Heavyweight great Mike Tyson has revealed the moment he went ‘numb’ after he was hit by one former rival in particular.
‘Iron Mike’ is considered to be one of the most feared and ferocious heavyweights of all time, proving his credentials on more than one occasion during his storied professional career.
He racked up 19 consecutive stoppage victories at the beginning of his career, with 12 of these coming inside the very first round.
Tyson wrote his name into the boxing history books in 1986 when he stopped WBC heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick in the second round of their Las Vegas showdown to become the youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
He would go on to add the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles to his collection in the year that followed his historic victory over Berbick, achieving undisputed status just days after his 21st birthday.
Tyson has now been reflecting on some of his past fights, as in an interview with CNN, he shared details of how he went ‘numb’ after he was on the receiving end of a number of heavy shots from Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock.
“Yes, Ray Ruddock … You’re talking about when you were like whoa. When you get hit, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s just numb. You just hear the bell ringing — bong.”
Tyson faced Ruddock twice within a several month period back in 1991, defeating the former Canadian heavyweight champion on both occasions.
Whilst he never actually challenged for a version of the world heavyweight championship, Ruddock proved to be a durable opponent for a number of top heavyweights, including the likes of James Smith, Tommy Morrison and Lennox Lewis.
