Continuing with the previous part, this time follow me through the remaining spectacular matches of Mike Tyson to see his journey to becoming a legend, let’s go.

7. Trevor Berbick

There wasn’t a moment during this fight that Tyson looked like he’d take a back seat. Twenty years old at the time, he was the top-ranked fighter and held the WBA and WBC heavyweight titles. Berbick was Tyson’s challenger for the WBC title, though he didn’t really have a chance. Mike sent Berbick to the canvas twice during the fight, dominating with combination moves before ending him with a right hook in the second round.

Date: 22 November 1986
Location: Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Pre-fight record: 28-0
KO Round: 2nd

8. Frank Bruno

Reminiscent of some of the fights we see today, Bruno and Tyson kept getting pushed back and postponed, which led to a great deal of build-up. The fight was initially supposed to take place in October but didn’t end up taking place until February the following year. Bruno shocked Tyson out of the gate, almost knocking down Mike in the first round. It didn’t take much time for Tyson to turn it around, putting Bruno against the ropes and the unleashing a series of right uppercuts. The referee ended the fight instantly.

Date: 25 February 1989
Location: Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Pre-fight record: 36-0
KO Round: 5th

9. Francois Botha

In this fight, Mike demonstrated why he was the baddest man on the planet. This might be the greatest example of why Tyson’s fights were more than a spectacle. His first fight back after biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear, the pre-fight introductions started with Mike emerging to DMX’s ‘It’s Dark And Hell is Hot’ while sporting a hat and t-shirt that read ‘Be real’. The look on his face said everything, he meant business. It took him a bit longer than he’d like (5 rounds) to knockout out Botha but as he said in a post-match interview, “I knew I was going to knock him out. It was just a matter of time”.

Date: 16 January 1999
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Pre-fight record: 46-3
KO Round: 5th

10. Carl Williams

Carl Williams and Mike Tyson were familiar with each other. They spent some time in their youth sparing,  where Williams was showed he was able to control Tyson with a sharp jab and occasional right cross. This time around it was a different Carl Williams and a very, very different Mike Tyson. A controversial knockout, Mike snuck a punch when he moved his head to the left and then countered Williams with a left hook straight to the jaw caught Williams on the jaw. The hook sent the challenger down to the canvas, the referee took one look at Williams and the fight was stopped.

Date: 21 July 1989
Location: Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Pre-fight record: 37-0
KO Round: 1st

11. Clifford Etienne

Tyson’s 50th and final victory came during a murky point of his career. The fight was billed as ‘back to business’, coming off Tyson’s final title contest loss against Lennox Lewis months prior. It was pretty evident that Tyson was missing something at this stage of his career, but he hadn’t lost his aggression. Etienne swung for Tyson with a left-jab right-hand combo that missed the mark and Tyson capitalised with a left hand that missed before finishing Etienne with a right hand that sent him onto the canvas.

Date: 22 February 2003
Location: The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Pre-fight record: 50-4
KO Round: 1st

12. Buster Mathis Jr.

This was Mike’s second fight since returning from Prison. It was billed as a bit of a ‘tune-up’ of sorts for Mike to make a proper run at the Heavyweight Championship. Mathis comes out of the gate strong, making a concerted effort to smother Tyson. This was short lives, and Iron Mike sent him packing with an uppercut in the third round.

Date: 16 December 1995
Location: CoreStates Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Pre-fight record: 43-1
KO Round: 3rd

13. Tony Tubbs

This fight was a mere step up of sorts for Tyson’s world title tour. It saw Tyson with a 33-0 (29 KO’s) record match up against Tubbs 24-1 (15 KO’s). A bit of a slugfest at first, Tubbs did a decent job at landing a couple of jabs on Tyson and protecting himself by keeping his gloves up for much of the contest. Unfortunately for Tubbs, by the second round, the stomach hits started to show their effect. Tubbs desperately sent combos at Tyson before he got caught lacking, opening up a chance for Mike to send a left hook his way. The challenger stumbled for a moment before falling onto the canvas.

Date: 21 March 1988
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Pre-fight record: 33-0
KO Round: 2nd