TWICE BITTEN

      Black eyes have been numerous in the fight game in recent years.
      But on Saturday night, it was a couple of red, bloody ears that put a bizarre and shocking end to the latest fight of the century.
      Mike Tyson, once proclaimed "the baddest man on the planet," was disqualified after the third round after twice biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a scheduled 12-round heavyweight championship rematch at the MGM Grand Garden.
      Tyson, appearing angry and frustrated in the third round because of repeated head butts, spit out his mouthpiece and bit Holyfield in the right ear while both fighters were clenching with about 30 seconds left in the round. The bite took a chunk out of Holyfield's ear and forced a delay of several minutes. It also caused referee Mills Lane to deduct two points from Tyson's scorecard.
      Then, shortly before the bell rang ending the round, the fighters tied each other up, Tyson spit out his mouthpiece again and bit Holyfield's left ear.
      Finally, just before the fourth round was to begin, Lane disqualified Tyson.
      "I wanted to make sure it was a bite," said Lane, a last-minute substitute for original referee Mitch Halpern. "I wanted to do some thinking. A disqualification is the most severe penalty we can give."
      In light of Tyson's actions, Nevada Athletic Commission Chairman Elias Ghanem said Tyson's $30 million purse would be withheld until a hearing Tuesday.
      Prior to the disqualification, the fighters, battling for Holyfield's World Boxing Association heavyweight title, did more clenching than punching.
      In the second round, the close contact resulted in a clear head butt by Holyfield that opened a cut on Tyson's right eyelid.
      Tyson, who nearly incited a riot inside and outside of the ring after the disqualification, said the head butts forced him to chomp on Holyfield's ears.
      "He kept going down, then coming up, then he charged into me. No one warned him, no one took any points from him. What am I to do?" Tyson said.
      "Holyfield's not the tough warrior everyone says he is. He got little nicks on his ear, and he quit. I've got one eye. One eye. He's not impaired. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight him right now."
      Holyfield, though, was not. He went by ambulance to Valley Hospital Medical Center with his wife, Janice, and handler Tim Hallmark to have his ear examined.
      Hallmark, Holyfield's strength and conditioning coach, spoke to reporters outside the hospital. He said the injury, an inch down from the top of Holyfield's right ear, was mostly to the skin but "it looked like he (Tyson) got cartilage, which means he had to bite down pretty hard."
      "It was kind of sad," Holyfield said at a Valley Hospital conference room after he had stitches applied to his right ear. "I thought he took the bite because it was an easy way to get out of the fight."
      Mercy paramedic Michael Acdebaca said the top of Holyfield's right ear was bitten off -- a piece about a half-inch wide. The piece, reportedly found by a child in the ring, was taken to the hospital to be reattached.
      Meanwhile, a stunned crowd of 16,331, some of whom paid as much as $1,500, filed out the Grand Garden in disbelief.
      "I came all the way down here from Oregon with my daughter and about seven other guys, and we're very disappointed in the performance of Mike Tyson," said 52-year-old Jim Young, who paid $1,500 for his ticket. "It was a bite; he bit his ear!"
     Staff writer Joe Schoenmann contributed to this report.