Between the year 1985 and 2005, 58 men had stepped into the boxing ring to face Micheal Gerard Tyson, popularly known to many as Iron Mike Tyson.
Some came short, some came close to victory, some bowed out as men but majority could not stand on their own before the final bell. A twenty year reign in the boxing heavyweight division saw Mike Tyson establish himself as the best in the division.
A total of 58 fights, 50 wins made from 44 knock outs, 6 losses and 2 no contest. Mike had set the bar too high.
Growing up, Mike looked up to boxing legend Mohamed Ali who at that time was the undisputed champion. Ali was a south paw, a rather fast boxer, tall and a heavy puncher. He understood ring geography and this enabled him to move around it, dancing with his feet as he boxed his opponents. But there was far more to Ali than what took place in a boxing ring.
He was a philanthropist and an activist outside the ring during a time when black people were standing up against discrimination and racism in America. This saw him attract a large fan base especially from the black communities in USA and across the world.
Ali was also a heavy talker, a proud boxer who intimidated his opponents by praising himself and his boxing prowess. In one of his more famous quoted descriptions, Ali told reporters that he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
(Mohammed Ali vs Larry Holmes october 2, 1980/ courtesy Google)
But in October 2, 1980, Ali’s wings were clipped and the stinger was taken from the bee by his former sparing partner Larry Holmes who had seen Ali as his friend and mentor. Holmes brutally destroyed an aging Ali, he dominated and won every round of the fight and finally on the 10th round, Ali’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, stopped the fight. It was the end of an historical era in boxing.
It was then young iron Mike Tyson made up his mind to not only be a great boxer but the greatest of all time.
In a letter to Mohammed Ali, the young Mike promised to avenge Ali’s loss once he became a professional boxer. As years unfolded, Mike became a good boxer.
He was quick, aggressive and vicious in the ring, he kept a good composure and held his hands in the chin most times making his defense impenetrable. This style known as ‘aspeekaboo boxing style’ was invented by his trainer Constantine D’Amato who never lived to see Mike reach the great heights of boxing.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986 after knocking out Trevor Berbick in two rounds and in 1987 he beat James Smith to win the WBA belt.
(Mike Tyson with boxing promoter Don King/ courtesy Google)
Popular boxing promoter Don King had managed to bring Tyson to his camp after the death of D’Amato. King had promised Tyson heaven on earth making him the richest boxer at that time, he introduced him to a lavish lifestyle and as an ordinary black man who had grown in poverty, Tyson fell into the trap.
This however were against the wishes of his late trainer who had cautioned Tyson from making ties with Don King.
The Holmes Curse
In January 1988, Don King brought the world together at Convention Centre, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA for fight between Mike Tyson vs Larry Holmes. It was a fight Tyson had been looking forward to because he was facing an opponent who had floored his boxing hero and he had to live up to the promise he made to Mohammed Ali.
In a press conference prior to the fight, Larry Holmes made devastating statement that would end up affecting Mike Tyson’s boxing career. He said ” I will enter history as a winner, as for Mike Tyson, if he wins this fight down the line he will destruct himself..”
At Ringside sat an aged Mohammed Ali who could not dare miss the action despite being reported to have developed visual complications. During the fight, Holmes could not withstand the furious assault of Tyson. He was out boxed, out smarted and heavily embarrassed by Tyson.
(Mike Tyson Knocks out Larry Holmes/courtesy Google)
Within 4 rounds, Holmes had dropped 4 times due to heavy punches that were landing on him. Tyson winged a heavy right punch on his opponent’s chin leading him all the way down to the canvas. Holmes was out! His trainer Cortez waved an end to the bout. Tyson had won the revenge fight in minutes and Ali was proud of his protege.
Two years after that fight, Tyson had reached unimaginable lengths in boxing. Under the wings of his controversial boxing promoter Don King, he had managed 10 successful defenses of his world heavyweight title.
Things started taking a different turn in Tyson’s boxing career in the late 1989. He was served with a divorce by his celebrity wife Robin Givens on the grounds of physical assault. An harassment and assault charge filled by Givens, which she won, saw Tyson part with millions of shillings to settle the case.
In February 1990, Tyson suffered an upset in his boxing career. He was not only defeated for the first time but was knocked out by James ”Burster” Douglas in the 10th round. Was Larry Holmes’ curse already settling?
(Mike Tyson Knocked out by James ”Burster” Douglas/courtesy Google)
Things got worse for him as he was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant. In 1992, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment for the crime.
After serving his jail term, Tyson returned back to boxing. However it was not all rosy for him. Despite winning two fights after his debut, he lost to Alexander Holyfield by a technical knock out in the 11th round. A rematch was set up for June 1997 but Tyson was disqualified after he bit Holyfield’s ear and as a result he lost his boxing license.
Upon receiving his license back in in 1999, Tyson was again sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting an elderly man in 1998. He was later released after serving three months of the sentence. It was difficult to schedule matches for him because of his self controlled problems.
(Mike Tyson arrested and charged with assault/courtesy Google)
He again bit and attacked his set to be opponent Lennox Lewis in a press conference prompting the fight to be cancelled. In a fight between him and Andrew Golota in 2003, the fight was declared no contest after Mike Tyson tested positive for Marijuana.
In 2003, Tyson filed for bankruptcy claiming to have incurred a debt of 34 million USD. It is estimated that Mike Tyson had accumulated 400 million USD throughout his boxing career before filing for bankruptcy.