Mike Tyson
“Iron Mike / Kid Dynamite”
Titles & honours
- Undisputed Heavyweight Champion (1987–1990)
- Youngest heavyweight champion in history (20 years 4 months)
Biography
Michael Gerard Tyson, born Brooklyn, New York in 1966, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 years 4 months by stopping Trevor Berbick in November 1986. Trained by Cus D'Amato in the peek-a-boo style — deep crouch, constant head movement, explosive in-and-out — Tyson's combination of speed, power, and aggression made the late-1980s heavyweight division feel obsolete. He unified the WBA / WBC / IBF titles in 1987-88 and reigned undisputed for 3 years and 8 months. A series of personal catastrophes — D'Amato's death in 1985, the firing of Kevin Rooney in 1988, marriage to Robin Givens, the 1992 rape conviction (3 years in prison) — derailed his prime. He held the WBA / WBC titles again from 1996 but lost to Evander Holyfield twice (the second fight a DQ for biting Holyfield's ear) and to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Retired 2005 at age 39.