5. Mike Tyson KO 5 Frans Botha – 1999
https://youtu.be/aT2hOMs0l7o?t=19m40s
Mike Tyson was in the twilight stage of his career at this stage. Tyson was in need of a big win here to prove he was still relevant in the heavyweight division. following two back-to-back defeats against Evander Holyfield, the obituaries for his career were already being written again.
Botha easily controlled the early goings in this bout. You could make an argument he had taken the first four rounds on the scorecards, furthermore, Tyson had looked wild and reckless all fight.
Many had thought by the time the fifth round came along, Tyson was headed to a decision loss. Tyson’s frustration had begun to spill over and he was venting by attempting to break Botha’s arm in the clinch at the end of the first round.
However with just under twenty seconds to go in the first round, Tyson turned back the hands of time. ‘Iron Mike’ caught Botha coming in with an almighty right hand. The shot was so powerful, it sounded different to other knockouts and it left Botha disorientated and stumbling all over the ring.
With this knockout, Tyson showed he was still a major player in the heavyweight division, beating a man who had beaten the former world champion, Michael Moorer.
Furthermore, he showed he was still a one-punch knockout artist and continued onto a collision course with the current heavyweight kingpin, Lennox Lewis.
4. Mike Tyson KO 1 Marvis Frazier – 1986
https://youtu.be/GXAVEo3_7FY?t=9m52s
Tyson was truly at the peak of his career at this stage. Cus D’Amato had honed the perfect fighting machine, he was defensively proficient and yet ferociously aggressive. He possessed power and speed, furthermore, he possessed concussive knockout ability with either hand. He was capable of throwing every punch in the book with bad intentions, in particular, his left hook was demonic.
Marvis Frazier represented what was perceived to be a step up in class for ‘Iron Mike’; he was the son of a legend and the heavyweight great Smokin’ Joe Frazier.
Marvis had been at the world championship level, ultimately unsuccessful in his title shot against the great Larry Holmes at the peak of his title reign.
Tyson was closing in on the championship at this stage boasting a record of 25-0 at this stage, he had slowly eradicated every world level contender to get there and Frazier was just another obstacle in the way of his goal, that he needed to smash through.
Marvis Frazier had come out aggressively in that typical Frazier style. However, fairly swiftly his fire was met with Tyson’s aggression and he was backed into the corner. Tyson then unfurled an otherworldly uppercut which almost ripped poor Marvis’s head off.
Tyson in his typical brutal fashion, took the opportunity to annihilate his already beaten foe with a fusillade of blows while he was already out and on the way down.
3. Mike Tyson TKO 2 Trevor Berbick – 1986
This was the day Tyson had been groomed for, nearly his whole adolescence. All those years in the gym perfecting his craft under the stewardship of Cus D’Amato, Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney, was it worthwhile?
This was when we found out, what we expected to find out; that was that Tyson was going to rewrite history and replace Floyd Patterson as the youngest man to ever win the world heavyweight championship.
Tyson was at his ferocious best in this fight, taking apart a foe that seemingly came to wrestle and just survive.
Tyson had landed flush clean blows that he had been masterfully turning his body weight into all fight.
It was only a matter of time after the first round until Berbick couldn’t go on.
The knockout sequence was one of Tyson’s favourite combinations, he ripped a painful looking hook into Berbick’s side and then brought the uppercut back upstairs which seemed to momentarily stop Berbick in his tracks.
A final left hook did the job and left Berbick out on the feet, struggling to rise to his feet without falling again to the canvas with a thud.
2. Mike Tyson TKO 6 Pinklon Thomas – 1987
After going the distance with James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith in their heavyweight unification. Other heavyweight contenders were now keen to test their luck with the young champion. Angelo Dundee, Thomas’ trainer predicted it was a foregone conclusion that Thomas would outpoint Tyson.
A menacing Tyson was keen to re-establish just how savage a fighter he was and return to knockout ways.
It was a left hook to Thomas’s head that had him in deep trouble in the sixth round.
When the left hook landed, Thomas reeled backward, with Tyson in hot pursuit. Tyson let his hands go, pounding Thomas with a barrage of ferocious rights and lefts until Thomas, badly shaken fell backwards onto the canvas.
Thomas glassy-eyed and with blood was streaming down his face, clearly unable to continue.
1. Mike Tyson KO 1 Michael Spinks – 1988
This is universally accepted by many Tyson fans, as the night it all came together for him and he was at the ferocious peak of his powers.
This was the final fight of Tyson’s under the stewardship of the Catskills connection that he had risen to stardom under.
Following this bout, Kevin Rooney never worked with Mike Tyson again and Don King wormed his way in and that began a sorry soap opera tale.
Mike was very angry going into this fight, he had chastised the press over the coverage for the very public breakdown to his marriage with the actress, Robin Givens.
The tabloid media had reported that Givens had lied about a miscarriage which had Tyson build up a lot of pent-up emotional rage going into the fight.
Spinks was the lineal heavyweight champion, he was undefeated. This was the last test available to Tyson in the late 1980’s era of heavyweight boxing. Everybody else had fallen under the might of Tyson’s fists.
Spinks actually threw nine right hands in this bout and didn’t land with any of them.
He could do little to hold off the onslaught, Tyson got through with a hard body shot that stole the wind from Spinks and forced him to crumble to the canvas.
A final uppercut to the point of the chin following the recommencement of the fight abruptly ended the proceedings and left Tyson with every single world title in the heavyweight division.
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