Sports Articles: Boxing Legends Part 1 - Mike Tyson page 8

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Article page 8 of 13

Then came James 'Buster' Douglas and probably the biggest upset in the history of boxing. Only one casino in Las Vegas would even give odds on the fight, that was the Mirage, they made Tyson 42-1 odds on favourite to beat Douglas. Understandable at the time as Tyson was undefeated and looked undefeatable, while Douglas was 29, with 4 losses already on his record and a notoriously indisciplined trainer who was known to lack heart after he quit in the 10th round of a fight he was winning against Tony Tucker. Douglas did not even have a 'puncher's chance' as he was not a hard puncher.

What people did not know at the time was that, while Tyson was in poor shape, both emotionally and mentally, Douglas was highly motivated after the death of his mother and had finally been focused on his training. Tyson was a mess and nowhere near at his best physically, Douglas was in peak mental and physical shape, highly motivated and set for a hard fight. Douglas came out firing and took the fight to Tyson behind his left jab, leading on points when he pushed Tyson back against the ropes in the 8th round. With Tyson in trouble he caught Douglas with a lovely right uppercut which knocked Douglas off his feet.

Douglas, clearly annoyed with himself, banged his fist on the canvas before getting up, just in time to beat the count. Gathering himself back together, he gave Tyson the first knockdown of his career in the 10th to win by a KO. That was not the end of things though, Don King went to court to try and have the result overturned because there was a long count, the referee being 3 or 4 seconds behind the timekeeper when Douglas was down. Douglas is adamant that he could have got up earlier and was just doing the sensible thing and taking the full 8 count. There was also the small matter of Tyson's knockout count also being just as long. The result stood and Tyson's reign as undefeated and undisputed world heavyweight champion was over.

It was June, four months later, before Tyson was back in the ring to begin his attempt to return to the summit of the sport, facing his old nemesis from the amateur days, Henry Tillman in Las Vegas. Things were totally different from their time in the amateur ranks and Tillman was disposed of in the 1st round by KO. People wondered if the old Tyson was back and the defeat had just turned him into a wounded lion, ready to bite back. Despite losing his court case against Sandra Miller in November, Tyson found guilty of battery but Miller was only awarded $100 in damages as the jury decided Tyson's behaviour was not outrageous, Tyson also won his next fight with a 1st round KO. This time the victim was Alex Stewart to set up an elimination bout for another title shot.

Number one contender Mike Tyson faced number 2 contender Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock with the prize a shot at new title holder Evander Holyfield. Ruddock was a heavy puncher and considered the most dangerous heavyweight around, while Tyson was considered Tyson, the 'baddest man on the planet'. Tyson and Ruddock faced off in March 1991, the fight went into the 7th round and Ruddock was up against the ropes and looking unsteady when the referee controversially stepped in to stop it and award the win to Tyson. The decision was not well received and caused a melee inside the ring and the referee had to be escorted from the ring by security for his own safety amidst a chorus of boos for him and for Tyson as well.

A rematch was immediately organised and three months later the pair faced off again, this time Ruddock was able to go the distance, despite suffering a broken jaw. Tyson knocked Ruddock down twice on the way to a unanimous point decision, but it was clear he lacked the same intimidation factor that he had before the Douglas defeat. Next up was a shot at the new champ, Evander Holyfield. That was when all the old problems came back to bite him. First there was a rib injury that forced him to pull out of the Holyfield fight. What followed was far worse and far more shocking for the world to see.

On the 18th July 1991 Tyson met Desiree Washington at a pageant rehearsal for Miss Black America. Washington was Miss Black Rhode Island and just 18 years old when the pair went back to his hotel room in the early hours of the morning. A few days later, on the 22nd, Washington files a complaint with the police, alleging Tyson raped her. On the 6th September Mike Tyson is indicted on rape and three other charges by a special grand jury. Two days later he is booked in Indianapolis and released on a £30,000 cash bond. The trial began on 26th January 1992 and, two weeks later on 10th February, after 9 hours of deliberation, Mike Tyson is found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviate sexual conduct and could face up to 60 years in jail.

Once again Donald Trump steps in to the picture, this time with a plan to save Tyson from going to jail. Trump's casinos had made millions from hosting Tyson's fights and were set to make millions more from the fight with Holyfield, which Holyfield now wanted to pull out of. On 13th February 1992 Trump told Newsday that he thought a deal should be struck that would allow Tyson to avoid jail, keep his boxing license and fight Holyfield. Trump proposed that a cut of the fight's proceeds would go to Desiree Washington and another share to go to victims of "rape and abuse" in Indiana. Trump told Newsday: "As everybody knows, I am very strong on the death penalty and for the strongest of sanctions and hardest of disciplines for anyone. But far more people can be helped by allowing the tremendous sums of money from his fights to be put into funds used for rape victims."

At a press conference Trump said the following: "Now you could always say, 'well, then rich people are going to be able to buy themselves out of trouble'. That's not necessarily true. This is a case that's unique..... The case could be made, well, you shouldn't be allowed to buy yourself out, as perhaps the prosecutor would say.... But a lot more people can benefit from what I'm suggesting than by throwing a man in jail, virtually penniless. Instead, you let him go out, he would have made between $15m and $30m in his next fight: tremendous amount of money, tremendous amount of good it can be doing.... Millions and Millions of dollars could pour in to help people that were truly hurt, that won't have anything and that will live penniless without it. And I think a lot of people, a lot of people, can be helped if this is properly handled." We would now know this plan as the Harvey Weinstein 'getting away with it' method.

Holyfield's promoter called the plan "absolutely reprehensible". The case's prosecutor, J. Gregory Garrison, said: "These people seem to think they can buy their way out of anything. Well I have never seen anyone buy his way out of jail in this state yet." Trump's plan, which he continued to maintain was not for his benefit at all, failed, as, on 26th March 1992, Superior Court judge Patricia Gifford sentenced Tyson to 10 years in prison, though 4 years were to be suspended. She orders him to serve the term immediately and, despite being 25 years old, Tyson is assigned to Indiana Youth Center to serve his sentence.

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Mike Tyson page 9 of 13

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