TOP 10 Greatest fights of Mike Tyson

Iron Mike is a boxing powerhouse, there’s no denying that. His left hook instills paralyzing fear in the toughest of the tough to date. Recently, he announced his return to the boxing world and will be fighting Jake Paul in December. He is 58 and his recent pictures prove that Iron Mike is Immortal.

A fighter through and through, Tyson dealt some deadly damage in pretty much every bout he was a part of, and his steady form made his matches all the more engrossing. As such, we will take a look at 10 of his best fights to date.

Here is a list of his Top 10 best fights

10. vs. Michael Spinks, 1988

Spinks had an unbeaten 31-0 record under his belt before facing Iron Mike. Unsurprisingly, Tyson took him out and laid him senseless in 90 seconds flat. Spinks didn’t stand a chance up against the Iron Mike.

The fight took place in 1988 and was promoted as ‘Once and For All’. At the time Tyson held the IBF, WBA, and the WBC titles. Moreover, this fight was the richest in history until that point, grossing an astounding $70 million. Naturally, Tyson made the bigger chunk amounting to $22 million, while Spinks still earned a respectable $13.5 million.

9. vs. Pinklon Thomas, 1987

The first five rounds of this match went without much ado, but the 6th round was a masterclass in both boxing and taking a hit. Tyson unleashed a wave of blows, and to Pinklon’s credit, he took them like a brick wall but finally succumbed after the 15th consecutive punch.

With this win, the 20-year-old Tyson took his tally to 30-0 with an incredible 27 KOs. Tyson later admitted that he was waiting to exploit his opponent’s lack of stamina and endurance. This is exactly what he did.

8. vs. Larry Holmes, 1988

This fight was more personal than most for Mike Tyson. The young fighter had the opportunity to avenge his hero, Muhammad Ali by putting Holmes into the canvas. The 38-year-old Holmes had been retired from boxing for 2 years but came back after being offered a massive amount by sleazeball extraordinaire, Don King.

Tyson came out like a man possessed, and Holmes had to pull every trick in the book to keep him at bay. However, Holmes couldn’t keep up with the younger and faster Tyson and succumbed in the fourth round.

7. vs Henry Tillman, 1990

After his previous fight where he lost his Undisputed Heavyweight title to James Douglas, Tyson returned to fight Tillman in a match billed as ‘The Road Back’. Tillman tried to evade Tyson’s blows but got knocked out at 2:47 of the first round.

Interestingly, Tillman was also the last man to defeat Tyson before Buster Douglas. However, this was when the two were still amateurs. As such, this win allowed Tyson to settle an old score and make his comeback after the devastating loss to Douglas.

6. vs. Lou Savarese, 2000

Tyson came in like a freak without a leash in this match, dropping Savarese to his knees right at the start, and defeating him via knockout in 38 seconds. As crazy as it sounds, it only took Tyson one punch to end the fight.

The former champ was so pumped that he even floored the referee after the fight. This resulted in police intervention, who escorted him straight to the airport. In the post-fight interview, Tyson said he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis’ children.

5. vs Eddie Richardson, 1985

Eddie Richardson was Tyson’s biggest opponent until that time. Tyson stood 5ft 10 inches, whereas Richardson was a whopping 6ft 6 inches. However, the height and reach advantage would do him no good. A 19-year-old Tyson put him down the first time with his first punch.

Richardson attempted to use an evasive technique during this bout, which is smart considering Tyson’s massive power, but he was still knocked down to his knees 8 seconds into the fight. A left hook put him down and out around a minute into the fight, and that was that.

4. vs. Tony Tucker, 1987

Tony Tucker was the IBF heavyweight champion when he took on a 21-year-old Tyson. As such, a win against him would make Tyson the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Leon Spinks.

This was arguably one of the hardest matches that Tyson fought. Tucker had the upper hand in the first few rounds, but Tyson soon came into form and started matching Tucker’s moves, winning over the judges and the match in the process. The win was a culmination of decades of hard work and evidence of Cus D’Amato’s belief in Tyson’s ability.

3. vs. Tyrell Biggs, 1987

Before this big match, Olympic medallist Tyrell said things like, “He’s never fought anyone like me” and “He’s strong, every fighter I fight is stronger than me, but as the fight goes on, as I use my mobility and boxing ability, strength is no longer a factor. What will he do then?”

While Biggs’s agility did work for a while, he was soon overwhelmed by Tyson’s power and lost via technical knockout. Interestingly, Biggs was the only opponent that Tyson really hated and wanted to punish him thoroughly. This was because Biggs had mocked Tyson during their amateur days. Subsequently, when they fought as professionals, Tyson even held himself back from knocking Biggs out in the third round and instead chose to pummel him till the 7th round.

2. vs. Frank Bruno,1989

Frank Bruno carried the hopes of an entire nation as he took on the most dominant man in heavyweight boxing. However, the Brit would fall short of his aspirations in Las Vegas, even after landing a nice left hook on Tyson in the first round. The wobbled Tyson would recover and decimate the Brit with unrelenting body shots.

While Bruno got a fair few hits in during this match and even managed to stagger Tyson for the first time in his career, by the 5th round, Bruno was pretty much done for. He lost in the 5th round via technical knockout.

1. vs. Trevor Berbick, 1986

This match would be etched in history forever. A young Tyson, barely out of his teens with a record of 27 wins and 25 KOs would try to do the unprecedented. Moreover, he had a trail of 12 bodies leading up to that fight in that one year alone.

On 22nd November 1986, a fresh-faced Mike came out to battle with Trevor Berbick in his black trunks and shoes. In what seemed like lightning speed the young fighter put Berbick down to the mat in a swirl of dizzying left hooks within 2 mins 35s. At just 20 years old, this made him the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of the sport. A feat still unmatched to this day.

In case you missed it!

• Top Boxers in UFC: 5 outstanding fighters with the best boxing skills
• 10 best UFC Fighters Who Are BJJ Black Belts