Mike Tyson was a phenom from the moment he turned professional in March of 1995 and quickly blazed his way through the rankings to become the number won contender in just 18 months. When he signed to fight WBC champion Trevor Berbick on November 22, 1986, I was living in Las Vegas, only about a mile from the International Hilton where the fight was going to be held. Even though I moved back to New Jersey in the interim period, I had no doubt that because of his incredible punching power, Tyson would easily dispose of Berbick.
It was pretty much known to anybody that knew anything about boxing that the fight was going to be the coronation of a new young king. Berbick was a decent enough fighter, but didn’t have the power or skills to keep Tyson off of him, and it was just a matter of what round he was going to be knocked out in. If I was a betting man at the time, I would have wagered every cent I had on Mike, gone home to take a nap, then back to the casino to cash in my winning chips.
The fight went just as expected, with Tyson swarming an overwhelmed Berbick from the start, and easily knocking him out in the second round with a left hood to his forehead that knocked him down and out. Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at just 20 years old and 5 months, and there didn’t seem to be another heavyweight alive that could give him a fight. Tyson was an amazing talent and had been brilliantly managed by Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton, and was just the spark that boxing needed.
With both Larry Holmes and Sugar Ray Leonard retired, the sport needed a new star and ‘Kid Dynamite’ as he was nicknamed, was the perfect replacement.
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