What were you doing 35 years ago today, this when the fight dubbed “One And For All” went down at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City? Maybe you were there…….for all 91 seconds of action. It was of course the Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks fight; a fight that carried with it a super-fight boast. Maybe. As it turned out, no, not at all.
It was over in, well, you know how quickly, those 91 seconds arguably the most famous, and perhaps most derided, in heavyweight boxing history.
Tyson, not yet 22 years old and sporting a 34-0(30) ledger, against Spinks, who was a decade older and was sporting a 31-0(21) record. Tyson had of course burst onto the heavyweight division in the style of an all-consuming fire in 1985. Dubbed “Kid Dynamite,” Tyson, the prodigy of the late, great Cus D’Amato, had ripped the WBC/WBA/IBF titles from good fighters, yet the “Spinks Jinx” remained to be solved.
Spinks, who had ruled as the light-heavyweight king, and one of the very best at that, had shocked the world, and an ageing Larry Holmes, to become heavyweight champ the same year Tyson went pro. And Spinks had been in with some real killers in Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Dwight Muhammad Qawi. But against Tyson, something happened to Spinks. Going into the Tyson fight, Spinks was recognised as the lineal heavyweight champion. To some, Tyson had yet to fully rule the planet.
We’ve all heard the story of how, Butch Lewis, when going to the Tyson dressing room to inspect the gloves, witnessed, in graphic horror, the sight of Tyson punching holes in the wall. In the wall.
“And he was getting ready to fight my guy…..my little guy,” the always-colourful Lewis said numerous times when looking back.
Tyson was indeed angry. Going through some messy times with his wife, Robin Givens, Tyson was, according to the boxing experts, only happy when in the ring. This may have been so, but Tyson never allowed Spinks to get close to a smile as the warfare, such as it was, got underway.
Tyson, as agitated as he was special, dropped Spinks with a sickening right hand to the body just a minute in. Mere seconds later, Tyson decked Spinks with a left-right combo to the head. It was over. Spinks had been felled and Tyson was now the undisputed, no room for argument world heavyweight king.
As it turned out, Spinks never fought again, instead smartly investing and enjoying his $millions. Tyson was at his peak, as great as he would ever be. There was only one way to go, and that was down. It took time, almost two years, but sure enough Tyson was downed himself, in spectacular fashion, in February of 1990.
Yet on this day 35 years ago (phew! I was a teenager), “Iron Mike” looked just that, a veritable, unbendable piece of iron masquerading as a prizefighter.
