If you bring up “Iron Mike” to anyone who grew up in the 1980s they immediately know who you’re talking about. “Iron Mike” Tyson hit the boxing scene in 1985 and dominated the ring from his first fight.
In his brief amateur career Tyson won gold medals at the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympics. He won a gold medal at the 1984 National Golden Gloves competition. Tyson was beat twice in his amateur career, both times by Henry Tillman. Tillman went on to win a Gold Medal in the 1984 Olympics.
Tyson’s professional career began on 06 March 1985. The 18 year old Tyson fought 21 year old Hector Mercedes. Tyson knocked out Mercedes in the first round. Over the next ten months Tyson would fight 16 matches, winning them all by knock out.
Rise of a Champion
The first time I saw Tyson box was in 1986. ABC Wide World of Sports featured the Tyson vs Jesse Ferguson fight on 16 February. At the time I was a casual boxing fan, I would watch bouts if they were on TV but didn’t seek them out. My friend Doug’s dad was a big boxing fan and I’d watch boxing matches with them, mainly on HBO Boxing.
Ferguson was no slouch. He started his professional career as explosive as Tyson, winning his first 13 matches, 10 by knockout. Going into the Tyson fight Ferguson had a professional record of 14-1. Tyson’s record was 17-0 and he was about to make it 18-0.
On the cold Saturday afternoon in February I watch Tyson pick apart Ferguson round by round. In the fifth round Tyson showed his power. Setting up Ferguson with a body shot, followed quickly with a devastating uppercut, breaking Ferguson’s nose and dropping him to the mat.
Somehow Ferguson was able to get up and continue the round. He lasted about a minute into the sixth round before the ref called the fight. At the time Tyson was awarded a win by disqualification, it would later be changed to win by TKO.
I was no longer a causal fan. I was loving boxing and more specially Iron Mike Tyson Boxing. He was fast, explosive and a knockout king.
A young 19 year old Tyson was 18-0 and his legend was only growing. His Knockout streak ended at 19 in a row. His 20th and 21st fight went all 10 rounds and Tyson won both by Unanimous Decision. He’d go on to win seven more fights by knockout. He knocked out Marvis Frazier (son of Heavyweight legend Joe Frazier) in 30 seconds.
The Tyson vs Frazier fight was also aired on ABC Wide World of Sports in 1986. I watched it over at Doug’s house with him and his dad. Tyson came out fast and aggressive hit Frazier with numerous left jabs. Then Tyson hit Frazier with a glancing uppercut followed by a solid uppercut and finished him off with a left hook. It was an impressive win.
Tyson would have two more fights, winning both by knockout before getting a title shot against Trevor Berbick. The title fight on 22 November 1986 was billed “Judgment Day” and aired on HBO. The fight was on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. It was also my dad’s birthday. My folks went out for the night to celebrate his birthday with friends and I went to Doug’s house to watch the Tyson fight.
Tyson entered the fight undefeated at 27-0, with 25 wins by knockout. Champion Berbick entered the fight at 34-4-1 and was still considered the underdog. Berbick was defending his title for the first (and as it turned out) only time.
In true Iron Mike fashion Tyson came out aggressive and had Berbick on the defensive the entire fight. Toward the end of round 1 Tyson unleashed a fury that sent Berbick across the ring. In round 2 Tyson continued his onslaught dropping Berbick with a 1-2 combo. Berbick was able to get up and Tyson finished him off with a body shot and a left hook to the head. Berbick was unable to get up.
Tyson won the WBC Heavyweight title at 20 years old, the youngest person to ever win a title. Tyson continued to dominate the ring and finished the 1980s undefeated, holding three titles, WBC, WBA and IBF Heavyweight and a 37-0 record.
Tyson is Back!
Tyson’s first fight in the 1990s, February 1990 was his 10th time defending the title. He faced Buster Douglas in a fight billed “Tyson is Back!” Once again I was over at Doug’s to watch the fight on HBO.
Douglas came out aggressive, Tyson held his own but didn’t look like the fighter we were all used to seeing. Tyson was flat-footed and wasn’t aggressive. In round 8 with one eye swollen shut, Tyson connected with a massive uppercut sending Douglas to the mat. The ref’s count seemed to start late and Douglas was able to survive the round by the sound of the bell.
Tyson tried ending the fight in round 9 but was unable and took more damage from Douglas. In round 10 Douglas connected a huge uppercut rocking Tyson backwards. Douglas followed with an onslaught of punches dropping Tyson to the mat. The first time in 37 fights Mike Tyson was ever knocked down. Tyson was unable to get up and Buster Douglas beat the Champ.
There is some controversy around the fight with the ref giving Douglas a long count in round 8. But by all accounts Tyson and his camp overlooked Douglas, viewing him as a tune-up fight. Tyson’s corner didn’t even have cold packs, they had to fill latex gloves with ice to help the swelling on Tyson’s face. According to singer Bobby Brown in his biography, he and Tyson were out partying the night before the fight.
Whatever the reasons Iron Mike Tyson lost 3 titles and his undefeated record to Buster Douglas. Tyson says the loss is the best thing to happen to him. It gave him perspective and made him a better fighter. Tyson would continue fighting and win four more fights by 1991. Then he ran into legal issues.
Tyson was arrested in 1991 and convicted of rape in 1992. He was sentenced to six years in prison, he was released early in 1995.
The Sound and the Fury
The next fight I saw of Tyson was Holyfield v Tyson II “The Sound and the Fury” A bunch of friends and I got together and bought the Pay-Per-View event.
Everyone was sure Tyson would redeem himself after the first fight with Holyfield and knockout the Champ and get the title back.
It didn’t work out that way. Holyfield dominated the early rounds and as the third round was winding down the two fighters were in the clinch. And then in a surreal moment, Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear, not a little nibble either. Tyson bit it so hard a one-inch piece of Holyfield’s ear was torn off. We were all stunned. So was the ref who was unsure what to do.
The ring side doctor checked Holyfield and cleared him to continue. Tyson was penalized two-points and the fight went on. In the next round Tyson bit Holyfield’s other ear while in the clinch. Referee Mills Lane ended the fight, disqualifying Tyson for biting.
Tyson would continue fighting through the early 2000’s, even getting another title shot against Champion Lennox Lewis in 2002, he didn’t win. Tyson’s last profession fight was a loss to Kevin McBride in 2005.
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!!
At the height of Tyson’s career Nintendo came calling and created one of the best Boxing games ever. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! It was a port of Nintendo’s arcade hit Punch-Out!!
In Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! you played Little Mac, an up-and-coming boxer trying to win the title. Little Mac doesn’t have much in his arsenal, left or right jabs and left or right body blows. If Little Mac does well he can earns stars which unlocks a powerful uppercut.
In order to get to the Heavyweight Champ Little Mac must make it through the Minor Circuit, the Major Circuit and the World Circuit, a total of 13 boxers before facing Iron Mike Tyson.
There are some fighters from the arcade version of Punch-Out!! like Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman and Glass Joe. Nintendo also introduced a few new fighters my favorites being Don Flamenco, Piston Honda and King Hippo.
Fun Fact: Soda Popinski was called Vodka Drunkenski in the arcade version but due to censorship had his named changed for the NES version.
I loved Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Doug and I would spend hours beating on the lower ranked boxers to try and get to Tyson. The Minor Circuit wasn’t too hard. The first fighter Glass Joe is extremely easy. He servers as a warm to get to know the controls.
Once you hit the Major Circuit the skill level picks up. King Hippo is a fun fight, only taking damage when he opens his mouth. Oddly, when he opens his mouth his trunks start to fall down and he needs to pull them up, which leaves him open to body blows.
The final fighter on the Major Circuit, Bald Bull is annoying. His special move the “Bull Charge” seemed impossible to block and when he beat Little Mac he’d stand there and laugh. If you can counter the “Bull Charge” it is an instant knockdown.
When you complete the Major Circuit you get to the World Circuit and boxers are much tougher. You also have to rematch Don Flamenco, Piston Honda and Bald Bull, all of which are harder than before. If you can defeat all six fighters on the World Circuit you get a shot at the man himself, Iron Mike Tyson.
I only reached Tyson 3-4 times when playing the game and never beat him. Doug was much better and beat Tyson a few times.
In 1986, Nintendo paid Mike Tyson $50,000 to use his likeness for a three year period. It was a year before Tyson won his first title. The gamble paid off for Nintendo as Tyson won the WBC Heavyweight Title a month before Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was released in the United States. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was a big seller and a Christmas gift for a lot of kids that year.
Nintendo didn’t renew their license with Tyson and re-branded the game Punch-Out!! in 1990. With Tyson’s legal problems in 1991 and 1992 I’d guess Nintendo would have re-branded that game anyhow.
Tyson v Paul
On 15 November 2024 Iron Mike Tyson returns to the ring to fight YouTuber Jake “El Gallo” Paul. It will be Tyson’s first professional fight since 2005. The fight is schedule for 8 2-minute rounds.
Tyson vs Paul airs on Netflix, their first step into live sports. (On a side note, Netflix will be showing two NFL games on Christmas day this year.)
Really, the only thing Paul has going for him is youth. He isn’t a boxer. While he holds a 10-1 record he hasn’t fought anyone of true quality. He’s fought NBA stars and MMA stars, none of which are boxers. If he fought the MMA fighters in a true MMA fight, Paul would get destroyed every time. Paul lost to the one true boxer he faced, Tommy Fury.
Tyson is 58 years old, but he’s still Iron Mike Tyson! I don’t know how this fight will go but I’ll be watching every second of the fight, recalling the glory days of Tyson and the memories of watching his fights with friends.
I hope at 58 he has one last great fight left in him. I know come fight night I’ll be rooting for the once and always “Iron Mike” Tyson!
Are you going to watch the Tyson-Paul fight? If so let me know in the comments below who you think will win.
Share your Tyson boxing memories and NES Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! memories in the comments as well.
You can share your thought on X too. The main Geekster channel is @GeeksterMedia and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai
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