Mike Tyson: The Twilight Years

Mike Tyson: The Twilight Years

At one time the boxing life of Mike Tyson had stability. Cus D’Amato, Kevin Rooney, Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton you sensed all had the best interests of Tyson at heart. But one by one, for different reasons, they all left the fold. If they had stayed, or at least some of them had stayed, then the story of Mike Tyson could have turned out very differently. We’ll never know for sure, but perhaps Tyson, who always seemingly had his finger on the self-destruction button, would probably have suffered the same fate.

The untimely death of both D’Amato and Jacobs were unavoidable departures from the Tyson inner circle, but Cayton and Rooney leaving the boxing family could and should have been avoided. Tyson was closer to D’Amato and Jacobs, and once they had sadly departed Cayton and Rooney were always vulnerable to the circling vultures and the whispering in Tyson’s ear that grew too loud for the vulnerable world heavyweight champion to ignore. Relative stability was replaced by incompetence and chaos.

The downfall of Tyson was always likely in many ways, even with the full quota and the steady hands from the early years. Cash and plenty of it had silenced and covered up early discretions and the upbringing and temperament of Tyson would you suspect have risen to the surface regardless of who was at the helm. But when the steadying hands and calming voices had gone, so did the chances of Tyson safely navigating those troubled waters.

The defeat to the 42-1 no-hoper James ‘Buster’ Douglas in Tokyo had been coming. Maybe the only shock was that it had taken so long to come. Inside the ring Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, outside of it, his world was falling down around him. The familiar voices were gone, and his personal life was anything but private. His troubled marriage to the actress Robin Givens crumbled in the full glare of public scrutiny. The fighter who destroyed Michael Spinks inside a round looked like a thing of the past when he was wobbled by Frank Bruno in their first meeting in 1989 and struggled to finish a brave but limited Bruno. Despite the admirable efforts of the British challenger, the suspicion was that Bruno wouldn’t have lasted that long against the Tyson of previous years.

Rooney was removed from the Tyson inner circle after the Spinks fight, and despite multiple replacements, nobody quite filled the void left by Rooney. Tyson was always a lesser fighter without Rooney. The first fight with Bruno was evidence of that. More convincing evidence would come to light as the years advanced. Although Tyson more than contributed to his own demise.

Tyson was only 23 but was never ever the same after his humbling night in Japan. The aura of invincibility had gone, and he never came close to getting it back. But the Tyson myth was always built on less than solid foundations. The win and the manner of the one-round demolition of Spinks in 1988 were predictable in many ways. As was the similar win over Marvis Frazier many years earlier. The manner of those victories was admittedly terrifying in their execution, but in some ways, they flattered to deceive. As did much of his reign as the heavyweight champion of the world.

The 80s era of heavyweights had talented fighters, but most of that talent was wasted in the politics of the time and the demons that most of those fighters had to battle. Tyson beat the likes of Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs and others when they were a shell of the fighters they once were or could have been. That early win streak was clouded, as good as Tyson was, he was definitely in the right place at the right time. At his peak, there wasn’t a dance partner to truly test just how good Tyson was.

The former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield was the supposed next in line if Tyson hadn’t fallen in Tokyo. But even Holyfield was viewed as a mere formality for a Tyson who was perceived to be unbeatable at the time. Holyfield would eventually prove that point was a little off the mark.

Tyson would try to rebound after suffering his first professional defeat, but something was missing. The two fights with the big-punching Canadian Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock told us that. The rape conviction put the career in cold storage for three years plus, and those lost years took away what was left of his prime years. When he returned, despite having another run as the world heavyweight champion, Tyson was struggling in many different ways. Two comeback wins over Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr in 1995 proved nothing. But fresh out of prison and four years out of the sport Tyson could be afforded the luxury of a few easy nights.

The victory over Frank Bruno to reclaim the WBC heavyweight title looked as though Tyson was back to the brutality of old. But Bruno was fighting many things that night, and Tyson again was in the right place at the right time. Bruce Seldon was relieved of his WBA bauble with little effort on both sides. Normal service looked to have resumed until an old rival unexpectedly resurfaced to ruin many things.

When Holyfield belatedly got his opportunity at Tyson, the cloak of invincibility was again removed. The genuine fears for Holyfield’s health pre-fight were replaced by shock as Tyson was dominated for the majority of the fight before being stopped in the 11th round. It was viewed as one of the biggest shocks in heavyweight history. Holyfield was viewed as washed up after some recent uninspiring and in truth, worrying performances. But once Holyfield had survived an early scare, it was a matter of when and not if Tyson would fall. Holyfield, you suspect would always have beaten Tyson regardless of when they had fought.

The rematch ended in disgraceful scenes when defeat was seemingly inevitable, Tyson decided to take a chunk out of Holyfield’s ear and was quite rightly thrown out of the fight and indeed boxing for a period of time once again. The fall from grace was almost complete.

Trouble was never far away as his career wound down. Tyson went on the rampage at a press conference for his upcoming fight with Lennox Lewis in 2002 and nearly lost the fight as a consequence. When it did happen, if there was any doubt the Tyson era was over, that fight confirmed it. Lewis did a number on Tyson, who was no longer the marauding fighter of old. But as with Holyfield, any version of Tyson would almost certainly have come up short against Lewis.

The career of Mike Tyson wound down with two defeats to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. The final fight with the unheralded McBride in 2005 was beyond pitiful and despite what came before it was a sad end to the career of a fighter who was once the hottest ticket in town.

It is difficult to gauge just how good Tyson was, or indeed, could have been. There were periods of his career lost through his rape conviction and his ban from boxing following the infamous rematch with Holyfield. But the decline had long since set in. Tyson came along when the heavyweight ranks and indeed boxing itself needed him the most. Tyson was unlucky in many respects, he came along when his division was perhaps at its weakest. Ali had Frazier and Foreman, but Tyson had nobody in comparison. Maybe that played at least some part in his demise, as inevitable as it was. But it certainly helped in building the formidable reputation he had in the early years when he stormed through the heavyweight ranks in blistering fashion. The time after Tokyo was largely surrounded by the unsavoury, in truth, many of the early years were also. But love or hate him, Mike Tyson is an important figure in boxing history, even if there were many many heavyweights who would have beaten him.

Tyson once said, “I’m addicted to perfection. Problem with my life is I was always also addicted to chaos. Perfect chaos.” That quote probably sums up the life and career of Tyson better than anyone else ever could.