As we all wait with some trepidation for the fight that will go down on Friday night in Texas, with the remnants of Mike Tyson going in with a far fresher but also somewhat ordinary (in terms of boxing skill, not business sense and savvy) Jake Paul, plenty of boxing websites have been busy strolling down memory lane, looking back at the best of “Iron Mike.”
Ranking Tyson’s most chilling knockouts, his most lethal displays of handy work, is quite a lot of fun. Tyson, in the 1980s and early 1990s, was special, his terrifying blend of speed and power too much for so many notable fighters. Tyson was also guaranteed entertainment when he was in his (too short) prime, as the following KO’s remind us.
Tyson’s Top 5 Greatest Hits!
1: KO 2 Trevor Berbick.
Tyson was able to bring down better, more superior fighters than Berbick, but his coronation, at the tender age of 20, was super-special, and so memorable. Tyson, his hands on fire, his razor-sharp reflexes matching his “bad intentions,” ruined a good, durable heavyweight. And Tyson did it in chilling, humiliating fashion. Who can ever forget the way Berbick fell again and again from one Tyson punch! His senses obliterated, Berbick was toast inside two rounds.
2: KO 1 Michael Spinks.
The absolute peak Mike Tyson, so said, and so say the experts. Going into their ‘Once and for All’ unification showdown, some good judges picked the unbeaten Spinks to win. Instead, Tyson, who had famously been “punching holes in the dressing room wall” prior to the fight, wiped Spinks out in 91 seconds. Yes, Spinks, the former light-heavyweight king who had moved up to dethrone Larry Holmes to become heavyweight boss, was terrified upon entering the ring, but the way Tyson’s destructive blows were landing, would it have made much difference if Spinks had entered the ring ready for a fight?
3: KO 4 Larry Holmes.
Holmes was 38, he had been inactive for a couple of years, and Larry was coming back purely for the dough. Still, Tyson, with his fourth-round KO, is the only man to have ever knocked Holmes out. And when we remember what Holmes went on to do after his date with disaster (a win over Ray Mercer, Holmes pushing Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall pretty hard in world title fights), it’s clear Tyson destroyed a far-from-shot fighter. This fight from 1988 really makes a fan wonder just how an encounter between Tyson and a peak Holmes might have gone…….
4: KO 6 Pinklon Thomas.
Tyson’s combinations were never more impressive, or ruthless. In a nutshell, Tyson cracked the game, once-beaten “Pinky” with everything in his wicked arsenal: hooks, body shots, uppercuts, lefts and rights. And the final 16-punch combo that saw Tyson crumple Thomas highlighted in terrific fashion how astonishingly accurate Tyson’s lethal hands were.
5: KO 1 Marvis Frazier.
The most devastating 30 seconds of Tyson’s career? Maybe. Marvis was no Joe, and his pop was later lambasted for putting his son in with Tyson. But “Kid Dynamite” was beast-like on this night, his power shots leaving Frazier, a good boxer, in a half-sitting position, his head having been blasted around and around. Tyson was fast, ferocious, and merciless. Tyson really brought the smoke on this night.
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