Mike Tyson Rise and Downward Spiral
[ad_1]
I was not alive to watch boxing greats like Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Joe Frazier, but I was alive to watch the rise and fall of Mike Tyson. My dad was a huge boxing fan and being in the military there were always get together’s on base for every big boxing match one of the first fights I remember seeing was the Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler in May of 1986. I only remember that fight because there were about 40 grown army soldiers outraged that after Hagler dominated for most of the 12 rounds the decision went to Leonard. I did not understand boxing and didn’t really care until later that year.
On November 22, 1986 me and my two other brothers went with my dad to his friends house to watch an up and coming boxer named Mike Tyson, he was fighting for the WBC title against Trevor Berbick. Before the fight started most of the guys were bragging how Berbick was going to mop the floor with the young Tyson. People had heard about Tyson but not many thought he could win the fight. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV with the other kids at the party playing with our G.I Joes waiting for the fight to start.
As they entered the ring to tap gloves and agree on a clean fight, when the cameras did up close shots of the fighters staring at each other Berbick looked like this was going to be a walk in the park. But Tyson had this grim reaper look on his face, and once the fight started Berbick face quickly changed to the expression of a deer in headlights. As Tyson started pounding Berbick with powerful body shots and quick combos it looked like Berbick was in fear of his life. Once the bell rang to signal the end of the first round everybody in the room was saying I cannot believe this kid is taking it to Berbick. As the second round started Tyson just went in for the kill and sent Berbick down to the canvas twice in the second round. Berbick tried to get up three times after the second knock down but there was no use, he didn’t know where he was and almost feel out of the ring.
From that moment on Mike Tyson became not only mine but millions of boxing fans favorite boxer to root for. Tyson was the first boxer to knock out Larry Holmes on his way to win 19 straight fights by knockouts with 12 being in the first round. As his fame began to grow his fighting skills started to go down from lack of proper training. He lost his championship belt to James “Buster” Douglas by a knockout in the tenth round in February of 1990 and his life was never the same after that.
In 1992 he was arrested and sent to prison for three years for sexually assaulting Desiree Washington. Once he was released he went back to boxing, he seem to be back on track until he lost to Evander Holyfield by an 11th round TKO in 1996. When the two fighters met up again for a much anticipated rematch, Tyson did the unthinkable and bit a piece of Holyfield’s ear off while they were tangled together on his way to be disqualified. After that Tyson became a reckless mess he ended up finishing his career with a professional boxing record of 50 wins, 44 knockouts, 6 loses, and 2 no contest.
As kid growing up watching Tyson rise and fall from greatness I wondered how someone so gifted could just throw it all away. Like many people I never really understood the craziness behind him, I just seen him as your normal rising star gone bad. It was not until my early twenty’s that I learned about Tyson harsh childhood. I was shocked to learn that he had been arrested 38 times by the age of thirteen. When he was sixteen his mother died and he was split up from his brother and sister, when he moved in with his boxing trainer Cus D’Amato in upstate New York. If D’Amato did not step in and help Tyson turn his life around he would of most likely been dead by the age of 18. Once Cus died Don King entered his life and forever changed Tyson to the crazy barbaric many people think of him as today.
Now that he is finally retired, Tyson is trying to make amends for all the bad things he did in his life, he knows that he will probably at some point mess up again but he is trying to change that. On May 26, 2009 Tyson’s daughter Exodus passed away from a freak treadmill incident. Tyson was not present when it happened, and still till this day does not want to know the full details of what happened. He knows if he finds out all the details his rage would come out against his ex-wife who was watching her at the time. For most people not knowing what really happened would just eat away at them. For Tyson not knowing is part of his healing process on his way to become a better man and role model for his kids.
[ad_2]
Source by Shamont Mazyck