The Career of Iron Mike Tyson: Part 2

November 1, 1985

Mike Tyson VS Sterling Benjamin 

Result: Tyson (11-0) wins by 1st round TKO (0:54) 

What was a warm up fight for Mike, for his Eddie Richardson, a champ in his native state of Texas, Tyson look like he was in the best shape of his life. 

November 13, 1985 

Mike Tyson VS Eddie Richardson

Result: Tyson (12-0) wins by 1st round KO (1:17)

After loosing mentor Cus D'amato to an unexpected death, Tyson was extra motivated in this fight. He fought a fight that was 6'6, and tower over mike. Even thought Mike was dealing with that height differential, he still made easy work of attacking the head of Richardson. 

November 22, 1985

Mike Tyson VS Conroy Nelson 

Result: Tyson (13-0) wins by 2nd round TKO (0:30)

Conroy Nelson was a pretty decent fighter, but it just goes to show you how much people respected the speed and power of Tyson, as a power fight himself, Nelson sat in the defensive position the whole fight. Of course, they wouldn't help him a whole lot, as Tyson still had his way with Nelson.

December 6, 1985 

Mike Tyson VS Sammy Scaff 

Result: Tyson (14-0) wins by 1st round TKO (1:19)

December 27, 1985 

Mike Tyson VS Mark Young

Result: Tyson (15-0) wins by 1st round TKO (0:50) 

I'm not sure what exactly hit Mark Young in this one that dropped him so hard, but the poise of Tyson at this point in his career is amazing, and that fact he is fight just 3 weeks apart of his dominating performance against Sammy Scaff. At this point in his career the argument against Tyson is that he hasn't fought anybody, but remember these are professional fighters he is making look foolish in there.

January 11, 1986 

Mike Tyson VS David Jaco 

Result: Tyson (16-0) wins by 1st round TKO (2:10)

Tyson just bullied Jaco around in this fight. He's done it to other opponents as (see the Trent Singleton Fight), but it was never against this kind of opponent.

January 24, 1986 

Mike Tyson VS Mike Jameson 

Result: Tyson (17-0) wins by 5th round TKO (0:46) 

This was a great matchup for Tyson, because this was the first time we saw Tyson have to work hard. Jameson used his big frame to hold and hang on Tyson and slow him down, but Tyson speed overcame the test, and he showed the boxing world he has the stamina to get in there with the best boxing had to offer. 

February 16, 1986 

Mike Tyson VS Jesse Ferguson 

Result: Mike Tyson (18-0) wins by 6th round TKO (1:19) 

Mike Tyson really showed the world that he wasn't just a brute with a mean left hook, but a fighter capable of outsmarted his opponents in the ring. I have always said, people question Tyson's intelligence, but he is a smart individual, you can see that in his interview. He through Ferguson off his game plan, and outsmarted him in all aspects. When you see Ferguson holding Tyson, that just means he didn't really know the next move because of how unpredictable Tyson was. This is the best fight in the first 20 of Tyson's fights. It is also worth mentioning Tyson was able to compose himself and not let his temper beat him, something we see be his main flaw latter in his life and career. 

March 10, 1986

Mike Tyson VS Steve Zouski 

Result: Mike Tyson (19-0) wins by 3rd Round KO (2:39) 

Mike Tyson's head was not in this fight. He didn't defend, he was on the offensive the whole fight. He was fortunate he was in there with a guy who's game plan was to stand in there and swing with Tyson. As Tyson said, he was going through some "personal problems," and we see that really hurt him in the James Tillis fight, and also have a negative impact on his performance here. 

May 3, 1986

Mike Tyson VS James Tillis 

Result: Tyson (20-0) wins by Unanimous decsion

Tyson critics think this fight exposed him, and hurt the Tyson knockout mystique. I'm not a diehard Tyson fan who thinks he beats Ali, but I think this was a great learning experience for Tyson. As we would see this did not hurt the mystique, as Tyson would get the video game deals, and continue to have devastating knockout victories as his career would go on.