The Mike Tyson of the Cus D’Amato, Jim Jacobs, Bill Cayton, and Kevin Rooney era was the real Mike Tyson, and he may have been the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time. His 35–0 record, his explosive knockouts, many of them in the first round, and the complete domination of his opponents, where he won 109 of 120 rounds fought, produced 35 fights that lasted less than three rounds on average. The Catskill slugger was ring smart, the sport’s most powerful puncher, and a superior defensive fighter as well. He was well spoken and polite to everyone, even during press conferences and interviews. He refused to get dragged into verbal confrontations with opposing boxers or their managers, instead letting his fists do the talking. And he was always concerned for the health of his opponent, frequently rushing across the ring to hug him at the end of the fight and to thank him for his effort.
Mike Tyson continued to fight for another 17 years after leaving his manager, Bill Cayton, for Don King following the Spinks fight, but he was never again the same man. His life inside the ring and outside the ring spiraled out of control, degenerating into a violent, vulgar spectacle that left him disgraced and broke. He lost all his titles to Buster Douglas in February 1990, and spent three years in prison for rape before staging a comeback in 1995. After four tune-up fights, including a victorious WBA Heavyweight Championship bout against Bruce Seldon, he met Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas on November 9, 1996, losing his WBA title on an 11th-round TKO. He was disqualified in the rematch with Holyfield when he bit the champion’s ear, lost a title fight to Lennox Lewis five years later, and retired from the ring after knockout losses to two nondescript fighters. His last fight was a six-round TKO loss at the hands of Kevin McBride in the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2005. He was 39 years old.
Tyson’s final career record was 50–6–2 with 44 knockouts. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 12, 2011, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time. Certainly the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” engineered the most brutal and exciting period in the history of professional boxing as he ran off 35 consecutive victories up to and including the Michael Spinks fight. His fights lasted just under three rounds, with 88 percent of his victories coming by way of a knockout, half of them electrifying first-round executions.
Mike Tyson’s record for his first 35 fights compares favorably with the top heavyweight champions, as shown in the appendix. His record is on par with that of George Foreman, who was also a devastating puncher, but in Tyson’s case, his 35 matches included seven with world champions or former world champions, while Foreman’s record did not include any world class boxers.