Mike Tyson has defended Luis Suarez after the Uruguay striker was slapped with a four-month ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup.
Suarez was suspended from 'all football-related activity' until October after biting the centre-back in Uruguay's 1-0 win over the Azzurri last month.
However, Tyson, who landed himself in hot water for a similar incident with Evander Holyfield back in 1997, empathises with the Liverpool striker over his "blackout moment".
"Suarez's bite? I understand it," the former heavyweight champion told social network site Reddit during a Q&A session. "It was a blackout moment which can happen at times.
"It was just one moment in which the competition can make the blood in your veins boil and it overpowers your rationality. Sometimes you become something that you are not."
Earlier today, FIFA rejected appeals from Suarez and the Uruguayan Football Association and upheld the 27-year-old's punishment.
It was the third time that Suarez was sanctioned for such an offence, having also received bans for similar incidents whilst representing Liverpool and Ajax respectively.
Shane Callaghan
