Mike Tyson Crashes the Party

Brookyln-born on June 30, 1966, Tyson's mother died when he was 16. He was routinely in trouble with the law as a boy, having been arrest 38 times by the age of 13 for various petty crimes. Spied as a potentially talented figher in reform school, he caught the eye of boxing guru Cus D'Amato, the same man who guided Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres to world championships. In his teens, he was trained by D'Amato and his two proteges, Kevin Rooney and Teddy Atlas (Atlas had a turbulent relationship with Tyson, and left D'Amato's school when Tyson was 15). Abandoned by his father in early childhood, when Tyson's mother died when he was 16, D'Amato became his guardian and effective father-figure.

Tyson had some experience as an amateur, but his style was never well-suited to competition there. He lost on two separate occassions to Henry Tillman, who would go on to win Gold at the Los Angeles Olympics, but Tyson would destroy as a professional.

Tyson turned pro in March 1985. D'Amato died in November, leaving the 21 year old Tyson's career in the hands of Kevin Rooney and the management team of Bill Cayton and Jim Jacobs. He fought very frequently in 1985 and 1986, sometimes twice in the same month. Being in the gym and in the ring all the time focused Tyson's attention and kept him out of trouble. On his rise to his first title shot, he won 27 fights with 25 knockouts, 16 coming in the 1st Round. These wins included a decision over James "Quick" Tillis and a knockout of tough journeyman Jesse "The Boogeyman" Fergusson.

"Iron" Mike Tyson's boxing style has often been misunderstood by the observer on the street. Standing 5'10" and with a reach of only 71", the basis of Tyson's ferocious attack was a sound defense. Simply put, every heavyweight Tyson was likely to face would have height and reach on him. To get around jabs and minimize the hits he would have to take on the way in, Tyson developed superlative head movement and fought from a high guard, "peek-a-boo" position (both gloves planted firmly in front of this face). The was the foundation for the combination punching that Tyson employed, using fast hands and his famed hitting power to fire of several bombs in succession. A fit Tyson weighed 218lbs, making him a squat, powerful man.

Feasting on the Lost Generation

Desite his formidible talents, Tyson's rise was so easy that many continue to see him (wrongly) as having been invincible in the mid-to-late 1980s. The truth is that Tyson was a great puncher who blasted his way through the wreckage of a class of undermotivated or coked-up aging heavyweights collectively known as the "Lost Generation."

Tyson was young and exciting, however, and soon found himself at the center of a push by HBO to crown a new heavyweight champion. This started in November 1986 with WBC ChampionTrevor Berbick . Tyson crushed him in 2 Rounds, hitting Berbick so hard that Berbick tried to get up and fell twice. With this, Tyson became the youngest man to ever win a heavyweight championship (supplanting fello D'Amato fighter Floyd Patterson), aged 20.

5 months later this was followed by a unification bout with WBA belt holderJames "Bonecrusher" Smith , who clinched and clutched for dear life, losing a rather dull 12 Round decision. Afterwards came a 6 Round demolition of Pinklon Thomas . Tyson said afterwards "Every shot was thrown with bad intentions. I was hoping he would get up so I could hit him again and keep him down," contributing to his fearsome image.

In August 1987, Tyson unified the title by beating an undefeated Tony Tucker , the IBF champion. Tucker opened the fight with an uppercut that lifted Tyson off the canvas, and held his own for a few rounds after that before breaking his right hand. Tucker boxed with one hand and survived the fight, but lost it. Tyson now had all three belts and stood as Undefeated, Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.

The Baddest Man on the Planet

Tyson followed being crownd "the man" by knocking out 1984 Super Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs. Afterwards, Tyson commented on how he wanted to beat Biggs slowly, so Biggs would remember it. He opened 1988 by fighting a rusty and 38 year old Larry Holmes. Holmes, being far from his glory days, was trashed in 4 Rounds. Then Tyson traveled to Japan and demolished flabby contender Tony Tubbs in 2 Rounds (Tyson, recently married to Robin Givins, had his honeymoon in Japan).

This led to a showdown with former Light Heavyweight and "linear" Heavyweight champion Michael Spinks. Spinks had beaten Holmes for the IBF title, but was stripped for chosing a big money fight with Gerry Cooney over a bout with #1 contender Tony Tucker. Thus, he had not lost the title in the ring, and was considered by many purists to still be "the man who beat the man." Both men were undefeated, Spinks was 31, and Tyson just 3 days short of 22. Tyson applied pressure, immediately put Spinks onto his heels, and dropped him with a hard right to the body. Spinks got up, but was smashed by a right to the head. Knocking out Spinks in 1:31 of the 1st Round remains widely considered to be Tyson's defining performance, and the peak of his career.

Sources: Only in America; boxrec.com; ESPN; YouTube