What to know about Mike Tyson’s early boxing career

It seems like ages since the highly anticipated fight between ‘Iron Mike’ Tyson and Jake ‘The Problem Child’ Paul was first announced, but after months and months of debates, pushbacks and wondering whether the fight would ever happen, we are officially less than 10 days from the event.

Mike Tyson, former heavyweight champion of the world, is now 58 years old. He hasn’t fought in a non-exhibition match since 2005. He’s a shadow of the fighter he once was, but that shadow still looms very large. A lot of people nowadays don’t understand just how dominant Tyson was in his heyday.

Here’s a look back at the start of Mike Tyson’s career and whether it will have any bearing on his upcoming fight against Paul.

Mike Tyson’s first fight

After years of fighting as an amateur, Tyson made his professional debut at 18 years old on March 6, 1985. He defeated Hector Mercedes by first-round TKO. His first nationally televised event came less than a year later on Feb. 16, 1986. Tyson was awarded victory over Jesse Ferguson after the referee stopped the match in the middle of the sixth round.

Tyson’s career accomplishments

Throughout his career, Tyson was named heavyweight champion across multiple organizations including the WBA, WBC and IBF. In fact, Tyson was the first heavyweight ever to hold all three titles at the same time.

His first heavyweight title came after a second-round TKO victory over Trevor Berbick, earning him the WBC title and making him the youngest champion (20 years, 4 months) in history.

Tyson started his career with 19 consecutive knockouts. He bolted to a 37-0 (33 KOs) record before suffering his first loss at the hands of Buster Douglas on Feb. 11, 1990. Douglas’ win is considered one of the most shocking upsets in the history of boxing.

Tyson also once famously beat opponent Marvis Frazier by TKO in 30 seconds.

Tyson’s most recent fight

Tyson’s final professional fight came in 2005, a match against Kevin McBride. Tyson quit before the seventh round and admitted later that he only accepted the fight for the money.

Since then, Tyson has appeared only in exhibition matches. Most recently, Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. on Nov. 28, 2020. The fight ended in a split decision draw.