Mike Tyson – The Baddest Man on the Planet
After years in the wilderness, Mike Tyson is set to prove. That he is the greatest boxer that ever lived.
From the streets of Brooklyn to the Heavyweight Championship of the World, to international fame, Tyson has experienced a number of peaks and valleys during his life.
Mike Tyson is the most explosive, vicious, most watched fighter. Mike Tyson is without doubt is the number one, “Ass Kicker†of our generation.
WINS : 50 LOSSES : 6 DRAWS: 0 NC : 2 KO : 44
Born June 30, 1966 Catskill New York
Hometown Southington, Ohio, USA
Height 5’ 11’’
Reach 71
Record 50-4 (44KO’s)
Division Heavyweight
Titles Former Undisputed Champion, Youngest Heavyweight Champion
Manager Shelly Finkel
The Making of the Man
On 30th June 1966 in Cumberland Hospital Catskill in Brooklyn New York City something remarkable had taken place, Michael Gerard Tyson was born. Mike Tyson has experienced more in his years than most people experience in a lifetime.
Lorna Kirkpatrick was the mother, however, not a great deal is known of this lady. She was born Lorna Smith in 1930, probably in the South. As did many other blacks after WWII, Lorna moved north to search for a better life. Her destination Brooklyn, New York City.
Somewhere along the way, probably in Brooklyn, Lorna met and married a man called Percel Tyson, of whom nothing is known. They later divorced and Lorna never did remarry, despite falling in love with Jimmy Kirkpatrick. She took Kirkpatrick’s name. Jimmy was a heavyset, boisterous man, and father to some 16 children. This number would change-he fathered 3 children with Lorna. Rodney in 1961, Denise in 1964, and 2 years later came Mike.
Kirkpatrick had already moved out by the time Mike was born, thus keeping his mothers marriage name. A name that would later gain household recognition the world over – TYSON. Now a poverty-stricken single parent. Lorna moved into even deeper despair. That move was to Brownsville. In the heart of Brooklyn, it made their previous Brooklyn address of Bedford-Stuyvesant seem like Bel Air. It would be here, 178 Amboy Street, Apartment 2A in the most destitute section of one of America’s roughest cities that Michael Gererd Tyson would be moulded. Mike was a huge, tough lad, with a high, lisping voice. This contrast was the key to many beatings in Brownsville. People would ridicule him he’d promptly knock them out.
Mike was lonely in his fatherless, ghetto upbringing. This maybe why he kept pigeons, this maybe why he got into trouble, this maybe why he fought on the street. On one such street fight occasion when Mike was 9, a 15-year-old boy stole one of his beloved pigeons. Bad mistake! Mike flew into a blind rage, throwing punches with everything he had, the kind of punches that would have knocked grown men out. Many people witnessed this public onslaught of one of the areas most respected gang members. Now Mike became the MAN.
Mike was now known to the whole of Brownsville, not as Mike, but as Mike Tyson. A name that, in years to come, would be worth millions on contracts. That’s some feat compared to his modest surroundings he was living in now. Mike’s new found recognised notoriety in Brownsville saw many events and crimes, such as muggings, robberies, burglaries, assaults that would culminate a lot of arrests. This couldn’t carry on, something had to be done. Some control had to be installed, some initialisation had to occur that would save the residents of Brownsville anymore distress.
Mike Tyson was sent to the Tryon School for boys in upstate New York. Lorna never disputed this move, she couldn’t control him anymore, let alone install discipline. It was here that Mike Tyson learnt to box. The man who first taught Tyson the bare essentials of the fight game was Bobby Stewart, a modestly successful professional heavyweight. He was the man who first saw Mike’s power and prowess in the boxing ring.
At only 13, he weighed 200lbs, and had muscles that no other 13 year old had. He was strong with it too. He was bench-pressing 220lbs for $10 bets with the staff at Tryon. Stewart realised that what he had on his hands was something very special. He made a deal with Tyson-so long as he tried in his lessons, Stewart would teach him more boxing. Mike tried very hard with his academic study. He knew he would never get college scholarships, this didn’t put him off. Because he never wanted to be deprived of his boxing lessons from Stewart.
Suddenly, Tyson had direction. He realised that he was in love with something, and he had a reason to live and look after himself. He became obsessed with the sport of boxing. He would read on great fighters of the past, practice techniques, and train hard. Staff at Tryon talk about how it was possible to hear grunts and groans coming from Tyson’s room at 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. It was Mike working on his defensive moves. Bobby Stewart was noticing Mike’s achievements in the boxing ring. In a later interview, Stewart described how he got hit by a Tyson jab that made him want to take a knee. This was a professional heavyweight talking of a 13 year olds jab! Something had to be done. Stewart knew a legendary manger and trainer from Catskill in New York.
The name-Cus D’Amato. D’Amato had worked with fighters such as Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres, both tremendous fighters. Patterson being the youngest ever heavyweight champion to date-Mike would later change that. Mike Tyson and Bobby Stewart drove up to Catskill one spring weekend in 1980. Tyson and Stewart got in the ring to give Cus a show and try to let the trainer have an insight into what Stewart was talking about, and why he was being drawn to the attention of a 14 year old kid.
For 3 minutes Tyson hammered Stewart with Jabs, hooks, straight rights, uppercuts. A professional heavyweight fighter was having trouble detaining a 14-year-old kid and even got wobbled a few times! At the end of the round, Mike stayed in the ring working on his technique on his own, as he had done in his room at Tryon so many times before. Stewart walked over to Cus D’Amato. ”Well Cus, what do you think?” asked Stewart. ”What do I think?” came the response from the legendary trainer. ”I think that’s the next heavyweight champ of the world!” x
Mike Tyson – The Rest is History
Mike aged 14, went to train with Cus D’Amato, trainer of champions, in a gym in Catskills, NY. During his years there, Mike compiled an impressive amateur record of 24-3. His speed and power made the whole world take notice and the highly anticipated pro career of Mike Tyson would prove to be as captivating as the man himself.
On March 6, 1985, Mike Tyson made his pro debut with a first round knockout of Hector Mercedes. From that point on, Tyson’s goal was to capture the Heavyweight Championship of the World, finishing his first year with a record of 15-0, all by knockout. Less than two years later, after racking up 27 consecutive wins, Tyson signed to fight Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title. On Nov. 22, 1986, after only six minutes in the ring, the young fighter was crowned heavyweight champion at the unprecedented age of 20.
Not content at stopping with one title, Tyson’s mission was to unify the heavyweight division and give the world its first undisputed heavyweight champion since Muhammad Ali a decade before. Tyson accomplished the second leg of his mission on March 7, 1987, with a 12-round victory over James “Bonecrusher” Smith to add the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt to his growing collection. Finally, less than five months later, his dream was complete. On August 1, 1987, Tyson became the undisputed world heavyweight champion by out-pointing Tony Tucker to claim the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt, thus unifying the titles.
Going on to make six successful defenses of his unified titles, Tyson defeated everyone in his path including former champ Larry Holmes and then-undefeated former champ Michael Spinks. For his 91-second destruction of Spinks, Tyson earned more than $20 million, which at the time was the largest sum ever paid to an athlete. Mike went on to post wins over mandatory challenger Frank Bruno, followed by a 93 second rout of Carl Williams. During this time, Mike became one of the most recognized athletes in the world and the most dominating figure in boxing. A pro for five years, Tyson entered 1990 with a record of 37-0, with 33 wins by knockout. There was one loss in February 1990 to James “Buster” Douglas. Tyson rebounded from the loss in Tokyo with two phenomenal first-round knockouts against Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart.
On March 18, 1991, Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock met in a “hard hitting” brawl. Tyson won the first five rounds, scoring knockdowns in the second and third. Ruddock, showing great determination, stunned the former champ in the sixth round. When the seventh round bell sounded, Tyson mounted a punishing attack, rattling Ruddock with four consecutive power shots. Referee Richard Steele stepped in and stopped the contest with 38 seconds left in the round.
They met in rematch on June 28, 1991. Ending speculation over what would have happened had their first fight not been stopped, Tyson knocked Ruddock to the canvas twice and broke his jaw en route to a unanimous 12-round decision.
After more than a four-year hiatus from boxing, Mike returned to the ring with exclusive deals from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Showtime Networks Inc., where he was seen both fighting and providing commentary. Tyson’s long awaited comeback finally took place on August 19, 1995 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Showing no ill effects from his layoff, it took Tyson only seven seconds to send his opponent, Peter McNeeley, to the canvas.
On December 16, 1995 at the CORE States Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA, before a prime time audience on Fox television, Tyson came out swinging at Buster Mathis, Jr. early. Throwing bomb after bomb, it took 2:32 of the third round before Mathis could no longer avoid them. Consecutive right hands sent Mathis to the canvas and he was unable to beat the 10 count. It was Tyson’s 37th knockout and his first since March of 1991.
On March 16, 1996 Tyson got another shot at a world title since losing his belt to Douglas in 1990. Before a sellout crowd of 15,222 at the MGM Grand Garden, Tyson regained the (WBC) belt. Tyson used uppercuts, jabs, and hooks, in combination with speed and power to dispose of Frank Bruno just 50 seconds into the third round
In his effort to once again unify the titles, Tyson took on WBA Champion Bruce Seldon, September 7, 1996 at the MGM Grand. Tyson wasted little time in capturing the WBA title, knocking out Seldon 1:49 into the opening round
On November 9th 1996 Tyson met Evander Holyfield at the MGM Grand in the main event on a fight card billed “Finally” referring to the fight coming five years and one day after it was originally scheduled. In one of the most exciting fights of the decade Tyson’s winning streak was halted in the 11th round. During the post fight press conference, Tyson did not make any excuses about his loss, graciously giving Holyfield credit and congratulating him on his performance.
Following a year and a half layoff, Tyson returned to the ring on January 29th, 1999 versus Francois Botha. During the fifth round, Tyson went on the attack, unleashing a powerful right hand that sent Botha to the canvas
On October 23, 1999 Tyson returned to the ring at the MGM Grand to face Orlin Norris. The fight aired on SHOWTIME, ended in a no contest after the first round. Referee Richard Steele ruled the late punch accidental
As we ushered out the 20th century and welcomed in a new millennium, Tyson traveled overseas to Europe for the first time in his career. The response overseas was tremendous as the former two-time heavyweight champion was greeted by thousands at the airport when he arrived in London. During his two-week stay, fans swarmed Tyson whenever he ventured out
In Brixton, Tyson was greeted by thousands of fans as he walked through the streets. Tyson went to Great Britain to fight the English Commonwealth Champion Julius Francis in Manchester, England. On January 30, 2000 Tyson knocked out Francis in the second round. Tyson displayed his old form knocking down Francis five times in less than six minutes of work.
Returning to the UK, Tyson fought former USBA and IBA heavyweight champion Lou Savarese on June 24, 2000 at National Stadium-Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland. Before a crowd of 25,000, Tyson pounded Savarese, ending the fight in: 38 seconds, the third fastest KO in Tyson history.
October 20, 2000, Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan. Mike Tyson versus Chicago-based Andrew Golota. Just 12 seconds remaining in the first round, Tyson landed a powerful right. The fight ended in a TKO when Golota failed to come out for the third round.
Tyson has remained true to his roots, recognizing how important it is to ‘BE REAL’. He maintains a strong bond with his community, and his charitable efforts have been recognized globally. Not one to seek out publicity for his good deeds, Mike contributes to under privileged causes through his various businesses: Tyson Gear, Mike Tyson Enterprises and Tyson Records and www.tysongear.com.
We all know some of the stuff he has been through, and we all know about his ups and downs. So what if he has, assaulted old men, mugged old ladies, broken peoples noses, raped women, head-butted opponents, tried to break peoples arms, bitten ears, burgled people, robbed houses, elbowed opponents, hit below-the-belt, started riots in casino arenas, fondled women in nightclubs, threw television sets around in cells, fought with prison officers, swore at TV broadcasters? We all make mistakes!
Mike Tyson – The Great Fighter
From the streets of Brooklyn to the Heavyweight Championship of the World to international fame, Tyson has experienced a number of peaks and valleys during his life. Mike Tyson is indisputably the most explosive, vicious, most watched fighter.
This is his chronicle.
2000
Mike makes his British debut on 28th of January at the MEN Arena against JULIUS FRANCIS of England. After a bit of hassle with customs and women’s groups kicking up a fuss because of his rape conviction, it is thought the fight might be cancelled. But home secretary of England-Jack Straw saved the day by granting Mike permission to enter the country. Incidentally, Mike destroyed Francis inside 2 rounds, flooring him 5 times along the way. Now Mike is due back shortly for his second British bout, this time in Scotland.
1999
Mike makes his return to the MGM Grand with an anti-climax. It’s been 9 months since Mike has last fought, this was due to his incarceration at Rockville State Penitentiary for assaulting two men in the mayhem resulting from a car-shunt. The opponent-Orlin Norris. The date-October 23rd. Somehow, Norris decided that a late first round hook to the head from Tyson twisted his ankle. A No Contest was declared. This was the second No Contest for Mike this year, the first one being in court, as that was how Mike pleaded to the assault charge.
January 16th. It’s Mike’s first fight since the ”Bite-Fight”. It’s been nearly 18 months since Mike has stepped through the ropes. And well over 2 years since he has won a fight. South African Francois Botha is stunning the 16,000 capacity crowds at the MGM by taming Mike Tyson with a style that is, well, less than ordinary. Unfortunately for ”the white buffalo” he forgets that Mike can actually hurt when he lands a punch. Botha walks straight onto the 223lbs weight of a right hand and hits the canvas like a paralytic drunk. He tries to get up, but Mike and everyone watching have dejavu of the Berbick fight. – It’s a sweet, cold KO in the 5th.
1997
The date is June 28th, the event-Tyson-Holyfield rematch for the WBA title. Everyone at MGM wonders whether Mike has what it takes to re-capture the heavyweight crown. But what happened will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The fight started off evenly with both fighters trying to land the telling blow that will dictate how the fight will unfold. However, Holyfield’s use of his head is totally obvious to everyone except for the referee it appears. Mills Lane does nothing about the obvious head butts coming in from Holyfield. Even a 3-inch gash over Mike’s right eye does not open Lanes eyes as to what is going on here.
Mike, eventually and inevitably loses it-BIG-STYLE. He bites part of Holyfield’s ear off and spits it on to the canvas. After an intervention by the referee, Mike decides to chew on the other ear. This time Mike was thrown out, what happened in the ring afterwards was pretty ugly also. Mikey starts throwing punches at anyone who comes near him. For this 3rd round DQ, Mike earned himself a 1 year ban and $3m fine-the biggest fine in sports history.
1996
‘Iron’ Mike Tyson vs. Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield went down as one of the greatest fights in recent history. It delivered a result that very few could predict. Ron Borges of the Boston Globe was the only journalist to get the result right. The fight produced 11 rounds of master craftsmanship boxing from two of the heavyweight division’s biggest stars. It was give and take all the way through the fight. Each fighter giving and taking more than most men could handle. In the end, Evander pulled out all the stops and produced one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history. And thus becoming a 3-time heavyweight champion that only Ali could boast alongside him. He had won via a stunning 11th knockout. This one will be remembered for a very long time.
On the 7th September, Mikey produced an emphatic, domineering display to wipeout Bruce Seldon in 1 very easy round. It was clear from the start that Seldon was going to be losing his WBA crown. He just had nothing to deter or defend himself from Mike’s vicious hooks. Its curtains for Seldon in 93 seconds. (Prior to this fight Mike paid Lennox Lewis of England $4m ‘step-s-side’ money, because he feels he isn’t ready for a showdown yet).
Mike’s second rematch to date, sees him gain the WBC title and become a 2-time champion by knocking out Frank Bruno of England in 3 rounds on the 19th March at the MGM Grand. This rematch was pretty similar to the first encounter between these two. With Bruno struggling to keep Mike and bay with his lumbersome jabbing. 52 seconds through the 3rd, Mike catches Bruno with a 16, yes 16! punch combination of unanswered shots, until Mills Lane decided that it was quite enough.
1995
Mike’s second fight since leaving jail. The 16th December is the date and Buster Mathis Junior is the unfortunate opponent. After a couple of mediocre rounds from Mike, he finally starts to take effect in the 3rd. The crowd in Philadelphia on this advent night cheer franticly when Mike steps back from a clinch, takes a step to the right to create an opening to the floating rib and lands a bomb of a left hand to the midsection.
August 19th. Everyone has been waiting along time for this night, the crowd at the MGM in the heart of the strip in Vegas is covered by a blanket of anticipation. Mike’s had been away for over 48 months. He has been in the Indiana Youth Center serving time for the rape of 18-year-old beauty pageant Desiree Washington. It is rumored that Mike had trained himself silly in Jail, and it looked that way. Rumors circulate that while in prison, he was doing 1000 sit-ups a day. As well as having a few ‘scuffles’ including one where he caught a man called ‘TINY’ flush with the ‘greatest left hook he every threw’ only for ‘TINY’ to respond with a mere wink. ‘The man didn’t even move’ said one witness.
He is now out of jail and taking the first step of a long journey back to the undisputed crown. Will he be the same? Will rust have crippled his skills? Is he hungry? Is he in shape? Unfortunately for the Irish-American Peter McNeeley, Mike turned up looking the best shape of his life. Although McNeeley jumped on Tyson from the bell-it looked pretty much like a man trying to stop a rhino with a pee-shooter. Mike just composed himself and took his time. McNeeley’s father and chief-second decided that after 2 knockdowns from Mighty Mike, he didn’t really want to see his son get beaten by anymore.
1991
It’s the rematch that wasn’t needed in many peoples opinion. He had already stopped Donavon ‘Razor’ Ruddock once. Anyway, the fight goes ahead whilst Mike is waiting for a secured date with newly crowned undisputed king Evander Holyfield. Not much differs from fight number 1 between these two guys, except for a knockdown or two-Mike puts Ruddock down in the second and seventh, but they weren’t a lot more than flash knockdowns. It’s the same date that wouldn’t bring as happy endings 6 years later-June 28th. But for now, Mike’s happy-he wins a unanimous decision.
March 18th, Mike’s sees off the big Canadian Donavon ‘Razor’ Ruddock via 7th round KO. Many people inside the boxing village declared this result controversial. Richard Steele was the referee and rumors were circulating about Steele’s close ‘friendship’ with Don King having something to do with this ‘premature’ stoppage. Although I feel it was more than adequate.
1990
This is Mike’s second fight since he lost his undisputed crown in arguably one of boxing’s biggest upsets. It isn’t thought that Alex Stewart will give Mike too many equations to deal with. 1 round was all it took for Mike to keep his comeback bid unfolding successfully. It’s December 8th, and Mike now has to look at bigger things.
June 16th, and it is Mike’s first fight since the Douglas loss. Henry Tillman is the opponent handpicked by a now ‘mixed’ promotional team that still has Bill Caytons name on some contracts. It was a good choice of opponent though, because this 1 round KO was all it took to get Mike’s confident levels back to where they once were.
It’s Tokyo, 11th February 1990. A unique place for a title fight, but an even stranger time of day-lunchtime. Not a good time for Mike to be fighting if the rumors are true about his partying antics while in Tokyo. Some camp members and sources close to Tyson claim that he was still hung over from heavy drinking the night before. Mike came into the ring sweating buckets, and he also looked a little soft. Massive underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas was unbackable at 42-1, but he had a game plan up his sleeve that would change the course of history. Douglas’s mum had died just weeks before the fight, his wife had filed for divorce, and he was pretty down. But what a lethal concoction that proved for Mike Tyson. Douglas was absolutely relentless with the assault he committed Mike Tyson to. The Tokyo ringsiders, common to the culture of the country saw them just sit there, hands folded in laps watching the heavyweight champion of the world get punished in every conceivable way.
For every uppercut that Mike landed, Douglas would throw 2 or 3 back in sequence. The display Douglas produced was quite simply awe-inspiring. The fight carried with this plot for 8 rounds until Mike landed an off-the-ropes-uppercut with the force of an oak-tree trunk that had Douglas down and surely out. But to the astonishment of every person watching in the world. Douglas rose to his feet and returned to his corner, only to come out 2 rounds later and steal the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world by knocking out the man and the myth that was ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. (The knockdown in round 8 was heavily disputed by the Tyson camp, namely Don King, that the referee counted too slow, thus allowing Douglas 16 seconds to get up, the belts were held and meetings took place for 2 solid days, until all 3 sanctioning bodies-WBA; IBF;WBC awarded the fight to Douglas, and crowned him champion)
1989
Mike Tyson is gunning for a shot at the former cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield, but before that he has to deal with Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams, a relative no-hoper. Mike puts him away easily in 1 round on July 21st.
February 25th and finally the fight that had been postponed so many times is taking place. Frank Bruno, the most popular boxer ever to come out of England to date, steps into the ring in a 3rd attempt to capture the world crown.
It is wildly regarded that, despite his solid-greek-god-like physique, Bruno’s array of skills will be far too limited to match the vicious 22 year old Tyson. 2,000 British fans turned up to watch the fight, and they could be heard throughout the arena clearly chanting ”BRU-NO, BRU-NO, BRU-NO” soccer style. Although Bruno went down 10 seconds into the round he did hurt Tyson mid-way through the 1st with a left hook, although it looked as though it was Mike’s balance that was a little off rather than it being Bruno’s punch that had the crowd screaming.
1988
On June 27th, 3 days before Mike became 22, he produced a performance that is wildly regarded as his greatest ever. All the hype was in place, and all the celebrities were ringside. Many boxing analysts believed that Spinks was the man to bring down the aura of Mike Tyson’s invincibility down. The timing seemed good for Spinks, as outside the ring, Mike was having many problems.
For starters his marriage to Robin Givens was almost over (some say for the better), and his contact disputes between Don King and Bill Cayton were reaching a climax. They thought that the light rangy Spinks could dance and jab and keep Tyson off to claim a points victory. How wrong they were. Spinks was scared stiff, 91 seconds was all it took for Mike to land the telling shot-a short inside right to the midsection. Spinks rose-briefly-referee Frank Cappuccino stepped back to let the fight carry on. No sooner had he done that than Mike landed a right to the head of Spinks that had his head crushing to the canvas hard. The fight is over.
Now it’s March 21st, and Mike has been doing a lot of promotional and marketing work in Tokyo, Japan. What with Nintendo adverts, Toyota adverts Mike is busy. Oh, yes, and incidentally he had a fight in the Tokyo dome (a debut location for Mike, and boxing alike) with a fat man called Tony ‘TNT’ Tubbs. Mike’s takes him out clean in 2 rounds.
Larry Holmes had all the mouth in the approach to his fight with Mike Tyson on January 22nd. He startled the media at a pre-fight press conference by declaring – Mike’s going to be remembered as an SOB’. Come fight night, Larry looked in poor physical condition. His age – 37- was no excuse, look at Evander Holyfield now and he is also 37. The fourth round antics of Holmes did nothing more than delay the inevitable – he started sticking and moving with the jab, trying to be the Holmes of 10 years earlier. When Mike finally caught up with the aging challenger, he landed a beautiful, punch-perfect left right to the head that could be heard from the ‘$10 dollar seats’.
Holmes’ has to be given respect for his courage at trying to get up, but Mike didn’t let him off the hook. He took about 30 seconds to assess the situation and then he knocked out Holmes in destructive fashion.
1987
On the 16th October Mike fought the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist – Tyrell Biggs. Biggs was having a lot of problems making anything of himself in the professional ranks. It didn’t help that he was coming off a heavy drug addiction. But his contacts in the game brought him face to face with his former amateur foe. Mike produced a mediocre performance, but did manage to stop Biggs in 7 fairly punishing rounds.
August 1st 1987 will be a memorable day for Mike Tyson and heavyweight boxing alike. It was this day that Mike fought Tony Tucker for the IBF heavyweight title (he was also defending his WBA and WBC titles). If Mike won, he would make history and restore the fight game, by becoming an undisputed heavyweight champion. Mike did win, it went the full course. But there wasn’t any doubt whose fight it was. Toward the bell to signal the end of the fight, Mike got caught with a blow that would have floored a lesser man. But Mike simply poked his tongue out at the jerry curled Tucker.
Mike’s second fight since becoming the youngest heavyweight in the history of the sport, sees his up against the one time Heroin addict and 6-1 underdog Pinklon Thomas. As per usual, Thomas had all the pre-fight mouth. And when they got in the ring on May 30th, he appeared to be backing that mouth up for a while. In the 6th round however, Mike caught Thomas with an uppercut that set up one of the most accurately timed and placed combinations witnessed in a ring for some years. A left, right, and another left (all hooks) saw Thomas sitting on his backside like he had just woken up from an afternoon nap. The fight was over.
On March 7th – fresh from his 2 round demolition job on Trevor Berbick 5 months earlier – Mike not only defended his new WBC title, but also fought for the WBA title against James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith. Although still only 20, Mike has learnt to act and portray himself (thanks to Jimmy Jacobs) like he is 10 years older. Everyone was caught up in the Tyson hysteria by now. He had appeared on the front pages of all the high-class magazines, and was seen socializing with all kinds of women. He pretty much dominated the whole fight against Smith and won via a unanimous decision.
1986
November 22nd. Mike is 20 years, 4 months and 22 days – and at 2214 hours he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever (his predecessor was another Cus D’amato protégé – Floyd Patterson). The way he beat Berbick opened the eyes of everyone in the world. He ruthlessly, peerlessly destroyed Berbick in a stunning, awesome performance, to claim the WBC title. The ‘punch’ that done it was a short left hook to the temple. Berbick looked as though he was breathing intoxicating fumes as he kept trying to get up but falling down again. Finally, after 3 attempts to rise, referee Mills Lane saved him from anymore humiliation by wrapping his arms around Berbick and holding him up. Mike Tyson was king at last. The promise he made D’Amato had been delivered.
Mike’s Journey to the Title
Throughout 1986, Mike carried on his frantic regime. Fighting as often as Bill Cayton and Jimmy Jacobs could get fights. They thought that it was a good way to keep Mike out of trouble. Because Mike had been slipping back into his ‘naughty’ ways. The odd assault case cropped up and he even robbed an old lady in an elevator on one of his many trips back to Catskill. He didn’t need the money, and he probably only done it to stay true to his roots despite his knew found ambition and fame.
He fought 12 times in 1986. And that was in 9 months (January to September). His victims in the year were (respectively): Davo Jaco in 1 round, Mike Jameson in 5, Jesse Ferguson in 6 (it was this fight that caused uproar in the media world, when Mike told reporters he ‘was trying to drive the nose bone up into the brain’). Steve Zouski then lasted 3, this was followed by a 10 round decision over James ‘Quick’ Tillis. Another points win saw him beat Mitch ‘Blood’ Green, or Mitch ‘Bitch’ Green, depending on who you talked to (Mike would later meet Green in a Harlem street brawl – breaking his own hand whilst breaking Green’s nose).
Reggie Gross was victim number 22, getting banged out in 1. William Hosea also got torn apart in 1 round. Although Lorenzo Boyd fought Tyson in Swan Lake, it wasn’t no fairy tale he got dropped in 2. Joe Frazier’s son then gets humiliated in 30 seconds. Jose Ribalta done well to last the course of 10 rounds. Then Mike’s last fight before the title shot saw him knock Alfonzo Ratliff about the ring before the ref stopped it in 2.
In 1995, Mike made his debut, it was on March 6th in Albany, New York. The promoters were a husband and wife team the Millers, based in Troy. This had put Hector Mercedes in with the dangerous 18 year old Tyson. Mike boxed like he had so much to prove, it was a powerful display from Tyson to win his debut fight in 1 round. Trent Singleton didn’t last any longer he too got beaten in 1 round. Don Halpin done relatively better to take Mike 4 rounds before getting his nose busted.
Mike’s 4th fight, and first in Atlantic City sees him bang out Ricardo Spain in a round. Another fight in ‘the sewer by the sea’ sees Mike take out John Alderson in 2. Larry Sims then lasted 3 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lorenzo Canaday starts of the first of a four fight return series in Atlantic City. He got taken out in 1, along with Mike Johnson, Donny Long and Robert Colay.
7 days later, Mike takes the camp to Texas to beat up Sterling Benjamin in a round. 12 days later they make the trip over to Texas and beat up a guy called Eddie Richardson in a round. 5 days later there back in Latham beating on Conroy Nelson, he lasted 2.
Back home in New York, Sammy Scaff got his jaw cracked in a round, and one more trip to Latham gives Mark Young a nice Christmas present (the fight was 2 days after Christmas day) by flooring him in 1.
So that’s the story. But it won’t end there. Mike will become, once again, heavyweight champion. Mike Tyson and his wife Dr. Monica Tyson, own a home in Maryland where they raise their four children.
