Heavyweight Kevin McBride, the underdog who sent Mike Tyson into retirement after a sixth-round TKO of the former undisputed champion, claims Tyson bit him during their fight Saturday night in Washington.
"Tyson is crazy. He bit my nipple," McBride told the British newspaper The Sun. "I didn't realize it at first but he had his teeth around it. I just felt a strange sensation and then realized what he'd done. He could not get up high enough to bite my ears - good job he wasn't a midget, otherwise he would have bitten something else."
Tyson has resorted to dirty tactics several times in his career, including intentionally head butting McBride and trying to break his arm twice while they were in clinches.
Tyson has also bitten before, twice chomping on Evander Holyfield's ears in their 1996 rematch that led to his disqualification and suspension. Tyson bit Lennox Lewis' leg during a brawl at a New York press conference announcing their 2002 match.
Tyson quit on his stool after the sixth round against McBride and announced his retirement after the fight. Showtime will replay the bout Saturday night (9 ET/PT).
"Tyson butted me, tried to break my arm," McBride told The Sun. "I screamed out in pain. He smashed my face with his forearm but I said to him, 'Is that all you have, Mike?' He was just so desperate to win but he is a (expletive) lunatic."
Tyson could not be reached for comment.
McBride, who idolized Tyson growing up, needed 15 stitches to close the cut over his eye that was the result of the intentional head butt.
Thanks to the upset of Tyson, McBride might land a title shot against John Ruiz. McBride's handlers have been in talks with Ruiz's camp and Ruiz promoter Don King about a fall fight in Boston. Ruiz is from the Boston area and McBride, already popular with the large Irish population there, also lives in the area.
Around the ring
Ouma defends: Exciting junior middleweight titlist Kassim Ouma (21-1-1, 13 KOs) will face mandatory challenger Roman Karmazin (33-1-1, 21 KOs) of Russia July 15 at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The fight, which will air on a special Friday edition of HBO Latino's Oscar De La Hoya-promoted "Boxeo de Oro" series, will be part of a huge boxing weekend in Vegas. The following night, Bernard Hopkins defends the undisputed middleweight title against Jermain Taylor. De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions recently became a promotional partner of Ouma with Russell Peltz.
Ouma, of Uganda, will be making the second defense of the vacant belt he won against Verno Phillips in October 2004. Ouma won a unanimous decision against Kofi Jantuah in his first title defense in January.
Hopkins-Taylor card set: Golden Boy Promotions has made official the HBO PPV undercard for the Hopkins-Taylor card July 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas:
• Junior featherweight champ Oscar Larios (55-3, 35 KOs) meets Wayne McCullough (27-5, 18 KOs) in a rematch of their exciting February fight.
• Junior bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (30-1-1, 24 KOs) makes the first defense of his second reign against former flyweight champion Eric Morel (35-2, 18 KOs).
• Former welterweight champion Vernon Forrest (35-2, 26 KOs) will return to the ring for the first time in two years after being sidelined by injuries. He's moving up to junior middleweight and will face Sergio Rios (17-1, 15 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
King card: Don King's Aug. 13 pay-per-view card finally has an official home. After being rumored to be going everywhere from New York to Baltimore to Las Vegas, the card will take place at Chicago's United Center, where King drew more than 20,000 for Lamon Brewster's first-round TKO of Andrew Golota on May 21.
The card, which King is calling "King's Conquerors ... A Hot August Night of Champions," will be headlined by an interim heavyweight title bout between former champion Hasim Rahman and Monte Barrett. King will also try to resurrect Golota again, putting him in with fellow Poland native Przemyslaw Saleta, a fight that should attract from Chicago's considerable Polish community.
"Chicago is my kind of town, my kind of people," King said, "and the more than 20,000 people that attended our May 21 event told us they want to see world championship boxing live in person, so I'm going to give them an even bigger event on Aug. 13."
Although King has not set the TV lineup for the card, other bouts that will be announced at a news conference Thursday in Chicago include:
• Alex "Terra" Garcia vs. Luca Messi in a junior middleweight title bout.
• Luis Collazo will defend his minor welterweight belt against Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
• Heavyweight Sergei Liakhovich, whose title shot against Chris Byrd fell apart, will face Owen Beck.
King might still add undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah to the card as well as former welterweight champ Ricardo Mayorga.
Hero's welcome: After Tomasz Adamek (29-0, 20 KOs) won a vacant light heavyweight title against Paul Briggs in a sensational, bloody fight on May 21, Adamek returned to his home in Poland and received a hero's welcome. Thousands of fans lined a parade route as Adamek made his way to his hometown of Bielsko Biala.
"This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me," Adamek said. "I did not know when I arrived in Krakow that so many of my fellow countrymen would be there to congratulate me and welcome me home. It was something I will never forget."
What made Adamek's stirring victory even more impressive was that he broke his nose about a month before the fight.
"Tomasz told me about the training injury and begged me not to tell Don King," manager Ziggy Rozalski said. "It just shows what kind of heart this kid has."
Quick hits: If Jeff Lacy defeats Robin Reid in a super middleweight title defense on Aug. 6, Showtime is penciling in a unification bout between Lacy and Joe Calzaghe for Nov. 5 in Calzaghe's native Wales. ... K2 Promotions, owned by heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko and brother Wladimir Klitschko, will promote its first card not involving one of the brothers. K2 will put on junior lightweight Carlos Navarro (26-3-1, 21 KOs) vs. Bobby Pacquiao (21-11-3, 9 KOs) - the older brother of Manny Pacquiao - on this week's "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2) in Fresno, Calif. ... Hopkins, who is also a partner with De La Hoya in Golden Boy Promotions, announced the first card of the company's East Coast division, of which he is president. Golden Boy has teamed up with the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City for a series of cards. The first one is Aug. 4 (HBO Latino) and will feature junior welterweight prospect Demetrius Hopkins, Bernard's nephew. ... Light heavyweight title holder Zsolt Erdei (22-0, 13 KOs) defends against former titlist Mehdi Sahnoune (31-1, 27 KOs) of France on July 2 in Hamburg, Germany. "I'm glad I got Sahnoune as an opponent because this guy is just as good as (fellow light heavyweight title holder Fabrice) Tiozzo, who defeated Dariusz Michalczewski," Erdei said. "Sahnoune suits me because he has an offensive fighting style which makes him vulnerable for my counters. I believe I will win because I have the better reflexes."
Quotable: "It's a great feeling. I like it. I get turned on." - Junior welterweight titlist Arturo "Thunder" Gatti, on what it's like to score a knockout.
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.