Some of the greatest names in heavyweight boxing history won medals at the Olympic level before making it to the professional ranks.
Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Anthony Joshua, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis left their mark on the Olympic Games before lifting the world heavyweight championship, and Mike Tyson believes his name should be on that golden list.
“Iron Mike,” born on June 30, 1966, had great talent as a young amateur boxer. He won two consecutive gold medals in boxing at the Junior Olympic Games, and after becoming the Golden Gloves champion in 1984, it seemed that Tyson was destined to experience Olympic glory in Los Angeles later that year.
The United States reserved one place for itself in boxing in the Los Angeles Games, as the competition for this orphan card between Tyson and his compatriot Henry Tillman receded.
However, the only thing standing between the strong young aspirant and the US boxing team was the Olympic Trials, after Tyson lost by points decision.
However, he did not lay it all down, as the New York-born hopeful was awarded a rematch with Tillman the following month during a boxing bout, in which he could have kept his Olympic dream alive with a win.
Tyson once again found himself on the losing side of the results, but this time via a controversial split decision.
Defeating Tillman was never an easy task because he was six years older and 10.16 centimeters taller than the young Tyson, and despite these shortcomings, the “heavyweight icon” still claims that he was wronged by the boxing organization.
According to talkSPORT, the audience in the second match loudly booed the decision, and Tyson later revealed his anger at the referee, saying: “When they announced the decision, I couldn’t believe they gave it to Tillman. The entire amateur boxing organization hated me. They didn’t like my arrogant attitude in Brownsville. “I was behaving properly but you could still see the New York arrogance coming out.”
Fortunately, Tillman won gold for the United States in Los Angeles. However, his professional career never came close to Tyson’s.
Tyson did not let his Olympic failure affect his progress, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion at the age of just 20 when he defeated Trevor Berbick in November 1986.
Tyson had an undefeated record of 37 fights at the age of 23 before his shocking loss to James “Buster” Douglas in February 1990. When it came time to return to the ring after that defeat, Mike chose a familiar opponent, Henry Tillman.
Tyson easily retaliated with a brutal knockout of Tillman in the first round.
Tillman retired with a record of 25 wins and six losses, losing the biggest fight of his professional career to Evander Holyfield in an unsuccessful challenge for the world heavyweight championship.
In contrast, Tyson, 57 years old, is still going strong as he prepares to face American content creator Jake Paul in an official fight in November of this year.
The fight was scheduled to take place on July 20, but the organizers announced its postponement due to Tyson suffering from symptoms of a stomach ulcer.
Source: RT
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