Mike Tyson, 21
Years Later

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

Wise 22 marked the 21"
anniversary of Mike Tyson becoming
the WBC Heavyweight Champion.
November 22, 1986 would prove to be a
historic night for both Tyson and the sport
of boxing, as it marked the beginning of
the tumultuous Tyson era.

Tyson, at just 20 years, four
months old at the time, demolished
champion Trevor Berbick in just two
rounds by TKO to become the youngest
world heavyweight champion in history.
The fight can be seen on YouTube, along
with many other major Tyson fights.

Tyson was born in Brownsville,
Brooklyn. He was a notorious street thug,
and was expelled from multiple schools
for fighting. By age 13, Tyson had already
been arrested 38 times. It wasn’t until he
was sent to a correctional boy’s home
that he first stepped into the ring and was
taught the sweet science by councilor
and former boxer Bobby Stewart. After
training Tyson for several months,
Stewart introduced Tyson to the Cus
D’Amanto, the legendary trainer who had
developed world champions. D’Amanto
became Tyson’s legal guardian, and along
with fellow trainer Teddy Atlas, became
Tyson’s trainers and de facto father
figures.

As a teen, Tyson had a brief but
successful amateur boxing career. He
was the 1984 national Golden Gloves
champion, and had an overall amateur
record of 28-3. During his first two years
as a professional, Tyson fought an almost
unheard of 22 times, defeating all of his
opponents. 19 of those victories were by
knockout, and an unbelievable 14 of his
KO’s came in the first round.

While Tyson was a fast rising
superstar in the making, Cus D’Amanto
tragically died in 1985, an event that many
believe to be the beginning of Tyson’s
many troubles to come.

After taking the title from
Berbick, Tyson promised to defeat all of
the world’s best heavyweights, and unify

the heavyweight crown. He added the
WBA Heavyweight Championship by
besting James “Bonecrusher” Smith in
1987, and again defended his belt later that
year against Pinklon Thomas, knocking
him out in the sixth round. Tyson would
then beat Tony Tucker to become the
IFB Heavyweight champion, becoming
the first man in boxing history to be
champion of the heavyweight division in
all three major boxing organizations, the
WBA, WBC, and IBF, at the same time.
Again in 1987, Tyson would take on the
1984 Heavyweight Olympic Gold medal
winner, Tryell Biggs, and would knock

problems came to a head on February
11, 1990, when he was defeated and lost
his title to the virtually unknown Buster
Douglas. This is widely considered to be
one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
Tyson was a 42-1 favorite, and had an
unbeaten record. Tyson was floored in the
10" round for the first time in his career,
causing the “baddest man on the planet”
to loose his coveted championship.
Douglas would prove to be a flash in the
pan, dropping the title in his first defense
to Evander Holyfield.

Tyson got back on track in the
ring soon after, however and beat Donovan

him out in the Ruddock twice in
seventh round. ip At the peak of his career wassively | hyped
uts cc
Tyson’s success UM the 1980’s ’ Er yson WaS the number one
sparked “Tyson ° contender. Not
Mania” throughout the best of all tim e, and that long after a
the world. In 1987, includes Ali.” championship
Nintendo created match was

Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! a video game
for NES. The game had tremendous
success, and has since developed a cult
following. But what really made Tyson a
true superstar was his 1988 demolishing
of Michael Spinks, who many considered
to be the true IBF Heavyweight champion.
Amid controversy, Spinks had never lost
his IBF title, and had been stripped of
it. Because of this, Spinks demanded a
title bout with Tyson. Tyson knocked out
Spinks in 91 seconds to become the true
undisputed heavyweight champion of the
world.

Unfortunately for everyone,
right at the peak of Tyson Mania,
Tyson’s life and career began to rapidly
deteriorate. He got divorced for the first,
but not the last, time, and fired longtime
trainer Kevin Rooney. Rooney was a
superb coach for the powerful Tyson, and
taught Iron Mike to follow strategy and
maximize his potential. Without Rooney
around to keep him in line, Tyson’s in ring
skills started slipping.

All of Tyson’s turmoil and

arranged with Evander Holyfield in
the fall 1991 all of a sudden everything
started to fall apart.

Tyson wasarrested and convicted
of twice raping Miss Black Rhode Island,
Desiree Washington, in July 1991 and
February of 1992. He was sentenced to
six years in Indiana prison. Tyson served
three years and was paroled in 1995.

His two “comeback” bouts were
lopsided fights that Tyson won easily, and
his return fight was a huge event, setting
PPV records for its time with the fight
being purchased in 1.52 million homes.

Tyson quickly regained two
fringe titles, the lightly regarded WBA
and WBC belts by destroying Frank
Bruno and Bruce Seldon. Recapturing
two of his former titles set the stage for
the long awaited Tyson-Holyfield bout.

Holyfield was the challanger,
and was considered a big underdog after
retiring in 1994, Like Tyson, he too was
hoping to make a comeback, though many
viewed him as washed-up after losing his
championship to Michael Moorer.

 

The first fight between the two
was a big upset, with Holyfield defeating
Tyson by TKO in the eleventh round.
Tyson was furious after the match with
Holyfield’s repeated headbutts. The two
would meet again on June 28, 1997, and
what happened next is arguably the most
infamous moment in boxing history.

The stage was set at the MGM
Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas. It
was a colossal event, and grossed $100
million. The match was also very rich for
both fighters. It set a record for the highest
purse ever in a match that was only
recently broken by Oscar De La Hoya
and Floyd Mayweather. Tyson earned
$30 million for the fight, while Holyfield
received $35 million.

Tyson was disqualified in the
third round of the fight after biting off a
chunk of Holyfield’s ear. The grotesque
action was a result of Holyfield again
repeatedly headbutting Tyson throughout
the match. After the announcement, the
MGM Grand crowd erupted, and a near
riot ensued, with several fights breaking
out in the crowd. Tyson was fined the
maximum $3 million by the Nevada state
boxing commission, and his license to
fight in the state of Nevada was revoked.
However, Tyson had his license restored
little over a year later.

Controversy continued to follow
Tyson. After knocking out Francois Botha
in January 1999, Tyson was convicted of
beating up two people after a car accident.
He was sentenced to a year in prison, 200
hours of community service, two years
probation, and fined $5,000. He only
ended up serving nine months of his
sentence.

After his release and several
matches, one of which he tested positive
for marijuana, Tyson received a title shot
at Lennox Lewis, who held the WBC, IBF,
and IBO Heavyweight championships.
Once again the fight saw a measure of
controversy. Tyson wanted to fight in

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