Setting up his first world championship shot, Mike Tyson did so on the same card as the man who caused the biggest upset in boxing history with a hellacious knockout win.
Yet to face off with Trevor Berbick in his history-making WBC heavyweight championship win, Mike Tyson was pitted against a former cruiserweight champion in his warm-up fight for gold.
And sharing a star-studded card in the process, Tyson featured on the undercard as Michael Spinks’ IBF and The Ring heavyweight title fight against Steffan Tangstad.
But also on that same card, was another familiar foe of Tyson, who himself prevailed with a hard-fought decision win after ten rounds.
Mike Tyson stopped Alfonso Ratliff on same card as Buster Douglas’ return
Making his 27th walk to the ring, Tyson would be pitted opposite Alfonso Ratliff, who had previously won the WBC cruiserweight belt with a split decision win over Carlos De León in 1985.
And on this day in 1986, Tyson would earn himself that elusive first heavyweight title fight against Berbick with a punishing second-round knockout win over Ratliff.
Dropping the Mississippi native in the second round of their clash, Tyson would again fell Ratliff in the same frame, this time unleashing a massive combination with his foe pinned at the ropes, finishing with a patented left hook right uppercut.
Turning in his 25th career knockout win in the process, Tyson would fight first on the card before both Spinks — the defending champion, and the above-mentioned Douglas, whom he is all too familiar with.
Mike Tyson’s shock knockout loss to Buster Douglas
Embarking on a remarkable 37-fight spree to begin his career, back in 1990, Tyson travelled to Japan to take on emerging challenger Douglas in a perceived routine win for the Catskills striker.
Having already defended WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight titles at that stage of his career, Tyson was a notable favorite to topple Douglas in their clash at the Tokyo Dome.
However, in what is widely regarded as the biggest upset in combat sports history, Tyson would be stopped in the tenth round by Douglas, with the image of the New Yorker fumbling with his mouthpiece before the loss on the canvas cemented in the annals of boxing history.