Mike Tyson was born Michael Gerard Tyson on June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York. He started boxing under the guidance of Cus D’Amato as an amateur and turned professional in March of 1985. He quickly ran through his early competition and by the end of 1985, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He won his first 19 bouts, 12 by first round knockout, and made his first appearance on ABC’s Wide World of Sports against Jesse Ferguson in Troy, New York. He won via a 6th round TKO when Ferguson was disqualified for excessive holding.
Mike won his next 9 fights without difficulty, which set up his November 22, 1986 title shot vs. WBC Heavyweight Champion Trevor Berbick. Berbick had been the last man to face Muhammad Ali on December 11, 1981 in Nassau the Bahamas, and was a huge underdog when Tyson stepped through the ropes. Mike made easy work of him, stopping him in three rounds to capture his first title, and at 20 years old, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
Tyson won a snooze-fest against James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith on March 7, 1987, then destroyed a worn out Pinklon Thomas on May 30. He unified all of the title belts when he won a tough fight vs. Tony Tucker on August 1, 1987 at the Hilton in Las Vegas, then easily knocked out Tyrell Biggs in Atlantic City on October 16 in 7 rounds.
On January 22, 1988, Tyson knocked out come-backing former champion Larry Holmes in 4 rounds, then traveled to Tokyo, Japan two months later to easily dispose of a fat and out of shape Tony Tubbs in two rounds. That set up the huge fight in June with Michael Spinks, still the lineal champ to many people. When I made the 15 mile drive to the Spectrum in South Philadelphia to watch the fight, I knew Michael wouldn’t last a round, even though he was one of my all-time favorite fighters.
Tyson made my worst dream come true when he knocked Spinks out in 91 seconds, but I left the Spectrum without even watching a single interview. Mike’s personal life became the stuff the press loved, and it kept him inactive for the remainder of 1988.
During that time, Tyson signed with Don King, leaving his old management and trainers behind. He knocked out a scared to death Frank Bruno in his first bout under King on February 25, 1989, but it wasn’t the same to me. I knew that sooner or later, someone would come along to beat him, and that he was starting to show serious chinks in his supposed ‘Iron’ armor.
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