At the height of his career, Mike Tyson was the most formidable heavyweight on the planet.
‘Iron’ Mike was just 20-years-old when he became world heavyweight champion for the first time, knocking Trevor Berbick out in the 2nd-round of their 1986 showdown to capture the WBC heavyweight title and become the youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
He would go on to add the WBA and IBF titles to his collection with respective victories over James Smith and Tony Tucker, achieving undisputed status just a month after his 21st birthday.
Tyson was beaten by Buster Douglas in a sensational upset at the beginning of 1990, but he would go on to reclaim the WBC crown when he beat British boxing legend Frank Bruno six years later.
Whilst speaking on Larry King Live, ‘Iron’ Mike gave an honest assessment of his 1996 battle with Evander Holyfield, which he claims would have had a different outcome if he had fought ‘The Real Deal’ during his prime.
“To be honest, the way I’ve been, those guys know I sleep, I lose interest sometimes and things happen in my life and I lose my incentives, and these guys slip by they get wins here and there, but they know truly if they ever could assess me at my best or if I fought them at their best, they don’t stand a chance.”
Tyson suffered an eleventh round stoppage defeat to Holyfield, surrendering his WBA heavyweight title to ‘The Real Deal’. A rematch took place just a number of months later, although it ended with a disqualification after ‘Iron’ Mike sensationally bit the ears of his fierce rival during the third round, forcing the referee to call a halt to the infamous ‘Bite Fight’ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
