At the peak of his powers, Mike Tyson was the most formidable heavyweight on the planet.
He burst onto the scene back in 1985, making his professional debut when he was just 18-years-old. He impressively defeated his first nineteen opponents via stoppage, with twelve of those victories coming in the opening round.
His crowning moment came just over one year after his debut when he defeated Trevor Berbick to capture the WBC heavyweight title and become the youngest heavyweight champion in history with a second round knockout victory.
He would go on to become undisputed champion with respective victories over WBA champion James Smith and IBF champion Tony Tucker in the year that followed, achieving this feat just a month after his 21st birthday.
It wasn’t entirely plain sailing for Tyson during his tenure however, after suffering a number of defeats along the way. One of the fighters to beat ‘Iron Mike’ was Evander Holyfield, who fought him twice in a seven month period during the late 1990s.
Speaking in a historic interview, Tyson disclosed details of his second encounter with Holyfield, which is more commonly known as the ‘bite fight’.
“I told him ‘he butt me’. I complained about it in the first fight.
Listen, Holyfield isn’t the tough warrior that he says he is! I got one eye! He’s not impaired, he’s got ears. I got one eye, if he takes one I got another one..”
After stopping Tyson in the penultimate round of their first bout in November 1996, the heavyweight greats met for a second time in the following June.
The rematch came to a staggering halt during the third round after Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear, leading to the referee disqualifying the former champion in one of the most controversial moments in boxing history.
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