Sport's Defining Moments 4: Tyson Goes Down
There are a few options if you want to pinpoint the moment the myth of Mike Tyson, the baddest man on the planet, the most famous boxer in the world, died.
Some would argue with good reason it ended as soon as Buster Douglas shockingly stopped him in Tokyo in February 1990. But the myth lived on in some minds well beyond then. Some would point to his imprisonment for rape in 1992. But when he emerged from prison, many still believed he would sweep all before him. Surely it deserved to end when Evander Holyfield outfought and stopped him in their first bout in 1996, but many still thought Tyson would win the rematch. The rematch somehow served to enhance the myth, despite the fact that it's clear in retrospect that Tyson biting Holyfield's ear was an act of desperation from a beaten man.
Yes, in retrospect that Tyson was well, well finished by then, but somehow, five years later, his fight with Lennox Lewis seemed like it mattered. It still seemed possible that Mike Tyson might still have the fierceness in him to become Heavyweight Champion again. So, the day the myth of Mike Tyson really died was the day in 2002 when Lennox Lewis almost casually dismantled and stopped Tyson as if he was just any other overmatched foe. No complaints, no controversy.
Sure, there were further humiliations at the fists of journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride but, by that point, Tyson no longer mattered and no one was that surprised.
Lewis, laconic, relaxed, but so skilled and strong, emerged as the great heavyweight of the 90s, and in many eyes, the last great heavyweight. What they mean by that is the last great black Western heavyweight, of course. For Lewis-Tyson wasn't quite the last definitive heavyweight title bout - that came a year later, Lewis's last fight against Vitali Klitschko, which could have gone either way until a horrible eye injury for Klitschko saw Lewis emerge the victor.
Since then, interest in the heavyweight division has dwindled. There has been no great American hope, only European dominance, and really, only the remarkable Klitschkos. So much better than everyone else it's made it all a little boring. The younger Wladimir is a better boxer, the older Vitali the less vulnerable. The footage of him standing by, bemused, as a fight broke out in his first day in the Ukrainian parliament, is extraordinary. Pound for pound, were there no weapons, in the whole world, this would be the last man standing.
So the Klitschkos are great men, whose boxing legacy suffers only for their lack of Americanness and lack of rivals. Tyson may not be a great man, but he is still the most, or conceivably, second most famous boxer, or ex-boxer, on the planet, behind his most distinguished predecessor, Muhammad Ali.
Tyson in the late 80s seemed invincible and was genuinely terrifying. Terrifying to a boy reading about him in the paper 4000 miles away, terrifying to his opponents who he dispatched with unforeseen ferocity. These opponents were no joke. Trevor Berbick, Bonecrusher Smith, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes - a true great, Tyson demolished them all. The myth had a long way to fall because the myth was grounded in reality. There's a good chance that Tyson 1986-1989 was the most unstoppable heavyweight that ever lived. That's why the myth lived so long.
The 1990s (into the early 2000s) is distinguished by several defining heavyweight fights. There were a handful of meaningful heavyweights and most of them fought each other - Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Oliver McCall, even Frank Bruno - there were several classic fights. Holyfield and Bowe fought a classic series, then Holyfield looked they emerging as King when he dealt with Tyson, but it was Lennox Lewis who bested Holyfield, repaid his two shocking defeats to McCall and Hasim Rahman, and then summarily dealt with Tyson. Tyson was a whimpering wreck at the end, no longer the baddest man on the planet.
Lewis, in his career, beat everyone he could have - Bowe (in the amateurs), Bruno, Ruddock, McCall, Rahman, Holyfield, Tyson, Klitschko. He could do no more.
Tyson was the last heavyweight who shook the world, who everyone was talking about and, sure, maybe that was good for the division, but maybe he killed it too, as since his heyday, fine boxers, men of steel, without his unpredictable ferocity, have barely made a wave. No one pays much attention to the heavyweights these days. They won't till another Tyson emerges.
Some would argue with good reason it ended as soon as Buster Douglas shockingly stopped him in Tokyo in February 1990. But the myth lived on in some minds well beyond then. Some would point to his imprisonment for rape in 1992. But when he emerged from prison, many still believed he would sweep all before him. Surely it deserved to end when Evander Holyfield outfought and stopped him in their first bout in 1996, but many still thought Tyson would win the rematch. The rematch somehow served to enhance the myth, despite the fact that it's clear in retrospect that Tyson biting Holyfield's ear was an act of desperation from a beaten man.
Yes, in retrospect that Tyson was well, well finished by then, but somehow, five years later, his fight with Lennox Lewis seemed like it mattered. It still seemed possible that Mike Tyson might still have the fierceness in him to become Heavyweight Champion again. So, the day the myth of Mike Tyson really died was the day in 2002 when Lennox Lewis almost casually dismantled and stopped Tyson as if he was just any other overmatched foe. No complaints, no controversy.
Sure, there were further humiliations at the fists of journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride but, by that point, Tyson no longer mattered and no one was that surprised.
Lewis, laconic, relaxed, but so skilled and strong, emerged as the great heavyweight of the 90s, and in many eyes, the last great heavyweight. What they mean by that is the last great black Western heavyweight, of course. For Lewis-Tyson wasn't quite the last definitive heavyweight title bout - that came a year later, Lewis's last fight against Vitali Klitschko, which could have gone either way until a horrible eye injury for Klitschko saw Lewis emerge the victor.
Since then, interest in the heavyweight division has dwindled. There has been no great American hope, only European dominance, and really, only the remarkable Klitschkos. So much better than everyone else it's made it all a little boring. The younger Wladimir is a better boxer, the older Vitali the less vulnerable. The footage of him standing by, bemused, as a fight broke out in his first day in the Ukrainian parliament, is extraordinary. Pound for pound, were there no weapons, in the whole world, this would be the last man standing.
So the Klitschkos are great men, whose boxing legacy suffers only for their lack of Americanness and lack of rivals. Tyson may not be a great man, but he is still the most, or conceivably, second most famous boxer, or ex-boxer, on the planet, behind his most distinguished predecessor, Muhammad Ali.
Tyson in the late 80s seemed invincible and was genuinely terrifying. Terrifying to a boy reading about him in the paper 4000 miles away, terrifying to his opponents who he dispatched with unforeseen ferocity. These opponents were no joke. Trevor Berbick, Bonecrusher Smith, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes - a true great, Tyson demolished them all. The myth had a long way to fall because the myth was grounded in reality. There's a good chance that Tyson 1986-1989 was the most unstoppable heavyweight that ever lived. That's why the myth lived so long.
The 1990s (into the early 2000s) is distinguished by several defining heavyweight fights. There were a handful of meaningful heavyweights and most of them fought each other - Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Oliver McCall, even Frank Bruno - there were several classic fights. Holyfield and Bowe fought a classic series, then Holyfield looked they emerging as King when he dealt with Tyson, but it was Lennox Lewis who bested Holyfield, repaid his two shocking defeats to McCall and Hasim Rahman, and then summarily dealt with Tyson. Tyson was a whimpering wreck at the end, no longer the baddest man on the planet.
Lewis, in his career, beat everyone he could have - Bowe (in the amateurs), Bruno, Ruddock, McCall, Rahman, Holyfield, Tyson, Klitschko. He could do no more.
Tyson was the last heavyweight who shook the world, who everyone was talking about and, sure, maybe that was good for the division, but maybe he killed it too, as since his heyday, fine boxers, men of steel, without his unpredictable ferocity, have barely made a wave. No one pays much attention to the heavyweights these days. They won't till another Tyson emerges.
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