SPORTSCLOPEDIA 31: MIKE TYSON, THE YOUNGEST WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 09 Feb 2023
Michael Gerard Tyson, known as "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" and later dubbed as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", is regarded by several experts as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.
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Tyson was born into a Catholic family in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City on June 30, 1966.
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Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. In his 20th fight, Tyson won over James Tillis by unanimous decision.
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On November 22, 1986, Tyson engaged in his first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by TKO in the second round, and at the age of 20 years, four months, and 22 days, and established the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker, respectively in 1987.
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He became the first boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, and also the only heavyweight fighter to unify the three belts in succession. On June 27, 1988, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds of the very first round.
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On February 11, 1990, Tyson was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Just 35 seconds gone in the tenth round, Douglas connected a savage uppercut, followed by a four-punch flurry of hooks that knocked Tyson down for the first time in his career as he was counted out by referee Octavio Meyran.
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In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and was sentenced to six years in prison, but he was released on parole after three years.
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He went on to engage a series of comeback fights, regaining the WBC title from Frank Bruno and WBA title from Brucey Seldon in 1996 to join Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman as the only champions in boxing history to regain a heavyweight championship after losing it.
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He was stripped of the WBC title in the same year, then Tyson lost the WBA title to Evander Holyfield by an eleventh round stoppage. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears, and one bite removed a portion of his right ear. On July 8, 2002, Tyson fought for the world heavyweight title, losing by an eleventh round knockout to Lennox Lewis at The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. .
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He had a very high knockout percentage of 88%, he was ranked 16th on The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, and first on ESPN's list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History". He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Tyson has defeated 11 boxers in world heavyweight title fights, the seventh-most in history. His last ring appearance was an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. which ended in a split draw on November 28, 2020 at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
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He retired in 2015 after successive stoppage losses to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. His professional record stands at 50 wins with 44 KOs, 6 losses and 2 no contests.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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