![]() ![]() He was simply a 23-year-old kid, made of flesh, bone and blood, who would rather have stayed in bed that morning.Īt that point, the 42-1 odds weren’t just lopsided. On that day, Mike Tyson wasn’t Iron Mike or Kid Dynamite or any of the many superhero-type nicknames that were being affixed to him when it seemed to the world that this was one man who could never be beaten. When I watch the tape of that fight, nearly three decades later, I can see every one of those emotions in Tyson’s face as he heads to the ring to take his beating. He missed his home, felt distracted and unfocused during training camp, and just really did not feel like fighting that morning because of the time difference, the first bell rang just about noon on a Sunday in Tokyo. He didn’t particularly like being in Japan for all that time. ![]() (SADAYUKI MIKAMI / ASSOCIATED PRESS)īut years ago, Tyson relayed to me his reasons for why he thinks he lost that fight in Tokyo. As tough as it is to win the heavyweight title, it’s even tougher to maintain the mental and physical discipline to hold onto it.ĭouglas would not hold the title long. When Holyfield knocked him out with a single right uppercut in the third round, Douglas seemed more relieved than aggrieved. By the time he made his first defense, against Evander Holyfield the following October, he had signed a (for the time) huge deal with Vegas hotelier Steve Wynn, been robbed of $4 million in a nuisance lawsuit brought by Don King and Donald Trump, who claimed they had the rights to a Tyson rematch, and ballooned to 246 pounds, 11 more than he weighed the night he fought Tyson, by fight night. James (Quick) Tillis, Mitch (Blood) Green, Bonecrusher Smith and Tony Tucker all showed the cracks in Tyson’s armor but did not have the self-belief to split them wide open.Īnd luckily for Tyson, he did not run into the fighter who did until he had been champion for more than three years and made nine title defenses.Īs for Douglas, he couldn’t even hold it together for nine months. (Tsugufumi Matsumoto / AP)īut there were signs along the way that Tyson was vulnerable in a variety of ways, though only to a fighter who entered the ring without having already beaten himself with fear and self-doubt. ![]() Tyson was always vulnerable, but only to a man who had conquered his fears. ![]() This seemed to jump out in neon lights after Douglas dismantled Tyson in 10 mostly one-sided rounds that night. All else being equal, the difference in most world-class fights lies between the ears, and on that night, Iron Mike was no match for Douglas’ will of steel.īut at the time Tyson defended his title against Douglas, many of us, myself included, labored under the delusion that Tyson was some kind of superman, impervious to fear, pain, frustration or exhaustion, although he had already shown us many signs that he was quite susceptible to all four. Flesh, bone and blood, all of which sustain damage and process pain pretty much the same way. That’s because although boxing is less random than any other sport – terrible decisions aside, there are no bad hops or missed penalties to skew the outcome, and at its top levels the so-called “lucky punch’’ does not exist - everyone who steps into the ring is made of the same stuff. Tyson lost in 10 mostly one-sided rounds. ![]()
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