Mike Tyson has had an illustrious career full of fame, fortune, and ferocious knockouts, and today, 40 years ago, is when it all started.
Mike Tyson finished his professional career initially in 2005 after back-to-back losses to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, however came back once more almost 20 years later to face Jake Paul.
Tyson’s record sits at 50-7, and the heavyweight sensation has given fans a whole lot to look back on – from his ear-biting incident with Evander Holyfield to the time Tyson broke a gang leader’s eye socket, all the way to Iron Mike’s black-market pet tigers that he was forced to give up, or the appearance of Tyson in a Nintendo bestseller.
But all of this started on this day 40 years ago, when Tyson made his professional debut.
Mike Tyson began his career with statement knockout 40 years ago
At the age of 18, Tyson turned over from the amateur ranks to the professional game. Tyson had knocked out an amateur opponent in 8 seconds and was keen to see if his power would carry over in the big leagues.
In his debut on March 6th, 1985, Tyson was matched with 0-3 Hector Mercedes. It was this fight that became the start of a 19-fight-long knockout streak for Tyson, as he stopped Mercedes in the very first round.
Mercedes finished his career with a record of 1-10. Tyson had fifteen fights in this first year as a professional and would win the world title a little over a year and a half later.
Mike Tyson knocked out Joe Frazier’s son in 30 seconds
Tyson is often mentioned alongside the names of heavyweight greats such as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, but it is the son of the latter who fell victim to Tyson’s quickest knockout ever in the professional game.
Tyson fought Marvis Frazier in 1986, when Frazier was 16-1 and Tyson was 24-0. Frazier’s only other loss had been a first-round knockout to Larry Holmes.
Tyson came out aggressive as usual, with the commentators stating: “He comes out smokin’ like Marvis’ father Joe.”
The fight didn’t last long, and Marvis was stopped in just 30 seconds. Frazier retired with a record of 19-2.