Let’s throw it back!
Tyson KO’s Spinks in 91 seconds
On June 27th, 1988, Mike Tyson stood in the ring with Michael Spinks. At this point in both of their careers, they were undefeated. The stage was set in Atlantic City, at the AC Boardwalk Hall.
Michael Spinks was in a great position leading up to this fight. He had made the move from light heavyweight to heavyweight in order to challenge the legend that is Larry Holmes. With Spinks average fighting weight at 173 pounds, jumping to 200 pounds was huge. To ensure he could make this jump he ended up hiring Mackie Shilstone, a nutritionist. What did Spinks have to say about this diet?
“I’m eating nuts, bolts, screws, razor blades and sledgehammers. I can eat as much as I want, but only what Mackie says I can eat.”
While he may have gained roughly 25 pounds of bodyweight, his body fat went from 9.1 to 7.2 percent. This worked because he ended up beating Holmes, twice actually, the first time for the title and the second time to retain it.
While Spinks was set up well to fight Tyson at 212 pounds, Tyson had the upper hand by six pounds, weighing in around 218 pounds.
At this point, Tyson was 34-0, and had the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles. He was determined to retain his titles and add Spink’s “The Ring” heavyweight title to the list.
On June 27th of 1988, Tyson did just that by knocking out the 31-0 Spinks. Tyson seemed to be much more determined, as he knocked Spinks out at just the 91 second mark. The KO came by a tough right upper cut from Tyson as he remained heavyweight champion.
The fight had a lot of hype coming in, and maybe less afterwards. Michael Spinks retired after the fight in which Tyson had barely broken a sweat. Meanwhile, Tyson went on to finish his career with a record of 50-6 with 44 wins coming by KO. Check out the video below, as well as some honorable mentions for June 27, 1988.
Honorable Mentions
1972-Bobby Hull leaves the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks for the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA.
1986-Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants gets caught stealing bases four times.
1999-Tony Hawk lands “The 900” to win Best Trick at X-Games San Francisco.
2004-The Boston Red Sox beat the Florida Marlins 25-8, while setting a major league record with 10 runs before making an out.
Sources:
Mike Tyson blasts Michael Spinks in their historic 1988 fight in A.C.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119942/
http://www.fightsaga.com/Fighters/item/88-Mike-Tyson-Record-Profile-Facts-Stats
http://www.supremesportsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=1696
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mma-boxing/photos/1306/tyson-vs-spinks/
WhatTheHoff! 