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Mike Tyson - Boxing career

Mike Tyson - Boxing career: Encyclopedia II - Mike Tyson - Boxing career

Mike Tyson - Rise to stardom. Mike Tyson made his pro debut on March 6, 1985 in Albany, New York, which he won by first round knockout. He fought frequently in his first two years as a pro, staying undefeated and winning almost all of his fights by knockout, usually in the first round. His quality of opposition gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders, and his impressive win streak attracted much media attention, as he was being billed as the next great heavyweight champion. On Novembe ...

Mike Tyson: Encyclopedia II - Mike Tyson - Boxing career

Mike Tyson - Boxing career

Mike Tyson - Rise to stardom

Mike Tyson made his pro debut on March 6, 1985 in Albany, New York, which he won by first round knockout. He fought frequently in his first two years as a pro, staying undefeated and winning almost all of his fights by knockout, usually in the first round. His quality of opposition gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders, and his impressive win streak attracted much media attention, as he was being billed as the next great heavyweight champion. On November 22 1986 Tyson was given his first title shot, fighting Trevor Berbick for the WBC heavyweight title. Tyson won the title by second round knockout, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest heavyweight champion ever.

Expectations for the young champion were sky high, and he embarked on an ambitious campaign to fight all the top heavyweights in the world. In 1987, Tyson defended his title against James 'Bonecrusher' Smith on March 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He won on a unanimous points decision and added Smith's WBA title to his existing belt. 'Tyson mania' in the media was becoming rampant. He beat Pinklon Thomas in May with a knockout in the sixth round. On August 1 he took the IBF title from Tony Tucker, winning on points to become "undisputed heavyweight champion of the world". His only other fight in 1987 was in October against the 1984 Olympic champion Tyrell Biggs, a workmanlike performance from Tyson ending with a seventh round TKO.

Tyson had three fights in 1988. He faced an aged but still game Larry Holmes on January 22, and defeated the legendary former champion by fourth round TKO. He fought contender Tony Tubbs in Tokyo in March, fitting in an easy two round victory amid promotional and marketing work. On June 27, Tyson brutally knocked out former IBF heavyweight champion Michael Spinks in a mere 92 seconds into the first round. This fight is often regarded the climax of Tyson's career because at the time Spinks was believed to be the most legitimate contender who never lost a fight before meeting Tyson.

Mike Tyson - Controversy

But Tyson's problems outside boxing were starting to gain prominence too, his marriage to Robin Givens was heading for divorce, and his future contract was being clawed over by Don King and Bill Cayton. In late 1988, Tyson fired longtime trainer, Kevin Rooney, the man many credit to honing Tyson's craft after the death of D'Amato. Without Rooney, Tyson skills slowly started to deteriorate and Tyson became more prone to looking for the one punch knockout. In 1989, Tyson had only two fights amid personal turmoil. He faced the popular British boxer Frank Bruno in February in a below-par fight, and managed a one round knockout of Carl Williams in July.

In 1989 Tyson was granted an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in Ohio. Many in the academic community expressed displeasure at the act (as well as the practice of giving honorary doctorates to celebrities in general), claiming it cheapened the value of such awards, particularly for those who had worked years in their fields to actually earn them [1].

By 1990 Tyson had lost direction, and his personal life and training habits were in disarray. In a fight on February 11 with the unfancied James 'Buster' Douglas he took a big uppercut from Douglas and went down for his first time ever in round 10 and stayed down for the count. Despite post-fight protests by his manager over a "slow count" in the eighth round when Douglas went down, Tyson lost all of his championships. Tyson's two other fights in 1990 were confidence regaining first round KOs.

In 1991 Tyson fought Donovan "Razor" Ruddock twice, once in March and again in June. These fights were notable because of Tyson's bizarre "jailhouse" talk towards his opponent. He told Ruddock, "Everyone knows you're a transvestite and you love me. I'm gonna make you my girlfriend. I can't wait to get my hands on a pretty thing like you". There was some controversy over the first fight which Tyson won in the seventh round; many believe the referee, Richard Steele (boxing referee) stopped the fight prematurely. Tyson won the rematch comprehensively in a unanimous points decision.

Mike Tyson - Rape prison and aftermath

In 1992, Tyson went on trial in Indiana after being arrested there in 1991 for the alleged rape of Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convicted on the charge of rape on February 10 1992. Many of Tyson's supporters claimed that he was innocent. They pointed out that Washington had willingly gone into his hotel room where the rape supposedly took place. At trial, the prosecutor pointed out that even though Washington might have been naive for doing this, it did not make Tyson any less guilty. He was given a sentence of 6 years and was released in May 1995 after serving 3 years. Under Indiana law, a defendant convicted of a felony must begin serving his prison sentence immediately after the sentence is imposed. While in prison, Tyson converted to Islam and adopted the name "Malik Abdul Aziz".[2] The facts of the Tyson/Washington case are eerily similar to, and likely the inspiration for, the plot of the 2002 film Undisputed, which starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames.

[3] Tyson did not fight again until 1995. After two comeback bouts against Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr., Tyson regained one belt by easily winning the WBC title from Frank Bruno in March 1996 in three rounds. In September 1996 Tyson won back the WBA title in 93 seconds from Bruce Seldon, having paid Lennox Lewis $4 million dollars to "step aside." Tyson was criticized by many for fighting such inferior opposition in his two comeback bouts prior to fighting Bruno. For example, it was pointed out that McNeeley's "opponents" had lost almost three fourths of their fights. Mathis was a mediocre, light hitting puncher whose only claim to fame was that his father had also been a boxer who fought Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Seldon was subjected to much ridicule for his first round loss to Tyson because he seemed to go down and out from a very light punch. Many accused him of being so scared he just gave up.

Mike Tyson - The Holyfield fights

On November 9, 1996 Tyson faced a tougher challenge in Evander Holyfield, with the bout lasting eleven rounds. Holyfield won with a TKO to become a three-time world champion.

Tyson did not fight again until June of 1997 when there was a hugely anticipated rematch with Holyfield on June 28 for the WBA title. In the third round, after losing the first two rounds on all three scorecards, Tyson bit a chunk from Holyfield's ear. After receiving a two-point deduction from the referee Mills Lane, Tyson bit Holyfield's other ear and was disqualified. Shortly before the fight, Tyson's former trainer Teddy Atlas predicted Tyson would do something to get himself disqualified. On July 9 Tyson was banned from boxing for one year and fined $3 million.

Mike Tyson - Decline

In January 1999 Tyson fought the South African Francois Botha and while Botha initially controlled the fight, Tyson landed a straight right-hand in the fifth round that knocked Botha out. On February 5 Tyson was sentenced to a year's imprisonment, fined $5,000, and ordered to serve 2 years probation and perform 200 hours of community service for the August 31, 1998 assault on two people after a car accident. He served nine months of that sentence. After his release he fought Orlin Norris on October 23, 1999. Tyson knocked Norris down with a left hook he threw after the bell sounded ending the first round. Norris injured his knee when he went down and said he couldn't fight on. The bout was ruled a no contest.

In 2000 Tyson had three fights. The first was staged in Manchester, England against Julius Francis. Following controversy as to whether Tyson should be allowed into the country, he knocked out Francis in the second round. He also fought Lou Savarese in June 2000 in Glasgow, winning in the first round. The entire fight only lasted 38 seconds. Tyson continued punching after the referee had stopped the fight, accidentally knocking him to the floor as he tried to separate the boxers. In October Tyson fought the similarly controversial Andrew Golota, winning in round three, a result that was changed to no-contest after Tyson failed a doping test. Tyson fought only once in 2001 beating Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen with a seventh round TKO.

Tyson sought to fight Lennox Lewis in 2002 in Nevada, but the Nevada boxing commission refused him a license to box as he was facing possible sexual assault charges. Tyson made inflammatory remarks to Lewis prior to the eventual bout stating, "I want your heart, I wanna eat his children". A scuffle at a press conference finally removed any chance of a Nevada fight. The fight actually occurred on June 8th in Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis dominated the fight and knocked out Tyson in the eighth round.

On February 22, 2003, Tyson beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne 49 seconds into round one, once again in Memphis. The pre-fight was marred by rumours of Tyson's lack of fitness and that he took time out from training to party in Las Vegas and have a new facial tattoo.

In August 2003, after years of financial struggles, Tyson finally filed for bankruptcy. His bank balance was said to have been only $5,000. In 2003, amid all his economic troubles, he was named by Ring Magazine at number 16 among the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

On July 31, 2004 Tyson faced the unregarded Englishman Danny Williams in another come back fight staged in Louisville, Kentucky. Tyson dominated the opening two rounds. The third round was more even, with Williams getting in some clean blows and also a few illegal ones, for which he was penalized. In the fourth round Tyson was surprisingly knocked out. It transpired that Tyson was trying to fight on one leg, having torn a ligament in his other knee in the first round. This was Tyson's fifth career defeat. He underwent surgery for the ligament four days after the fight. His manager Shelly Finkel claimed that Tyson was unable to throw meaningful right hands after the knee injury.

On June 11, 2005, Tyson stunned the boxing world by quitting before the start of the seventh round in a close bout against journeyman Kevin McBride. After losing the third of his last four fights, Tyson said he would quit boxing because he hasn't "got the fighting guts or the heart anymore." (BBC SPORT).

Iron Mike Tyson has stayed in the limelight by promoting various web sites and companies. In April 2005, he joined a group of strippers on the roof of a strip club in New York to promote skill gaming site FortuneFun.com. Tyson has also endorsed online gaming site Casino Fortune and previously lent his name to a popular Nintendo game, Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!. In June 2004, sportswriter Max Kellerman suggested that Tyson should move out of boxing and into product endorsement, stating that this has worked well for former boxer George Foreman. In the past Tyson had shunned endorsements, accusing other athletes of putting on a false front to obtain them.

In 2005, Tyson admitted that he had discussions with associates of porn star Jenna Jameson and considered a career in the adult entertainment industry.

On the front page of the June 3, 2005 USA Today, Tyson is quoted as saying: "My whole life has been a waste - I've been a failure." Tyson has grossed an estimated $400 million in his career, but filed bankruptcy a couple of years ago.

Mike continues, "I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed with myself and my life. I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. I want to get this part of my life over as soon as possible. In this country nothing good is going to come of me. People put me so high; I wanted to tear that image down." Tyson now spends much of his time tending to his pigeon coop of around 350 in Arizona [4].