After his easy win over Alonzo Ratliff on September 6, 1986, Mike Tyson’s title-shot with Trever Berbick was set. They were both part of the HBO tournament to create a unified Heavyweight champ for the first time since Leon Spinks in 1978. The bout named “Judgement Day” would held at the Hilton Center in Las Vegas, the same place Muhammad Ali lost his title to Spinks in February of 1978.
I had been living about a mile from the International Hilton in Vegas in 1986, but moved home to New Jersey in early November. The airline job I had been offered was only part-time, and I decided to leave Vegas and head back east. While I would miss the action of the Strip, the rest of the town I could do without.
The problem was we didn’t even have cable TV at the time (let alone HBO), but thankfully my younger sister did. The Tyson-Berbick fight was set for November 22nd, and I would have to settle on seeing it on VHS tape when my sister brought it over on Thanksgiving day.
I knew before the bout that Berbick had absolutely no chance of winning against Tyson. I had seen Mike fight enough to know only time was keeping him from the title. Even though I already knew he had won by the time I actually saw the fight, it was still impressive.
Tyson weighed in at 221 1/4 lbs. to Berbick’s 218 1/2, and both men sported impressive physiques. Mike came out blazing, and was the aggressor from the opening bell. I could sense the fear in Berbick as I watched it, and when Tyson landed a four-punch combination that hurt Trevor to end the first round, I knew it was a matter of time. Mike came out determined to end it quickly, and dropped Berbick early in the round. The end came at the 2:35 of round two, when a Tyson left hook to Berbick’s forehead not only knocked him down once, but caused him to get up two more times and collapse from one single powerful blow.
Mike became the youngest Heavyweight Champion in history at 20 years and 4 months, and he did it in spectacular fashion. He was the best thing that could happen to a sick heavyweight division, and I knew that he would be champion for as long into the future as I could see. The ironic thing about the fight was the fact that Trevor Berbick would be the last man to face Muhammad Ali in the ring on December 11, 1986, and the one who Tyson beat to win his first championship.
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