Today, Mike Tyson celebrates a milestone that looked unlikely when he was at his wildest—a 50th birthday.
This is a guy who first got noticed as a teenager, knocking dudes out at the Junior Olympic Games. He was a pro at 18, and continued rattling brains, first of nobodies, then journeymen and then legitimate contenders. By 20 he was the heavyweight champion of the world and five years later he lost it all after a rape conviction landed him jail.
But Tyson’s story if one of many ups and downs. After his release from prison, he regained the heavyweight title, but again self destructed when he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear. His career after fighting has followed the same pattern, swinging from bankruptcy to Broadway.
On the occasion of his 50th birthday, we look back at seven of the biggest, most brutal knockouts from the fighter who once called himself the “baddest man on the planet.”
1. September 5, 1985 vs. Michael Johnson
2. July 26, 1986 vs. Marvis Frazier
3. November 22, 1986 vs. Trevor Berbick
4. January 22, 1988 vs. Larry Holmes
5. June 27, 1988 vs. Michael Spinks
6. June 16, 1990 vs. Henry Tillman
7. Jan. 16, 1999 vs. Francois Botha