At the peak of his powers, Mike Tyson was the most formidable and feared heavyweight in the world.
‘Iron’ Mike’s rise to stardom began in the early 1980’s when he won his first 19 professional contests via knockout, with 12 of those coming inside the very first round.
He captured the world heavyweight championship for the first time in 1986 when he knocked out Trevor Berbick to claim the WBC crown, becoming the youngest fighter in heavyweight boxing history to achieve this feat.
Tyson would go on to become the undisputed champion in the years that followed, with victories over WBA champion James Smith and IBF champion Tony Tucker respectively. It wasn’t until he faced James ‘Buster’ Douglas in 1990 that he would suffer defeat for the first time as a professional, in what is still regarded as one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
There was one retired fighter, however, who at one stage of their career called for a showdown with ‘Iron’ Mike, which he has now admitted he regrets doing.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, two-weight world champion Chris Eubank Sr revealed details of how he was seriously considering a fight with Tyson in the early 2000’s. brandishing this decision as one that was ‘fuelled by money’.
“Mike Tyson is my hero.
I always say I have one regret in boxing which was Michael Watson, but there’s another regret that I have. When I was in that energy of money, I had retired, this was [around the early 2000s] and I asked Mike for a chance to fight him in an exhibition match, and Mike, his response, put me right into my place and will always have me in my place, Mike said to me ‘come on man, you’re my friend’.
Shameful, shameful. That’s what happens when you’re chasing money.”
Eubank officially retired from boxing in 1998, shortly after he was beaten for the second time by WBO cruiserweight champion and fellow Brit Carl Thompson in their rematch.
