How long was mike tyson heavyweight champion

A right over the top at the start of round two added more jelly to the legs of Berbick, as a flurry of punches sent the champion down for the first time. Berbick glanced anxiously across the ring as he took a standing eight count. He knew there was more of the same coming his way. Tyson threw a thumping body shot and two rights to the head as Berbick clung on the best he could, hoping to get to the end of the round. But another blow to his ribs saw Berbick drop his hands and a left hook finished the job.

Berbick went down in slow motion a split second after the punch had landed, as if his brain and legs were no longer on the same wavelength. Berbick tried his best to get to his feet, but his legs would not hold him up. Staggering across the canvas, legs turned to jelly, the champion twice fell, before referee Mills Lane ended the fight. The very definition of punch drunk. The sight of Berbick lurching from one side of the ring to the other became one of the defining memories of sport in the s.

The Tyson hype was justified. At 20 years and days, he had become the youngest heavyweight world champion in history. Talk turned to how he would unify the division. Tyson is now the only heavyweight in the world who matters. Tyson had made things a lot clearer. When Mike Tyson won 13 fights and his first world title in Mike Tyson starts as he means to go on against Trevor Berbick. David Jaco, 11 January , TKO first round Tyson started the year in typically crushing fashion, sending David Jaco to the canvas with a stinging left hand in the opening round of their fight in New York.

When Mike Tyson won 15 fights in his first year as a professional boxer. Read more. We'd love to hear from you. Hall of Famers. Mike Tyson Mike Tyson is a larger-than-life legend-- both in and out of the ring. All Rights Reserved. He had handled the careers of several successful boxers, including Patterson and Jose Torres, and he immediately recognized Tyson's promise as a contender, telling him, "If you want to stay here, and if you want to listen, you could be the world heavyweight champion someday.

The relationship between D'Amato and Tyson was more than that of a professional trainer and a boxer — it was also one of a father and son. D'Amato took Tyson under his wing, and when the year-old was paroled from Tryon in September , he entered into D'Amato's full-time custody.

D'Amato set a rigorous training schedule for the young athlete, sending him to Catskill High School during the day and training in the ring every evening. D'Amato also entered Tyson in amateur boxing matches and "smokers" — non-sanctioned fights — in order to teach the teen how to deal with older opponents. Tyson's life seemed to be looking up, but in , he suffered several personal losses.

That year, Tyson's mother died of cancer. I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it's crushing emotionally and personally. Tyson continued his schooling through private tutors while he trained for the Olympic trials. Tyson's showing in the trials did not promise great success, as he lost to Tillman, the eventual gold medalist.

After failing to make the Olympic team, D'Amato decided that it was time for his fighter to turn professional. The trainer conceived a game plan that would result in breaking the heavyweight championship for Tyson before the young man's 21st birthday. The year-old knocked Mercedes out in one round. Tyson's strength, quick fists and notable defensive abilities intimidated his opponents, who were often afraid to hit the fighter.

This gave Tyson the uncanny ability to level his opponents in only one round, and earned him the nickname "Iron Mike. The year was a successful one for Tyson, but it was not without its tragedies: On November 4, , his trainer and surrogate father, Cus D'Amato, died of pneumonia. Kevin Rooney took over for D'Amato and, less than two weeks later, Tyson continued his climb up the heavyweight rankings. He recorded his thirteenth knockout in Houston, Texas, and dedicated the fight to the man who had molded him into a professional.

Those close to Tyson say he never fully recovered from D'Amato's passing, attributing the boxer's future behavior to the loss of the man who had previously grounded and supported him. By , Tyson had garnered a record — 21 of the fights won by knockout. On November 22, , Tyson finally reached his goal: He was given his first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship.

Tyson won the title by a knockout in the second round. At the age of 20 years and four months, he surpassed Floyd Patterson's record to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

Tyson's success in the ring didn't stop there. He defended his title against James Smith on March 7, , adding the World Boxing Association championship to his list of victories. On August 1, he became the first heavyweight to own all three major boxing belts when he seized the International Boxing Federation title from Tony Tucker. Tyson stepped back into the ring with British boxer Frank Bruno on February 25, , in an effort to retain his world heavyweight title.

Tyson went on to knock out Bruno in the fifth round. Tyson's winning streak came to an end on February 11, , when he lost his championship belt to boxer Buster Douglas in Tokyo, Japan. Tyson, the clear favorite, sent Douglas to the mat in the eighth round, but Douglas came back in the tenth, knocking Tyson out for the first time in his career.

Discouraged but not ready to give up, Tyson recovered by knocking out Olympic gold medalist — and former amateur boxing adversary — Henry Tillman later that year. In another bout, he defeated Alex Stewart by a knockout in the first round. On March 26, , after nearly a year of trial proceedings, Tyson was found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviant sexual conduct.

Because of Indiana state laws, Tyson was ordered to serve six years in prison, effective immediately. Tyson initially handled his stint in prison poorly; he was found guilty of threatening a guard, adding 15 days to his sentence. That same year, Tyson's father died. The boxer didn't request leave to attend the funeral. On March 25, , after serving three years of his sentence, Tyson was released from the Indiana Youth Center near Plainfield, Indiana.

Tyson reached his peak during the s. He dominated the second half of the decade like few boxers before him.

For five years his fights were a string of almost uninterrupted KOs and technical knockouts, where the referee had to stop the fight because Tyson's opponent could not continue. Tyson's opponent in a February bout, journeyman Jesse Ferguson, was originally disqualified—for holding and clinching Tyson to avoid further punishment—giving Tyson the win.

After the referee stopped the fight, Tyson's corner protested, saying that the ruling would blemish the boxer's perfect KO record. Officials agreed and adjusted the ruling to TKO. He successfully defended his other titles and become the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Tyson scored two TKOs to remain the undisputed world heavyweight titleholder. After dominating the late s, Tyson lost the world heavyweight title early in when he was knocked out by James Douglas. After serving a three-year prison sentence for rape, Tyson made a comeback, winning an August bout against Peter McNeeley.