Mike Tyson is perhaps the most famous knockout artist of all time across combat sports as he earned 44 stoppage victories in his career.
Tyson has stoppage wins over the likes of Larry Holmes, Frank Bruno, and Trevor Berbick, as he is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
In 2003, Tyson stopped Clifford Etienne in under one minute, in what turned out to be the final knockout win of ‘Iron Mike’s’ career.
Despite Tyson being renowned for his power, one boxing expert believes that ‘Iron Mike’s’ knockout reputation came from one fight.
Jim Lampley feels that Mike Tyson’s win over Marvis Frazier created a myth of ‘Iron Mike’s’ knockout ability
Veteran boxing commentator Jim Lampley was a recent guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he spoke about watching the career of Tyson.
As Joe Rogan said that one of his favorite fights of ‘Iron Mike’s’ was Tyson’s knockout of Marvis Frazier, Lampley began to recall the time when the fight took place.
Reminiscing on the fight, Lampley said that he felt, “Marvis froze on the Friday,” ahead of his meeting with Tyson. “Marvis was frozen.”
Fighting in 1986, Tyson took just 30 seconds to knock out Joe Frazier’s son in New York, as he improved his record to 25-0.
Speaking on the knockout, Lampley said, “It helped to create what ultimately became the myth of Mike Tyson. The notion that he was going to knock everybody out in that way.”
The sports broadcaster went on to say that this reputation was the reason why Tyson was a huge favorite in his shock loss to James ‘Buster’ Douglas. However, Lampley felt that the odds were skewed for the famous fight, “No way in the world should Mike Tyson be a 42 to one favorite against Buster Douglas.”
Having watched Tyson through the years, Lampley went on to say that “Mike was a boxing genius,” which was a key element to his success.
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Mike Tyson’s loss to Buster Douglas ended a 37-fight unbeaten run
When Tyson met Douglas in 1990, the bout in Tokyo would result in one of the most famous upsets in boxing history.
With a remarkable 37-0 record, a 23-year-old Tyson was seemingly unbeatable, as he reigned as the youngest-ever world heavyweight champion.
An unsuspecting 28-4-1 record for Douglas would see him priced as such an underdog, however, he defied the odds.
Although Douglas himself was knocked down in the bout, he was able to land his own knockout blow to Tyson. In the 10th round, Tyson would taste defeat for the first time as he was stopped in Japan.