Professional
career
Rise to stardom
Mike Tyson's first nationally televised bout
took place on February 16, 1986, at Houston Field House in Troy, New
York, against journeyman heavyweight Jesse Ferguson, and was carried
by ABC Sports. Tyson knocked down Ferguson with an uppercut in the
fifth round that broke Ferguson's nose. During the sixth round, Ferguson
began to hold and clinch Tyson in an apparent attempt to avoid further
punishment. After admonishing Ferguson several times to obey his commands
to box, the referee finally stopped the fight near the middle of the
sixth round. The fight was initially ruled a win for Tyson by disqualification
(DQ) of his opponent. The ruling was "adjusted" to win by technical
knockout (TKO) after Tyson's corner protested that a DQ win would
end Tyson's string of knockout victories, and that a knockout would
have been the inevitable result.
In July, after recording six
more knockout victories, Tyson fought former world title challenger
Marvis Frazier in Glens Falls, New York, on another ABC Sports broadcast.
Tyson won easily, charging at Frazier at the opening bell and hitting
him with an uppercut that knocked Frazier unconscious thirty seconds
into the fight.
On November 22, 1986, Mike Tyson was given his
first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council
(WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by TKO in the
second round, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest
heavyweight champion in history. He added the WBA and IBF titles after
defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987. Tyson's dominant performance
brought many accolades. Donald Saunders wrote: "The noble and manly
art of boxing can a least cease worrying about its immediate future,
now that it has discovered a heavyweight champion fit to stand alongside
Dempsey, Tunney, Louis, Marciano, and Ali.
Tyson intimidated
fighters with his strength, combined with outstanding hand speed,
accuracy, coordination and timing. Tyson also possessed notable defensive
abilities, holding his hands high in the peek-a-boo style taught by
his mentor Cus D'Amato to slip under and weave around his opponent's
punches while timing his own. Tyson's explosive punching technique
was due in large part to crouching immediately prior to throwing a
hook or and uppercut: this allowed the 'spring' of his legs to add
power to the punch. Among his signature moves was a right hook to
his opponent's body followed by a right uppercut to his opponent's
chin. Lorenzo Boyd, Jesse Ferguson and Jose Ribalta were each knocked
down by this combination.
Undisputed champion
Expectations for
Tyson were extremely high, and he was the favorite to win the heavyweight
unification series, a tournament designed to establish an undisputed
heavyweight champion. Tyson defended his title against James Smith
on March 7, 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He won by unanimous decision
and added Smith's World Boxing Association (WBA) title to his existing
belt. "Tyson-mania" in the media was becoming rampant. He beat Pinklon
Thomas in May by TKO in the sixth round. On August 1 he took the International
Boxing Federation (IBF) title from Tony Tucker in a twelve round unanimous
decision 119-111, 118-113, and 116-112. He became the first heavyweight
to own all three major belts, WBA, WBC, and IBF, at the same time.
Another fight, in October of that year ended with a victory for Tyson
over 1984 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Tyrell Biggs by
TKO in the seventh round.
During this time, Tyson came to the
attention of gaming company Nintendo. After witnessing one of Tyson's
fights, Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa was impressed
by the fighter's "power and skill", prompting him to suggest Tyson
be included in the upcoming Nintendo entertainment System port of
the Punch Out!! arcade game. In 1987, Nintendo released mike Tyson's
Punch-Out!!, which was well received and sold more than a million
copies.
Tyson had three fights in 1988. He faced Larry Holmes on January 22, 1988, and defeated the legendary former champion by KO in the fourth round.
