Mike Tyson V Trevor Berbick

[Goport]

After watching the demise of Tyson over the last 15 years I downloaded the Berbick fight from emule last night. I never saw this fight before and it is incredible. a 20 year old tyson giving 32 year old Berbick a boxing lesson. The fight olny lasted 2 rounds before Tyson became the worlds youngest heavyweight champion ever. He comprehensively outboxed Berbick in the first round and nearly put him on the canvas towards the end. The second round, tyson had him on the floor again early on and after the 8 count Tyson's patience against Berbick finally paid off when arouns 2:20 ish he landed a massive right to the body, left uppercut and followed by a classic tyson clubbing left. Berbick goes down, tries to stand .. goes down again ... tries to stand again ... and goes down again ... finally he makes it to his feet and stays up only because the ref and the ropes were there to support him.

Tyson said in the interview afterwards "every punch was thrown with bad intention" that sums it up beautifully. It really is an incredible fight.

Tysons behavior in the years to come really make it hard to like him. He has done more damage to boxing than just about anybody. But the fear he introduced and the efficiency he dispatched his opponents, from 85-90 was unbelieveable. The only opponents he didn't knock out were the ones who ran on him or held on for dear life (ie James 'Bonecrusher' Smith).

[Geordie]

Aye !!! I agree !!!!

[Edenbridge]

Tyson was the Best fighter when he was in his prime. Amazing Boxer for sure

[Goport]

tyson wa the best BOXER in his prime imo

[Jeffery Bravo]

He was good, but a really /smf. i don't give credit to a rapist, nor someone who bites another dudes ear off cause he's losing. Now he only fights unknown ham and eggers nobody has heard about. he's an ass!!

[Goport]

My memory of the rape trial is that there was no physical evidence supporting the rape case (ie ripped clothing, and medical evidence). I do recall quite well that Don Kings lawyers defending Tyson actually helped to get Tyson convicted by acting so arrogantly and laughing at the D Washington Confession Tape. All the evidence pointed at consentual sex. I actually think Tyson was innocent of the charge.

The biting the ears incident looked pretty clear cut to me. Holyfield headbutted Tyson so often in the two fights they had it was unreal. All the three cuts Tyson had were from headbutts in both Fights. Tyson approached Mills Lane and demanded the fight be stopped because there was no way the fight could continue with his injuries. He knew the fight would end up as a TKO as his injuries got aggravated as a result of Holyfield's punches/headbutts unless the fight was called as a "no contest" due to the injury. No contest verdicts can only happen in the first 3 rounds, after that it would be a TKO.

But the fight went to round three. When he bit Holyfield's ear, he did so to get disqualified, and the fight void "No Contest". Tyson was desperate to get disqualified so he bit him again. Mills lane waited until the bell rang for round four before calling the fight. Therefore Holyfield got the win.

Now I am not defending Tyson's outrageous behaviour during the fight. But Holyfield is always headbutting his opponents - lewis said it, in fact most of his opponents have said it. Rahman was head butted at least 6 times by Holyfield. He was warned 4 times. but the last headbutt caused a lump the size of a baseball above Hasim Rahman's right eye. Holyfield has mastered the art of fouling while looking innocent imo. He is also supposed to be a deeply religious man. So why is it he has had so many children out of wedlock? Why is it lewis absolutely dominated him in challenging him for his title and and Holyfield still retained it? Why didn't Mills lane disqualify Tyson immediately after he bite Holyfield a second time?

Now - I am not defending biting opponents .. no way. But I don't like the way history shows Tyson to be the only dirty fighter in the ring that night. Their first fight had both Tyson's eyes badly cut from "accidental clashes of heads." Same as Rahman. Other fighters say the same thing of Holyfield. He is dirty!

But Tyson is a monster, he became on and sadly that is what everybody wanted. Unfortunately when Rooney left Tyson's camp in 88 (I think) he stopped being a boxer and became a brawler. His behaviour and his choice of associates degraded with every passing year.

I respect your opinion but I don't believe Tyson should get no credit. He unified the three main heavyweight belts twice. That means he is up there with the likes of Ali on achievement and in real terms he ranks about the same as Ken Norton and George Foreman. His ring achievements are undeniable. and the point of this thread was his first challenge for a title - he won that emphatically and made history as the youngest ever to win a heavyweight title. And he won more, and he defended them against all opposition until he met James Douglas.

Yes he is a washed up joke of a fighter these days. But then he is pushing 40 and should not be fighting. Personally I hope the future is kind to Mike and he can find some peace.