Tyson v. Berbick

#48: Mike Tyson vs. Trevor Berbick, November 22, 1986, Las Vegas, Nevada.

This one obviously there for its historical significance, as Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history (20) with a 2nd round obliteration of Berbick. I honestly don't know what to make of peak Tyson. His power and fighting style were simply awesome, but he didn't face any great fighters in their primes. I could imagine a scenario where he faces another ATG at his peak and knocks him out, but I could also easily see a very different outcome, where the opponent wears him down and takes him out in the later rounds.

Reading Mike Tyson's autobiography a few years ago, I learned that Tyson was extra motivated for this fight because Berbick had been the guy who beat a totally shot Muhammad Ali in Ali's last fight in 1981. Tyson loves boxing history and he saw it as his obligation to get revenge on Ali's behalf. Well, he did. I don't know why so many of Tyson's opponents tried to slug it out with him. The only way to beat this version of Tyson was to fight on the outside and move around the ring, a la peak Ali. Trying to slug it out with him on the inside was a suicide mission.

I looked up the rest of Berbick's career out of curiosity. He actually died in Jamaica in 2006 when a relative beat him to death with a metal pipe over a land dispute. And that's the story of Trevor Berbick.

Here's the video of this very short fight: