Mike Tyson Names The ‘Greatest’ Fight Of His Career: “That Propelled Me”

Mike Tyson is one of the most well-regarded and infamous heavyweights to have ever laced up, and was involved in some of the most memorable fights of the last fifty years.

He captured his first heavyweight world title at the age of 20 – a record that still stands to this day – and continues his rise in the sport by defeating the likes of Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and Frank Bruno not long after.

Speaking on Complex, Tyson named not one of the above, but his first professional loss to James ‘Buster’ Douglas as his greatest fight.

“Listen, it’s weird – it has to be my loss to Buster Douglas. I say that because that fight propelled me into being a better fighter. So I always look at that fight as my best. Absolutely. Getting humiliated in front of millions and millions of people and overcoming that, that’s a winner.”

The 1990 fight saw Tyson such a heavy favourite that many bookmakers in Las Vegas refused to give a price on Douglas. What was more impressive for the Ohio native was that it wasn’t a knockout of nowhere, a punch from the gods.