Mike Tyson let out his frustration in the dressing room before demolishing a former world champion in an all-time great knockout.
The all-time great heavyweight fighter was in his prime coming into 1988.
Mike Tyson had unified the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles with a streak of dominant knockouts, including against Larry Holmes, whom he promised Muhammad Ali he’d beat for him.
However, he had just one title left to collect and made short work of The Ring champion in their 91-second encounter at Trump Plaza.
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Mike Tyson earned a record purse for his 91-second knockout of Michael Spinks
Tyson’s biggest payday of his career up to that point came for his 1988 destruction of Michael Spinks.
The pair faced off on June 27, 1988, billed as the “Once and For All” fight. It was a massive fight, and is said to be the richest in boxing history at the time.
Both men came into this fight as undefeated world champions, the first time that had happened since Ali vs Joe Frazier, so interest in the fight was massive.
Spinks’ team tried to get into Tyson’s head, but their mind games just ended in Tyson punching holes in his dressing room wall and getting even angrier for the bout.
If there’s one thing you don’t need across the ring from you, it’s an angry Tyson.
He took out his pre-fight rage on the unsuspecting Spinks, who had no defense against the undefeated world champion.
After just 91 seconds, Tyson finished off Spinks with a 1-2 combination, ending his night in quick fashion to add more title belts to his collection.
Tyson earned huge sums for the fight, more than any other bout in history. Reports claim that the bout grossed $70 million, with Tyson earning a then-record sum of $22 million.
Not bad for a minute and a half’s work for “Iron Mike”.
Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson just two years later in the biggest upset of all time
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, although nobody expected it to be at the hands of a 42-1 underdog at the Tokyo Dome in 1990.
The undefeated champion and one of boxing’s most dangerous men scored another quick KO against Carl Williams just before this bout.
However, it all came to an end against #7 ranked heavyweight fighter, Buster Douglas, in a shocking result that reverberated across the world.
Douglas used his jab to stop Tyson getting inside and unleashing his fury, and wasn’t afraid to get into a boxing match with the champion.
His dominance with the left hand to keep Tyson at bay was impressive enough. Even more impressive was when Douglas knocked out Tyson in the tenth round.
A series of jabs followed by an outrageous uppercut almost sent Tyson into the air, as the champion crumpled onto the canvas, his gum shield hanging out of his mouth as the referee counted to ten.
Tyson’s fight with Douglas was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history and marked the end of Tyson’s dominance over the sport.