Mike Tyson

The greatest living former heavyweight kings

The greatest living former heavyweight kings

With the recent sad passing of the great Joe Frazier, and the even more recent – in fact still numbing – passing of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, the world was robbed of two of the finest heavyweight world champions in history. Indeed, Ali and Frazier, who of course gave us THE most fierce and most celebrated rivalry in all of sports, were the king of kings. Ali and Frazier may no longer be with us on this physical plane, but they will live forever.

This distinction, or honour, is one only truly special fighters receive – Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis included. But who are the finest, the greatest, the most special former world heavyweight kings who are still with us? In short, who are the greatest living former heavyweight rulers?

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Happy Birthday, Mike Tyson – The youngest heavyweight champ in history turns 50 today

Happy Birthday, Mike Tyson - The youngest heavyweight champ in history turns 50 today

By his own admission, Mike Tyson, who today celebrates reaching his half century, never thought he’d live to the age of thirty, let alone 50. The former street hoodlum who was saved by boxing and then went off the rails as he made too much money, was manipulated by the wrong people he became involved with and eventually fell into pretty much all the traps his mentor and father figure Cus D’Amato so wanted him to avoid, was convinced he’d be dead not too long after his 21st birthday.

But Tyson endured, went through many changes and, by the age of 30, had done it all – he had: made history as the youngest heavyweight champion ever at age 20, become the undisputed king by the age of 21, lost the crown at age 23, served time in jail more than once, taken all manner of drugs and had sex with too many women to possibly count, bitten off a substantial chunk of an opponent’s ear, come close to total bankruptcy, fought on when way past his best, and finally retired from the ring at the age of 39.

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The Lost Fights of Mike Tyson Part 1: George Foreman

The Lost Fights of Mike Tyson Part 1: George Foreman

When discussing “Iron” Mike Tyson, and his Icarus-like ascent and descent from the summit of heavyweight boxing in the 80s and 90s, the debate always turns to the dream fights. How would the version of Tyson who crushed Trevor Berbick have dealt with the Muhammad Ali who carved up Cleveland Williams? How would the Catskills man have stacked up against “The Brown Bomber” Joe Louis? Could he have matched leather with Marciano, Frazier or Dempsey? While we will never have definitive answers to these questions, there are three intriguing fights that were at the negotiation stage during Tyson’s terrifying and controversial rule over the sport of kings. These three bouts, had they come off, could have irrevocably changed the history of the sport’s banner division for years to come. Here we take a look at the first of these match-ups: Mike Tyson vs George Foreman.

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Abraham vs. Ramirez: Tale of the Tape

Abraham vs. Ramirez: Tale of the Tape

Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs) defends his WBO World Super Middleweight title against Gilberto Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

‘King Arthur’ fights away from home for the first time since 2011 and will face a difficult task to overcome the undefeated Mexican Ramirez.

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Mike Tyson’s “Undisputed Truth” returns to Las Vegas next month, Tyson says he’s excited to bring the show back to his hometown

Mike Tyson’s “Undisputed Truth” returns to Las Vegas next month, Tyson says he’s excited to bring the show back to his hometown

Mike Tyson has gone through a series of transformations in his life: from street hoodlum to boxing prodigy, to the youngest heavyweight champion in history, to walking car crash, to mellowed family man, to raconteur. It is this latest role that the man who hits his half century later this year will return to in March.

Tyson’s hugely successful one-man stage show entitled “Undisputed Truth” proved to be a revelation, with Mike’s rapid-fire delivery on stage bringing both laughter and sympathy from the consistently large crowds. Now, beginning on March 3rd, with the run ending in June, Tyson will take to the stage again.

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Trail of Destruction: Mike Tyson’s Top 5 wins

Trail of Destruction: Mike Tyson’s Top 5 wins

“I don’t succeed when I make a guy a champion,” hall of fame boxing trainer, Cus D’Amato, once said. “I succeed when I make that fellow champion of the world and independent of me. When he doesn’t need me anymore.”

It’s been almost 30 years since Mike Tyson’s first world title fight. Cus didn’t live long enough to witness his protégé become champion. ”Iron” Mike may have exhibited menace and maturity inside the ring, but outside of it, he was a vulnerable young man, who still needed the guidance and stability his father figure provided. Equipped with such shrewd, compassionate tuition, Tyson would almost certainly have coped far better with the pressures and temptations that are inevitable when catapulted into international superstardom – his fighting prime would very likely have been extended. As was the case in early life – when growing up in crime-ridden Brownsville, in eastern Brooklyn, New York City – Mike was again, forced to learn the hard way.

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A music video highlights tribute to Mike Tyson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaGU9kxA4Qo

If you’re an American boxing fan old enough to have followed the sport for around 30 years or so, then you probably remember the excitement generated whenever young Mike Tyson stepped inside the squared circle. An aura of invincibility surrounded him as he left a path of total destruction en route to becoming the youngest heavyweight champion ever.

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Mike Tyson – The 1980s

Mike Tyson - The 1980s

Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on the 30th of June 1966. His upbringing came on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, the latter in particular a dangerous landscape littered with abandoned tenements. His single parent mother had children but no husband and little money. Tyson remembers her as a person incapable of much affection. At 12-years-old Tyson is carrying a gun, mixed up with drugs and violence, and running with the wrong crowd although – as he remembers – there was no other life available to people like him. Or so it seemed.

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Douglas Upsets Tyson – 25 Years Ago Today

Douglas Upsets Tyson – 25 Years Ago Today

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the biggest upset in boxing history, and quite possibly the entire history of sports. Twenty-three year old “Iron” Mike came into the fight with an incredible record of 37-0, with all but four bouts ending by way of knockout – most in the early rounds. Along the way, Tyson had picked up the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, making him the undisputed heavyweight champ and one of (if not the most) feared boxers in the history of the sport. His opponent James “Buster” Douglas came into the fight at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan with a 29-4-1 record, and had been knocked out three times in prior bouts.

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