Mike Tyson or Iron Mike has cemented his place among boxing greats since the 1980s. He began his professional career at the age of 19, achieving 12 wins out of 19. He has been called ‘Kid Dynamite’ and the ‘baddest man on the planet’. Throughout Mike Tyson’s career, he has had a total of 50 victories. He has won Junior Olympic Championship gold medals against Joe Cortez in 1981, and Kelton Brown in 1982. 

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Some fight highlights of his career are: 

1. KO3, Buster Mathis, December 16, 1995

This was Tyson’s second fight, after his prison release, with the undefeated buster Mathis Jr. It was billed as a ‘tune-up’ of sorts for Mike. He landed a clean uppercut followed by another making Mathis fall backwards and the latter couldn’t beat the 10 counts to continue to fight. 

2. KO5, Francois Botha, January 1999

Mike showed why he was called the ‘baddest man on the planet’ in the fight with Francois Botha. This was his first fight after biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear. He emerged sporting a hat and a t-shirt that read ‘Be Real’. His facial expressions conveyed only business. It took him a bit longer than 5 rounds to knockout Botha. He mentioned it in an interview, “I knew I was going to knock him out”. 

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3. TK05, Frank Bruno, February 1989

Bruno and Tyson kept getting pushed back and postponed which led to a great build-up. The fight was supposed to happen in October 1988 but eventually happened in February the next year. Although Bruno knocked Mike in the first round, it didn’t take much time for Mike to turn the game around, setting off Bruno against the ropes and unleashing a bunch of right uppercuts. The referee ended the fight quickly. 

4. TK02, Trevor Berbick, November 1985

Twenty-year-old Mike was ranked the top fighter and held the WBA and WBC titles. In the faceoff between Mike and Berberick, the former dominated with his combination of moves before ending with a right hook in the second round. 

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5. TKO4, Larry Holmes, January 1988

‘When I grow up, I‘ll fight Holmes and I’ll get him back for you’, promised Mike to his mentor Ali who was mauled by Holmes while he was in a bad state. The 38-year-old Holme was influenced by a $3 million offer from Don King to face Tyson in a match. 

Tyson dropped Holme twice before the fight was called off and Holmes was knocked out for the first time in his entire career. Mike lived up to his promise made to Ali.