Mike Tyson

When Tyson first stepped into the ring for a professional boxing match, on March 4, 1985, there was no fanfare or boasts before the cameras. Tyson didn't even have a robe to cast off dramatically before the match. But he did have something. He had a menacing glare that would intimidate many fighters in the years ahead, sometimes defeating them before they even stepped in the ring. If that did not work, a single, stunning blow usually did the trick. And he had a thorough grounding in the methods of great fighters of the past, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of his own strength. Tyson would go 15-0 in his first year, but in November he lost his only real father figure, Cus D'Amato, who died at age 77.

It was a bitter blow, but far from a knockout punch. Tyson still had his co-manager, Jimmy Jacobs, D'Amato's old friend and a legendary trainer in his own right. He had a good team around him, he had that glare, a strong neck that let him take a fair amount of punishment, and fists that seemed unstoppable. Before long they were calling him "Iron Mike," and not long after that, they were calling him champ.

On November 22, 1986, he took out Trevor Berbick in two rounds, winning the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title. Tyson destroyed Berbick. As one of the judges, District Attorney Lane, told Sports Illustrated, "If I had let the fight continue, if I let him get hit with more of those terrible punches, it would have been criminal." A year after D'Amato's death, Tyson had fulfilled his dream and become the youngest heavyweight champion in history. It was a sweet moment, but the confused state of modern boxing meant his title was incomplete. In addition to the WBC, there was also a WBA (World Boxing Association) and IBF (International Boxing Federation) champion.

The following year, Tyson did the necessary consolidation. On March 7, 1987, Tyson went up against WBA placeholder James "Bonecrusher" Smith in Las Vegas. Smith fought not so much to crush Tyson's bones as to preserve his own, and after 12 dull rounds Tyson was declared the winner. On August 1, 1987, Tyson went up against IBF champion Tony Tucker to reunite the triple crown of boxing. Tucker did manage to land a blow in the first round, and ultimately he did go the distance, but it was clearly Tyson's fight throughout. "Aw, he stopped fighting after the fifth round," Tyson told Sports Illustrated. "After that he was just in there to survive." Tucker survived, but his championship did not. When it was over, Mike Tyson was the undisputed World Heavyweight Championship (complete with crown and chinchilla robe, provided, inevitably, by the showman who always managed to climb into the ring with a champ, Don King). An embarrassed Mike Tyson sat in brooding silence during this "coronation."