Boxing fans may have a hard time picking their favorite Mike Tyson knockout because his highlight reel is so long.
From ‘Iron Mike’ starting his career with a knockout streak to Tyson’s final stoppage as a champion, incredible power is something he has always possessed.
From his famous left hook to combinations of punches, there is a variety in the types of stoppages Tyson delivered. However, in terms of a personal favourite, one stood above the rest for ‘Iron Mike’.
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Mike Tyson’s stoppage over Larry Holmes is his favorite knockout
Although Teddy Atlas named Tyson vs Trevor Berbick as his favorite knockout of the former champion, Tyson himself went for a different option.
In an interview alongside MMA star Francis Ngannou, who fought Tyson Fury, for Complex, the two fighters were asked to name their favorite knockouts.
Tyson seemingly did not hesitate when answering the question: “My favorite knockout is Larry Holmes.”
The fighter then added that this is due to Tyson wanting to get revenge for Muhammad Ali. “Listen, when I was a young kid, he fought Muhammad Ali in 1980. He kicked Ali’s —, real bad! So I wanted to get revenge for Ali.”
“I was 14 and I said, I want to avenge Ali.”
As for former UFC star Ngannou’s choice, he picked his knockout over Alistair Overeem in 2017.
Mike Tyson knocked out Larry Holmes in 1988 in the fourth round
As a defending champion, Tyson was able to stop Larry Holmes for the first time in his career. Although Holmes feels he could have knocked out Tyson had his hand not gotten caught on the rope, he was bested by ‘Iron Mike.’
The two fought in January 1988 in Atlantic City as a 21-year-old Tyson was a defending, unified champion.
Holmes had lost to Michael Spinks in his last two outings and was looking to once again become a world heavyweight champion.
‘The Easton Assassin’ would not become a world champion again after losing to Tyson. This was due to failed title attempts against Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall.