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London - The gloves that Evander Holyfield wore for his infamous ear-biting fight against Mike Tyson have been sold for more than R300 000.
Holyfield wore them for their 1997 heavyweight re-match; the fight in which Tyson bit a chunk from one of his ears.
The gloves were sold for $35 200 at an auction in Los Angeles. They were among 445 items that belonged to the former heavyweight champion.
The total amount paid for Holyfield’s mementos has not been announced.
The auction first ran into trouble when Holyfield said he didn't want to part with some items. He then sued to prevent them being sold.
Little more than a week before the scheduled auction, he obtained a court ruling excluding a dozen items from the sale. However, Darren Julien, president and chief executive of the auction house, said he remained confident those items would also be auctioned at a future date.
According to the figures posted on the firm's website, the WBC cruiserweight belt won by Holyfield in 1988 went for $28 125 (nearly R250 000).
In winning the belt by beating Puerto Rican Carlos De Leon in 1988, Holyfield became the only undefeated and undisputed cruiserweight champion in history.
The purple satin robe and black satin belt he wore in 1996 for the first of his two fights against Tyson sold for nearly R96 000 and a Cartier watch that belonged to the boxer was sold for about R90 000.
Holyfield, nicknamed The Real Deal, won 44 of his 57 professional fights, 29 by knockout.
