ended up sinking his teeth into Holyfield’s’ ear. However, over the years, the two got over their differences and became good friends. They even collaborated and launched edibles called ‘Holy Ears’. This was a huge success in the market, however, who was the mastermind behind this idea? In an Exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Adam Wilks, the CEO of Tyson 2.0 spoke on ES FanCast with our host, Noah Lack.
Adam Wilks revealed the mastermind behind the collaboration between Mike Tyson and Holyfield
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Recently, Adam Wilks in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports’s Noah Lack discussed how the much loved ‘Holy Ears’ came to be. Wilks revealed that it was Tyson’s wife Lakiha Spicer who came up with the groundbreaking idea. He stated, “The idea actually came from Mike Tyson’s wife.” According to Wilks, it was the better half of the former champion who saw the opportunity to capitalize on the infamous incident. This is the infamous moment that took place on the fated night.
He claimed that Spicer approached them stating, “Hey we’ve got this great idea, we’ve been sitting on it for a while. We wanna make a gummy ear after the Holyfield fight.” Wilks also shared his reaction to the idea presented by Spicer. He called the idea “genius” and then stated that he had it all done in a matter of just 6 weeks. Tyson has previously also revealed that it was his wife who was behind the idea. He had also discussed how after the initial success of the product they decided to bring Holyfield into it as well.
Wilks on the success of the product…
Speaking on the popularity of the product, Wilks stated, “The thing just exploded, 35 billion views in just in what was it, I think it was 35 billion impressions in 72 hours 600 different media outlets. I mean it just went viral”. He also pointed out how even the commercial was getting featured everywhere including shows like the Jimmy Kimmel show.
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He also revealed that Holyfield himself loved the idea very much and agreed to collaborate with them, allowing the great idea to see the light of day. Wilks pointed out that they did the collaboration on the 25th year anniversary of the fight.
Overall, it was interesting to find out Wilks’ insight on the much-loved collaboration between the two legends. Tyson has previously stated that he doesn’t regret his actions as the profit he made from it was gigantic. Meanwhile, Holyfield has also forgiven the boxer as they embarked upon a successful journey together. What do you think about their collaboration? In addition, did you enjoy the exclusive interview conducted by EssentiallySports? Do share your thoughts in the comments.
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