Classic Boxing Fights: Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick

All eyes will be on Moses Itauma tonight, as he aims to become the second-youngest Heavyweight world champion of all time. However, he’ll still be over a year shy of the record set by Mike Tyson in 1986.

After ‘Iron Mike’ wiped out all that stood before him in the first year of his professional career, he was handed a title shot against newly-crowned WBC champion Tervor Berbick.

A previous title challenger, Berbick won the world title at the second bite of the cherry when he defeated Pinklon Thomas earlier that year to win the WBC crown. The result was a surprising one – Berbick was a 13-2 underdog going into the bout [via the New York Times].

Tyson was already a highly-regarded fighter at this point, on account of his fearsome punching power and mind-bending speed. Nevertheless, being so young, there were still question marks surrounding him going into this one.

Berbick was a tough, seasoned veteran who had far more experience than ‘Kid Dynamite’. Five years prior, he’d gone the full 15-round distance with Larry Holmes in his first crack at a world title.

He certainly hadn’t come to roll over – but Tyson was in no mood to hang around. This was not the Tyson of the 1990s and the 2000s, who had been taken in by the glitz and glamour. At this point of his career, he was a fully-focused boxing machine. This was the ‘Prime Tyson’ people like to wax lyrical over.

For all of the champion’s wily instincts and veteran tricks, he was outmatched from the get-go. But how did the fight play out? Let’s take a look.

Previously in our classic boxing fights series, we’ve taken a look at Marvin Hagler vs Thomas Hearns, George Foreman vs Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko and Derek Chisora vs Dillian Whyte.

Round One

Tyson immediately took the centre of the ring, while Berbick was content to fight on the outside. Berbick popped out a couple of jabs, only for Tyson to swiftly close the distance and land a right hand over the top.

Berbick tried to move in closer and take the fight to Tyson, but was met by a thundering left hook that echoed throughout the Las Vegas Hilton. To his credit, he had come to fight, but Tyson’s speed and accuracy allowed him to find the mark much quicker.

Berbick landed an uppercut and a left hook to the body, neither of which Tyson reacted to. He was having some success, barely avoiding a swinging left from Tyson to land a right hook to the body, then the head. Still, he couldn’t faze the challenger.

The 32-year-old then attempted to rough Tyson up in the clinch, pushing him backwards and landing arm punches. After the fighters were separated, Tyson landed his best punch of the fight up to that point, swinging with the right before connecting with a massive left hook.

Berbick dug in and absorbed the strike, responding with another right uppercut that caught Tyson clean on the chin. That was the punch of the fight for Berbick – while it left him wide open to counter-punches, Tyson’s lean-forward approach made him susceptible to it.

We’d see him get caught out with that shot later on in his career, but not tonight. Berbick simply lacked the power to make him think twice – by now, this was evident.

Another right hand exploded on the side of Berbick’s head, who was still standing firm. Tyson landed the same punch again mere seconds later, prompting Berbick to beckon Tyson forward in an ill-advised attempt at mind games.

Tyson jumped in with a left hook, but Berbick saw it coming and brought up his right glove to block it. He couldn’t block the follow-up, though, as Tyson led with another huge overhand right.

Berbick was now looking to shell up and avoid further punishment – Tyson was leading the action and had taken full control of the contest. He attempted to lean on ‘Iron Mike’ to smother his punches, but Tyson simply burst upwards with an uppercut.

The champion swung out a left hook, allowing Tyson to dip underneath and land a much sharper one of his own. Just after this, Tyson found the mark with a brutal right cross-left hook combination that sent Berbick stumbling in comical fashion.

This was like a red rag to a bull in Tyson’s case. He jumped on Berbick, landing more explosive shots, before the Jamaican was saved by the bell. He smiled at the challenger mockingly as he tottered back to his corner – where he found that spark of bravado from, we’ll never know.

Tyson 10-9 Berbick

Round Two

Tyson went after Berbick straight away, firing off a vicious overhand right that had Berbick swaying like a palm tree. After another couple of shots, Berbick was knocked off his feet for the first knockdown of the fight.

He popped up right away, nodding at referee Mills Lane to indicate that he wasn’t hurt. Nevertheless, everyone in the arena – including Tyson – could see that he most certainly was. His smile was gone, replaced by a fearful grimace.

Tyson again landed a right hand and a left hook. By this point, every punch he landed had an obvious effect on the champion. Mike saw that Berbick was ready to go, wildly swinging at his head in pursuit of the finishing blow.

Berbick landed an uppercut from within the clinch – the first bit of success he’d had in round two up to now. Not long after, he landed another, but neither had any sort of effect on Tyson.

Berbick was tying up Tyson every time he came forward in a desperate attempt to see out the round. Tyson alternated his attack, ploughing a violent right hook into Berbick’s ribs, before landing a pair of right hooks upstairs. Again, Berbick hung on.

Berbick was doing nothing other than initiating clinches and trying to throw short punches within them by this point. Whenever the fighters were separated, Tyson was tagging him at will.

Another right to the body connected, followed up by an uppercut that missed Berbick’s chin by a hair. Regardless, this put Tyson in a great position to land his signature left hook to the head, which caused Berbick’s legs to fail him once more.

Crumpling to the canvas, Berbick tried to rise to his feet, falling back down twice before finally getting up at the third attempt. Whatever the case, he was in no condition to continue, stumbling into Lane’s arms. Upon seeing this, the referee rightfully called a halt to the contest – Tyson had just made history.

Aftermath

Tyson went on to have one of the most eclectic and controversial careers in sports history after this. Whatever your opinions on him might be, he remains one of the most talked-about athletes to ever grace the planet.

Drawn into an infamous professional relationship with the loathsome Don King, Tyson lost his world titles in the biggest upset in boxing history against James ‘Buster’ Douglas. He wouldn’t regain a world title for another six years after this, following his stint in prison after his rape conviction.

Berbick, on the other hand, is now little more than a trivia question. He never challenged for a world title again after this, though he would pick up a win over Iran Barkley in 1999, nearly 13 years later.

He was killed in 2006 after being bludgeoned to death by his own nephew in his home country of Jamaica, along with another assailant.