Today in 1987, a peaking Mike Tyson unified all three world heavyweight titles: the WBC/WBA and IBF belts being his property after a perhaps tougher than expected 12-round points win over a skilled Tony Tucker. Tyson was still not THE absolute and undisputed heavyweight king, as Michael Spinks, the undefeated former 175-pound king who had moved up in weight to shock Larry Holmes two years earlier, was still the lineal ruler.
Of course, a rampaging “Iron” Mike left no doubt as to who the number-one dominant heavyweight champion was in June of ’88, less than a year after his win over Tucker, when he famously iced a terrified-looking Spinks in just 91-seconds. Will we ever again see one fighter clean up and unify the heavyweight division the way Tyson did? Lennox Lewis, who retired in 2003, was the last undisputed heavyweight champion, and with the sheer number of belts around today – be it “super,” “regular,” or “interim,” it really does look like a near-impossible task for one man to hold every single belt.
For even if there was one dominant-looking heavyweight who was willing to take on each and every one of his rival claimants to the heavyweight titles, getting the fights made would prove very difficult. The WBA tournament, designed to crown just one fighter as the organisation’s heavyweight ruler, could make things less complicated. Right now, there are three different versions of the WBA belt alone, with Tyson Fury and Luis Ortiz holding a version, with the “regular” belt currently vacant. Along with this, we have WBC champ Deontay Wilder, IBF champ Anthony Joshua and the WBO belt, which is held by Fury, who is also the lineal champ as he is The Man Who Beat The man.
So even if just one fighter gets crowned as the WBA champ, we would then need to see this champion, whoever he is, take on and defeat whoever it is holding the WBC/WBO/IBF belts, and the lineal title, at the time. It is possible we could see one man scoop up all the belts but the way things are going – what with the Fury-Wladimir Klitschko rematch taking forever to get done, and with Wilder being out of action until 2017 due to injury – it could take years.
Which of the current heavyweight champions looks the most capable of getting the job done? Fury, the man who shocked Klitschko? Wilder, the man with raw power? Ortiz, the avoided Cuban southpaw? Joshua, the youngest of the current belt holders? Joshua has, potentially, the time needed to unify the belts, but will all the other champions fight him?
It was just a little bit simpler in the land of the giants back when a small by comparison Mike Tyson was cleaning up what was even then a messy heavyweight division. It took Tyson, a fighter who moved very fast in every sense of the word, one year and seven months to single-handedly clarify all things heavyweight champion-wise. It’s anyone’s guess how long it would take one of today’s heavyweights, starting from their next title fight win, to accomplish what Tyson did.