The great, the fascinating, the exciting and the controversial boxing career of Mike Tyson officially ended today – in Washington DC of all places. Tyson was an ageing, past his best former champ in June of 2005, fighting only for money, yet it was still one huge shocker when the somewhat clumsy, somewhat unheralded, somewhat slow and lumbering Kevin McBride forced the 39 year old to quit on his stool after six rounds.
Tyson lost for the sixth time 12 years ago today, his former greatness seemingly an eternity ago. But say what you want about Tyson: it was almost always a stunner when he lost a fight. Of the six losses he suffered, all of them coming inside the distance, only “Iron Mike’s” 2002 loss to Lennox Lewis was expected (but even here Tyson had many people convinced he would win, hence the massive financial success of the fight – one everyone wanted to see).
Tyson was so destructive, so intimidating, so fast and powerful that nobody – absolutely nobody – expected him to lose to James Douglas, Evander Holyfield, Danny Williams and “Clones Colossus” McBride. When he did lose these fights, the shock factor reverberated around the world; so celebrated and, even in his later years, revered was Tyson.
The loss that Tyson suffered at the end of his career just might have been the biggest shock, or to be more accurate, the most depressing loss suffered by a fighter who once seemed to have all-time greatness about him. Douglas was a good, solid pro, Holyfield is an all-time great, and Williams did have speed and proven power. McBride might have been big and strong, but no way did he have the tools needed to ever beat Tyson, not even a shot version.
But, to McBride’s credit, he somehow did it. If Tyson had flattened McBride as everyone felt he would, he would likely have fought on. But Tyson was no longer fighting out of choice or for pride and he knew it. It just took the most humbling loss of his career to convince the former “Baddest Man on The Planet” that the charade was over.
Raise a glass of Guinness to Kevin McBride today, as commentator “Colonel” Bob Sheridan did on this day a dozen years ago.