The chilling display of power, speed, and accuracy the 20-year-old “Iron Mike” thrilled the world with in Glens Falls, New York, when he utterly destroyed Marvis Frazier, convinced many that he was a sure thing for the world title. Tyson tore clean through Marvis, scoring the quickest KO of his entire professional career: 30 seconds.
Joe Frazier, father and trainer/manager of Marvis, was criticized for putting his son in with the great Larry Holmes, the fight lasting less than a round, and “Smokin’ Joe” got hit with additional criticism for letting his son fight the rampaging, unstoppable Tyson. But maybe Joe kind of knew what he was doing.
Marvis, a fine amateur boxer with notable skills, had lost to Holmes, sure. Still, he had also picked up good wins over good fighters such as James Tillis (we all know him for giving Tyson one heck of a tough fight), Bonecrusher Smith, and Jose Ribalta (these two also extending the peak Tyson).
Going into the fight with Tyson, Marvis had won six on the bounce. Tyson was 24-0, yet he had struggled with Tillis a year after Frazier had soundly outpointed “Quick,” and the young Tyson had also been forced to hear the final bell in his May 1986 fight with Mitch Green. Might Marvis, with his skills and his pedigree, give Mike something to think about?
Well, no. Not a chance. Marvis never had any time to think. Tyson was on his man like a rash, like a cheap suit, like an unseen force of nature. Call it what you want, but poor Marvis never had a prayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87sAdIWWT_I
It was over, via a savage display in the art of landing the uppercut, in just half a minute. Never let it be said that the cunning partnership of Jim Jacobs, THE boxing historian of his time, and Bill Cayton, owner of THE finest boxing library in existence, didn’t know exactly what the plan was when it came to building Tyson up in the impressionable minds of young fans as well as older fight fans who should have known better: Tyson might well have done to Joe Frazier what he did to Marvis.
Yes, this line of thinking was given a seed of life back in July of 1986, and plenty of people bought into it (here’s an example: Des Lynam, a huge figure of sports presentation and announcing in the UK in the 1980s, once said of Tyson: “he’s been compared to Joe Frazier, but he’s much, much better than that.”)
Tyson really was something special back then, yet in time he would be exposed as a fighter who was great when on top but not so great at taking the hits. Still, it is tempting to wonder if, maybe, the prime Tyson might (I Express the word might) have gotten to the notoriously slow-starting Joe Frazier. Such a notion, such a bad idea, is nothing short of sacrilege to many fight fans. Yet for a short time, Mike Tyson was truly special
Both fights Big George stopped Joe KO fashion.
Tough to know on different nights everything clicks some other nights it’s not quite there
Huh? George kayode Joe twice. What are you talking about?
Yeah,I’m sorry but this is total bunkum,Joe was an infinitely tougher,better fighter than Marcus,Mike would have had to gone to war to beat Joe,if George foreman couldn’t ko Joe,there is no way in hell Mike could have
Big George did KO smoking Joe