Mike Tyson began fighting at 12, by age 20 he had become the youngest Heavyweight champion of all time. He had great power, and more importantly GREAT management. Bill Cayton and Jim Jacobs had the public going absolutely gaga over their man, everybody wanted a peice of Mike Tyson. Why? Because he knocked out an aged Trevor Berbick in 2 rounds? He then beat former Light Heavyweight champ and current Heavyweight champ Michael Spinks by 1st round knockout. Spinks was undefeated at the time, but he was wearing kneepads to the fight, was old, and his ring walk looked like it was to the electric chair. Still Tyson had those hard, fast moving hands, and the world thought we had a new boxing hero. We didn't. 42 days into the 90's Tyson was knocked out by Buster Douglas in Japan. The world was shocked, and showed they get pleasure from being shocked, because Tyson was never anything remotely special again, and 17 years later he still draws more interest than anyone else who wears boxing gloves for a living.

 

After the knockout loss to Douglas, Tyson went further and further into darkness. In 1992 he was convicted of rape and sentenced to a 10 year prison term. He served 3 years and change, and was released in 1995. By this time Jim Jacobs had been long passed away, and Tyson and Cayton no longer worked together. Of course there are many factors that contributed to the person Tyson is, but those have been told to death. His marriage to Robin Givens was the medias dream come true. Of course that marriage was short and sour, but there are lots of marriages like that. It wasn't Tyson who created this media monster, it was the public.

 

This is and has been the MTV generation for roughly 20 years. Mike Tyson has lost 6 fights. He was knocked out in 5 of those, and quit in the other one by biting Evander Holyfields ear. To be honest, he quit in 5 of the 6 knockout losses, he just had to do it a different way in the rematch with Holyfield. Douglas knocked him to Pluto for sure. But Tyson knew he wasn't going to beat Holfield by the time he packed it in. Lennox Lewis slapped Tyson around like a pimp. Tyson looked like a confused baby while sitting and watching the referee count him out against Danny Willams. His last official bout was a knockout loss to Kevin McBride(Brockton, MA). So why does the MTV generation care so much about Tyson still? He was good at a time when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were good too.

 

Oscar De La Hoya is the most popular fighter in the sport right now. He says he will fight once more, and then retire. As popular as De La Hoya is, he isn't nearly the draw that Mike Tyson was. If Mike Tyson were to come back and beat a....let's say Shannon Briggs, he would for certain be the biggest draw again. But Mike can't beat many pro fighters anymore. He is doing a "World Tour" right now, fighting 4 round exhibitions. The simple fact that he can do that and make money off of it speaks volumes about the interest that the public has for him. How many people do you think would turn out for Evander Holyfield if he were to do the same thing......and he is and was clearly the much better fighter. Tyson said things that were perverse(he said he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis' kids, he wanted to fornicate with a female reporter, he said he would penetrate a male reporter til that male reporter "loved him", he said he step on a reporters childrens genitals), he said crazy and obscene things, and he is who the public is interested in the most.

 

For boxing to move on, and to get out of the funk it's gotten itself into, it has to showcase guys that let their fists do the talking.....in the ring. Because of Tysons sideshow, we now have to find someone like Nicolai Valuev to quench the publics thirst for the unusual. The only real way to get things straight would be for promoters to start doing their job and promoting. Put good fights on and then promote them. Instead promoters would rather get a few local guys that can't fight very well, put them on a show, and have them sell 300 tickets each. The promoter then has to get a stiff for these guys so that they under no circumstances lose their bout. And what you get is a bad card, with bad fights, and fans who no longer have interest in the sport and aren't going to pay 40 dollars to watch it ever again...............unless it's Tyson.