Sports Articles: Boxing Legends Part 1 - Mike Tyson page 4

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Article page 4 of 13

Trevor Berbick was the holder of the WBC crown, and Tyson, aged just 20 years, 4 months and 22 days, faced him for the title on 22nd November 1986 in Las Vegas. It was a dominant performance as Mike Tyson took the WBC belt with a second round TKO. It was a champion's performance but Tyson was not finished yet, he wanted to beat the best and be undisputed champion of the world. Next target was James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, who had taken the WBA title from Tim Witherspoon in the first round. Straight after that win, Smith's comments were: "Where's Mike Tyson? Where's Mike Tyson? We're gonna put on a great fight, a bang-bang good one, and somebody gonna get it licked - and it won't be me. Now find me Mike Tyson."

On 7th March 1987, once again in Las Vegas, James 'Bonecrusher' Smith found Mike Tyson, with the WBC and WBA belts on the line, and was made to regret his words as a right hook knocked the fight out of him in the opening seconds. Smith spent the rest of the twelve rounds holding on, grabbing and fighting a pure survival battle. Towards the end the crowd turned on Smith, chanting "fight, fight" as the WBA champion surrendered his belt in a unanimous decision. Tyson said afterwards: "I've got to suffer with the critics because of Smith and he made no effort at all. He should be ashamed. I'm only a little kid, he should have come to get me."

Nintendo had been so impressed with Tyson that they had already agreed a deal to use him as the face of their NES version of arcade hit 'Punch Out!!' Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! became a massive hit, selling more than a million copies and launching a later Game Boy version. Tyson was a bonafide superstar, with a girlfriend to match, in supermodel Naomi Campbell. Despite retaining both belts with a sixth round TKO win over Pinklon Thomas in Las Vegas in May, it was his life away from boxing that was beginning to take centre stage.

The relationship with Campbell was fiery and things were getting out of hand at a party, so a friend of hers went to get help. That help arrived in the tiny form of 77 year old A.J. Ayer, a British philosopher, though what kind of party has Mike Tyson, Naomi Campbell and Ayer attending is a mystery to me! Tyson was enraged by Ayer's intercession, screaming at the diminutive professor, "do you know who the fuck I am? I'm the heavyweight champion of the world!"

Ayer was not phased at all and replied, "and I am the former Wykeham professor of logic. We are both pre-eminent in our field. I suggest that we talk about this like rational men." Surprisingly that was enough to calm Tyson down and the two men chatted away while Naomi Campbell beat a hasty retreat. Tyson's treatment of women was to hit the headlines in June, after he was accused of bear hugging a female car park attendant and demanding a kiss. It was alleged that he struck a male colleague who attempted to intervene. Tyson was charged with assault but the case was settled out of court.

In the ring, Tyson was set to face Tony Tucker, the holder of the one title he did yet own, the IBF belt. The fight was scheduled for 15 rounds, but the WBC insisted (probably for the benefit of television) that it would be a 12 round fight. The build up was marred by reports of a falling out between Tyson and his head trainer Kevin Rooney, with it said he had left the training camp for four days. Despite all the parties, bear hugs, falling outs and other distractions, Tyson became the first heavyweight to unify all three titles with a unanimous points decision after 12 rounds.

Tucker was not entirely gracious in defeat, claiming he broke his hand midway through the fight, but it was Rooney that had the most interesting comments following the win. His words now seem prophetic as Rooney said of Tyson: "his own boredom could be a problem. He could stay on top for a long time - if that's what he wants. That's a big 'if'. That's up to him. He's under a lot of pressure, and the next few years will be a problem. He won't mature until he's 25."

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Mike Tyson page 5 of 13

Written by Ed001 - June 04 2018 10:30:52