In 1977, Kermit Washington of the Lakers fractured the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich's jaw and skull during a game. He almost killed Rudy and he ended Rudy's career with that punch, but he was only fined $10,000 and suspended for sixty days.
A hockey player named Dale Hunter viciously cross-checked Pierre Turgeon from behind after Turgeon stole the puck from him and scored a goal that put the game away. The hit effectively ended Turgeon's play-offs that year. Hunter only got a twenty-one game suspension and lost $150,000 in salary.
But even better, in the famous ice hockey Summit Series of 1972 between Russia and Canada, Bobby Clarke took his stick and gave Valeri Kharlamov, the Russians' best player, a vicious two-handler to the ankle. Kharlamov's ankle was broken and the Canadians went on to win the series. Clarke wasn't even fined or suspended. He became a Canadian hero.
"I don't know what I was thinking at all. It was an awful thing to do," he'd say later. "But it sure felt good."
I know that Evander knew that feeling too. When he was eighteen, he was competing in the semifinals of the Georgia Golden Gloves, fighting this guy named Jakey Winters. Winters dropped Holyfield with a left hook to the body and a left to the head. Holyfield got up, dazed and in danger of getting knocked out. So he clinched Winters, spit out his mouthpiece and took a bite out of his shoulder, drawing blood. Winters pulled back in pain and screamed. And then the bell rang. The referee took a point away from Holyfield and the fight continued. Winters won a unanimous decision. The only consequence Holyfield faced from his bite was a bruised ego and a unanimous decision against him.
