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The HBO Replay of the Undisputed Heavyweight Title fight between Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks.
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00:00My objective is to knock them out.
00:30And win in spectacular fashion.
00:31It feels good to have some terror in my life.
00:35Something that really frightens me.
00:37Ladies and gentlemen in life space, two hundred and twelve and one quarter pounds.
00:44Every champion Mike Tyson, two hundred and twelve and one quarter pounds.
00:51Every champion Mike Tyson, two hundred and eighteen and one quarter pounds.
00:59Two hundred and one quarter pounds.
01:02Every champion Mike Tyson, two hundred and eighteen and one quarter pounds.
01:07Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Atlantic City's Convention Hall.
01:14Off to death!
01:21Off to death!
01:23Off to death!
01:25Off to death!
01:26Off to death!
01:27To death!
01:29Off to death!
02:00And now, ladies and gentlemen, once and for all, let's get ready to rumble with the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
02:30The fight didn't live up to the event.
02:46Now will the event, the richest in sports history, live up to the fight?
02:51Hello, I'm Larry Merchant.
02:53Ordinarily, I don't go around posing riddles.
02:56But the Tyson Spinks showdown, or blowdown, invites one.
03:01Obviously, a first-round knockout is something of a letdown.
03:04Yet, when it's accomplished with such brute skill by a great fighter,
03:09there's a pretty good chance it will become one of those highlights that define a champion, that will outlive the event.
03:16We're going to show you the fight, of course, as well as the tumult and the shouting around it.
03:21And we'll replay that devastating minute and a half in slow motion,
03:25with trainer Kevin Rooney analyzing Mike Tyson's brute skill.
03:30Mike Tyson committed himself to appearing with us,
03:33but as he has with so many others recently, in and out of the media, he was a no-show.
03:38We'll talk to Rooney about the soap opera controversy that led to Tyson's unconvincing retirement.
03:44We'll talk to boxing experts about the bizarre events around the event,
03:48and Tyson's place in boxing history already.
03:52And manager Bill Caton will give us his side of the infighting with Don King and Mike Tyson.
03:58We'll also show you some other one-round knockouts, famous and infamous, that are part of boxing history.
04:05Now, Atlantic City.
04:08In the movie Atlantic City, an old man who doesn't understand the brave new world of legal gambling
04:13points to the ocean and says,
04:16it used to be a great ocean.
04:19For one night at least, on June 27th, it was great again.
04:23This is the convention center on the famous boardwalk in Atlantic City,
04:39where Trump Plaza plays host to a fight being billed as once and for all.
04:47Undefeated world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson defends his crowd
04:50against another undefeated heavyweight with acclaim to the title,
04:54Michael Spinks.
04:55It's scheduled for 12 rounds.
05:00Each event of this kind has its own momentum.
05:03The character of this night not yet defined.
05:06Those who were at Ali Frazier in 1971 say they remember the incredible wall of sound
05:12which preceded the opening bell of that fight.
05:15We don't yet know what we'll all remember from Tyson Spinks,
05:19but the excitement of the occasion at this moment is unmistakable.
05:24And now you are looking live at the ring, where moments ago,
05:28in the dressing rooms, a major controversy erupted.
05:31You're looking at a tape shot of Butch Lewis, the manager of Michael Spinks,
05:36who went wild after he discovered that Mike Tyson had had his hands taped
05:41and apparently had the gloves put on without a representative of Spinks' camp
05:46being in Tyson's dressing room.
05:49It seems a little late to be yelling about that one.
05:52Why wasn't somebody in there when that happened?
05:55I don't know that they try to slip one past everybody.
05:59Nobody thinks that Mike Tyson has anything in his gloves besides his fists,
06:03but it is unusual.
06:06Another look at Butch Lewis,
06:09apparently in a state of extreme agitation over the fact
06:12that Tyson's gloves were placed on his hands
06:15and the taping of Tyson's hands took place without a Spinks representative
06:20in the dressing room.
06:21For people who may be new to the sport of boxing, Ray,
06:24what would he fear?
06:26Well, all he can do is use excessive amount of tape.
06:28That's the problem because that's not, that's illegal.
06:32And now, the Michael Spinks camp has communicated to the Tyson camp
06:37that contrary to the planned order of entrance into the ring,
06:41Spinks now will not exit his dressing room first
06:44and he will play a waiting game to try to make Tyson come out first.
06:49I honestly don't know why you'd want to make Mike Tyson mad
06:54or madder than he normally is before a fight.
06:57There are any number of political experts at ringside.
07:02Perhaps someone can be summoned to intervene.
07:04Will it be Donald Trump,
07:07the man who paid $11 million for the right to see this fight?
07:11In his building, will it be Don King,
07:15the promoter of the fight?
07:18This is the guy that can handle everything.
07:20In fact, he was the guy that took care of the last IBF situation.
07:24That is indeed Larry Hazard,
07:26chairman of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission.
07:28Hazard seems to be leaving ringside to see what he can do about it.
07:32You mean you're not having fun, Larry?
07:36Ladies and gentlemen, it's time of...
07:38I thought by this time I would have held my breath for about eight minutes
07:42because of all the furious action in the ring.
07:48There goes Larry Hazard
07:50as he makes his way now to the dressing rooms to try to clean things up.
07:54Tale of the tape and of age, of course.
07:57Spinks, 10 years older, 3 inches taller, 6 pounds lighter,
08:03and with a 5-inch longer reach.
08:06Tyson is unlikely at any point in his career
08:10to face an opponent who has a shorter reach than he does.
08:15Long heavyweight title holders,
08:17the former heavyweight champion of the world.
08:19Now Michael Buffer goes back to work making introductions in the ring.
08:23Here you see our punch set, Larry.
08:25He remembers, Spinks throws many more punches,
08:30but Michael Tyson lands a very high percentage of hard punches.
08:35The great Jersey Joe.
08:37That will be reflected in the numbers of drab jabs they throw.
08:41Tyson throws an average of about a dozen jabs a round.
08:45Spinks, twice that many.
08:47The fight will be fought under New Jersey rules.
08:53Ten-point must system, three judges scoring, no standing eight count.
08:57A fighter here cannot be saved by the bell in any round,
09:01even in the 12th and last round.
09:04You go down, you got to get up.
09:06Three knockdown rule, not in effect for this championship fight,
09:10and the doctor is empowered to stop it if he sees fit to do so.
09:14And there you see Larry Hazzard as he makes his way towards Spinks' dressing room.
09:25Now this is a competent administrator.
09:29Who has a long relationship with Butch Lewis.
09:33We'll see what he can get done.
09:34And in case, incidentally, we needed any more pre-fight controversy to deal with,
09:43I've just received information from the far side of the ring
09:46that Mrs. Tyson, Robin Gibbons Tyson,
09:49has apparently filed a lawsuit against Bill Caton
09:54and the management organization which has been managing Mike Tyson.
09:57No details yet, but it is our understanding now
10:01that a lawsuit has been filed today
10:03on behalf of Mrs. Tyson
10:06and those forces who want to separate Mike Tyson from that man.
10:11Come on, man.
10:12For $13.5 million guaranteed,
10:16Michael Spinks begins about a 200-foot walk
10:20to a 20-by-20-foot break.
10:22Go ahead.
10:24Go ahead.
10:25Go ahead.
10:25Go ahead.
10:26Go ahead.
10:27Go ahead.
10:55Go ahead.
10:56Go ahead.
10:56Go ahead.
10:56Go ahead.
10:57Come on, Michael.
10:58It makes sense!
10:59Come on, Michael.
11:00It makes sense!
11:01Go, Michael.
11:02There he is.
11:03Good night, Michael.
11:04Hey!
11:05Go, Michael.
11:06Hey!
11:07Hey!
11:08Hey!
11:22Hello, boy.
11:23How are you doing?
11:24There is the record for Michael Spinks.
11:48He hasn't lost a fight in 12 years.
11:54Michael Spinks is a winner.
11:57He finds a way to win.
12:02Will he find the way tonight?
12:04Often under unusual or trying circumstances.
12:14This crowd, Larry, has flattened out.
12:18It's going to take some action to get them back to the fever pitch, which we felt
12:23about 15 minutes ago.
12:26Structure of the place is such that the crowd takes a while to become aware of the fighter
12:32exiting the dressing room and coming in.
12:36And there you see a shot from behind the young champion as he and his entourage make their
12:41way.
12:42A much smaller group than the one which brought Spinks into the arena.
12:47And of course, as always, no shirt, no robe, no accoutrements.
12:54It's clear.
12:55Clear.
12:56Clear.
12:57Clear.
12:58Clear.
12:59Clear.
13:00Clear.
13:01Clear.
13:02Clear.
13:03Clear.
13:04Clear.
13:05Clear.
13:06Clear.
13:07Clear.
13:08Clear.
13:09Clear.
13:10Clear.
13:11Clear.
13:12Clear.
13:13Clear.
13:14Clear.
13:15Clear.
13:16Clear.
13:17Clear.
13:18Clear.
13:19Clear.
13:20Clear.
13:21Clear.
13:22Like Michael Spinks, Mike Tyson is unbeaten as a professional fighter.
13:35The period of inactivity, 97 days, relatively brief.
13:40For a heavyweight or for any pro.
13:53Record of 34-0 and that doesn't count his recent bouts with his wife and his manager.
14:07And now let's go once again to ring announcer, Michael Buffer.
14:12Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Atlantic City's Convention Hall, courtesy of Mr. Donald
14:19Trump's Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
14:24Tonight, Don King Productions presents World Championship Boxing.
14:29This belt is presented with the approval of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.
14:33Boxing Commissioner, Larry Hazard, Chairman Jerry Gormley, Deputy Commissioners Nick D.
14:38Balastrari and Lawrence Wallace.
14:40It is sanctioned by the International Boxing Federation.
14:43At ringside, President Robert W. Lee, the ringside supervisor Bill Brennan.
14:48The World Boxing Council is represented by President Jose Suleiman and representative
14:54of that organization, Dr. Elias Ghanom, the World Boxing Association.
14:59It's President Gilberto Mendoza at ringside, along with James J. Binns Esquire, Legal Counsel,
15:04and Championship Committee Chairman Dr. Elias M. Cordova.
15:08The three judges for this contest, Jon Stewart, Eva Shane, and Rocky Castellani.
15:16At ringside physician, Dr. Frank B. Doggett.
15:18Also at ringside, Dr. Stanley Edden and Dr. Charles Wilson.
15:22The timekeeper, Roosevelt Gilbert.
15:24And counting for the knockdown seconds, Joe Cortez.
15:28And the referee is Frank Cappuccino.
15:35In 1960, an Olympic gold medal winner.
15:37In 1964, the heavyweight championship.
15:41Ten years later, again, the world heavyweight champion.
15:45And in 1979, he won it an unprecedented third time.
15:51Perhaps he is the greatest of all time, ladies and gentlemen.
15:57The former three-time heavyweight champion of the world, Mohamed Ali.
16:05And now, ladies and gentlemen, once and for all, let's get ready to rumble 12 rounds
16:32for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
16:37Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner,
16:40wearing the white trunks with black trim,
16:42and weighing in at 212 and one quarter pounds.
16:47He's originally from St. Louis, Missouri, now lives in Wilmington, Delaware.
16:52This Olympic gold medal champion has a professional record of 31 victories without a loss.
16:5821 by knockout.
16:59He is the former undisputed and undefeated light heavyweight champion of the world.
17:05And the only king of that division ever to win the heavyweight title in the history of boxing.
17:11Because he never lost that title in the ring,
17:13he is still recognized by many, including Boxing Illustrated and Ring Magazine,
17:18as the heavyweight champion.
17:20Ladies and gentlemen,
17:21the undefeated man who brings the drinks,
17:26Michael Speed!
17:28And fighting out of the red corner,
17:42wearing the solid black trunks,
17:45and weighing 218 and one quarter pounds,
17:48originally from the streets of Brooklyn,
17:51he passed through the hometown of the late great trainer of champions,
17:55his custom motto,
17:56Catskill, New York,
17:57and he now lives in North New Jersey.
18:00His professional record,
18:0134 consecutive victories,
18:04with 30 knockouts,
18:05including 26 KOs in 5 rounds or less,
18:09and 15 in the first round alone.
18:12Ladies and gentlemen,
18:13presenting the undisputed,
18:17the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world,
18:24Iron Five Paisa!
18:36Michael!
18:37Get it on!
18:41Good evening, gentlemen.
18:44You were both given your instructions in the dressing room.
18:47Are there any questions by either of you?
18:51All right, both of you touch gloves.
18:53Good luck to both of you.
18:55Could it be that this eerie atmosphere is what Butch Lewis wanted?
18:58I don't think anybody is smart enough to figure how everybody would react to that.
19:03I do think that this fight will be decided by two things.
19:07How Michael Spinks can deal with the extreme pressure that Tyson puts on a fighter that can totally discombobulate a man who's used to setting his own tempo.
19:19And secondly, what happens when Tyson hits him?
19:23Because he figures to get hit in this fight somewhere harder than he's ever been hit before.
19:28I see that Michael Spinks is a little tight.
19:32His legs are not as loose as they normally have been in the past.
19:35Now watch Tyson jump right into his chest.
19:38Michael Spinks.
19:39Michael Spinks.
19:40Michael Spinks.
19:41Michael Spinks.
19:42Michael Spinks.
19:43Michael Spinks.
19:44Michael Spinks.
19:45Give him a little movement.
19:46Keep those hands high.
19:47Very, very high.
19:48Spinks stepping in.
19:49All right, stop punching.
19:51Hey, Mike, knock it off, man.
19:58Knock it off.
19:59Cappuccino already warning Mike about the elbows.
20:04Various opponents have complained that Tyson rocks them with elbows along the ropes in close.
20:09You see the attack is used by Michael Spinks now.
20:12He's throwing his jab.
20:13But he has to keep those hands extremely high.
20:15Watch for the uppercuts, too.
20:17Tyson landed the left hand in close quarters.
20:20And now Cappuccino goes to work again.
20:25Tyson not afraid as we expected.
20:28And Spinks ready to mix it up with him.
20:30Tyson along the ropes doing damage.
20:33Michael Spinks has to keep moving because every shot...
20:36Uppercut landed inside and Spinks went down.
20:41It was the left uppercut.
20:42I was surprised there was a body shot that put him to the canvas.
20:45And that is the first time Michael Spinks has ever been down in a professional fight.
20:49And he's down again and in serious trouble.
20:53A right hand right on the chin.
20:57Six, seven, eight...
20:59He's not going to make it.
21:01It's all over.
21:03What happened in that round was that Mike Spinks got hit.
21:13And his natural instinct as a champion and as a winner was to try to fight back instead of covering up.
21:28And because he wanted to fight back, he got knocked out.
21:40There's a great deal of pandemonium in the ring now.
21:43It's lasted a minute and a half.
21:48There's a near riot taking place on the apron in front of us.
21:52Only now is it beginning to calm down.
21:54The first time Michael Spinks has ever been knocked down throughout his career.
21:58We see Mike Tyson congratulate Michael Spinks and Tyson trying to show some concern.
22:06The pre-fight delay outlasted the fight by about 15 minutes.
22:18I didn't expect Michael Spinks to go down from a body shot.
22:22But apparently, the extra weight was a factor.
22:26I'll be interested to hear what Michael Spinks has to say.
22:32Michael Spinks started out pretty slow.
22:34And here we see Tyson, as usual, going to the body.
22:38A great uppercut that sent Michael Spinks to the canvas.
22:42That was the second knockdown and the finishing blow.
22:46Watch again.
22:48This is after Spinks got up after one knockout, tried to fight back, and had nothing.
22:54As Mike Tyson landed the right, the short right, to the jaw.
23:00Here we have another angle.
23:02And that beautiful right uppercut caught him perfectly.
23:05It seemed to have caught him on the top of the forehead.
23:10And when his head went back and hit the canvas, it was all over.
23:14Few fighters have ever thrown the uppercut with greater effect than this champion.
23:19Another thing, Jim, is when a guy gets knocked down for the first time,
23:22you never know how he's going to react to that.
23:25What you have just seen was the fourth shortest heavyweight championship bout in history.
23:32Only Jeffries over Finnegan, Michael Doakes over Mike Weaver, Burns over Roche back in 1908,
23:41were shorter than the one-minute, 31-second destruction you just saw by Mike Tyson of Michael Spinks.
23:49In Mike Tyson's 35 bouts, he has now scored 16 first-round knockouts.
23:58And let's go now to Larry Merchant.
24:01Mike, congratulations.
24:02Did you have any premonition that it would end this fast?
24:05My trainer told me before I left, I bet both of our persons that you knock him out in the first round.
24:11And I thought he was serious, so just now he said he was lying.
24:14And so I went out and knocked him out in the first round.
24:16What did you hurt him with? How did it start?
24:21The first one, I think it was a right hand on top of the head, but he took it well.
24:26And then I hit him with a short left hook.
24:28It was a left uppercut that you told me to throw.
24:30That's right.
24:31And then I threw a right hand to the body and he went down.
24:32Right hand to the body and he went down.
24:33And then from that punch, I think it was a right hand off the head.
24:35It was like a right hook over top.
24:37It seemed to me that when he was hurt, his instinct as a champion, instead of covering up and running,
24:44was to fight back, and that's why you finished him.
24:46From what I know of human nature, there's only two things that he was capable of doing.
24:49Either running or stinking it out, or come out and fighting.
24:52I knew either he'd be scared or come out fighting.
24:54And that's what I thought, maybe he was a little jittery, so he came out fighting,
24:57giving it his best, hoping for a knockout or a cut or something.
24:59Because he was fighting very seriously, as you noticed.
25:02Mike didn't give him a chance to do anything else, but after the first knockdown,
25:04he got right on him and worked the body and then came out to the head again.
25:06That's what knocked him out.
25:09All right, what happened?
25:10What was all the delay about before?
25:12Do you think Michael just didn't want to get here this quick?
25:15Well, I think he was trying to scrutinize with my brain and make me wait it out.
25:20But, you know, I was getting upset.
25:21I wanted to go.
25:22I'm the kind of guy that I just want to fight.
25:23Let's get in there and fight.
25:24I don't care who comes in first.
25:25We come in both at the same time.
25:26That's what we planned.
25:27We come on together.
25:28And so my main objective was to go out there.
25:31Like I said, my trainer told me the whole person is better on one round.
25:34Now I come back to collect my money.
25:36And he said he was joking.
25:37He didn't make the bet.
25:39But still a good payday.
25:40There was so much buildup that we can only wish that there was something more interesting
25:47or important to say from here at ringside in Atlantic City.
25:51The fact of the matter is, there isn't.
25:54Mike Tyson took care of that.
26:03Eight punches and out.
26:05The walk to the ring, the introductions, the referee's instructions, the interviews, everything
26:10was longer than the fight.
26:12And Kevin Rooney, the trainer of Mike Tyson is here with us.
26:15And I'm sure you weren't disappointed that everything was longer than the fight.
26:19I love it like that.
26:20In and out.
26:21Let's get in there and get out.
26:22There was a long delay before the start of the fight.
26:26It seemed to take a little bit of the excitement and electricity out of the live audience waiting
26:31for the fight.
26:32What was the furor about?
26:34Were they simply applying a little gamesmanship trying to upset Mike?
26:39Basically, yeah.
26:40That's what it was.
26:41I mean, they made us think about the way the glove, I had tied the glove and it was a little
26:45bit of a lump.
26:46And we wanted to tape it down.
26:48And the inspector, who's the boss, he approved it.
26:51Then Butch Lewis came back with Hazard and he tried to make a big stink about it.
26:55And him, Lewis and the inspector, the big guy, they had words.
27:00I've read in the paper where they're trying to say Lewis called Mike a faggot.
27:04That's not true.
27:06He showed me and my fighter respect by not saying nothing.
27:10Because if he started coming and yelling at me, who knows what's going to happen?
27:14You know what I mean?
27:15But he didn't.
27:16And I respected that.
27:17His problem was with the inspector.
27:18But it was a bunch of malarkey.
27:19They were trying to upset the fighter and it worked against him.
27:21Because it upset him enough that he went out there and he did the job on his fighter.
27:26Yeah, it sounded looking back as though Butch Lewis was trying to buy time for a condemned
27:31man.
27:32Now tell me about some of the psyching that went on before the fight.
27:36I didn't realize that Mike Tyson seemed to need all of it.
27:39Part of it was in meeting Roberto Duran.
27:41Then you told him that you had made a bet in which you were betting all of your purses
27:46on the knockout.
27:47And then you were wearing a cap that said this one is for Jimmy Jacobs, your late ex-manager.
27:53Well, Mike doesn't need that psyching or whatever.
27:57These things just unfolded.
27:59Mike invited Roberto Duran to the fight because Don King wouldn't give Roberto Duran tickets
28:05to the fight.
28:06So when we found that out, when Mike heard that, Mike said, well, I'll give him tickets.
28:09Because he loves Duran.
28:10Duran's a great fighter.
28:11So he came to visit with Mike and that souped Mike up, which is good.
28:15I like that.
28:16Because now there's another fighter that keeps him focused, which is the whole idea of the
28:19camp and the fighters to be a professional and to focus on what you're going to do.
28:23What about this little joke about betting all your money on the fight?
28:27Mike has a dry sense of humor like me.
28:30I'm telling you, I'm saying it now.
28:32He came out and he said, I did say that.
28:34And he was walking into the other room.
28:36I said, oh yeah, hey Mike, by the way, I bet my purse and your purse on a first round knockout.
28:41But Mike knows that I don't got his purse.
28:44I don't have his end of it.
28:45Maybe he thought I bet my money.
28:47I don't know.
28:48I've called what Mike Tyson does in the ring, brute skill.
28:53And now we're going to try to show you some of the subtles of boxing as seen through the
28:59eyes of Kevin Rooney.
29:02Let's go.
29:03Let's get off the apron.
29:05Kevin, take us through this live action of the fight and what you see.
29:12And I know this is the first time you've actually seen the fight.
29:15That's right.
29:17Mike bringing it right to him.
29:19Letting the bombs go.
29:21That's sending a message.
29:23Like this.
29:24That was a good right-handed miss.
29:25He tried the sneaky right-handed sphinx.
29:26That one missed, obviously.
29:28So that's part of the skill part of the brute force.
29:31You can't hit Mike.
29:32You hit him with a clean shot.
29:34And when they can't hit him, they become confused and intimidated because they know they're
29:39missing.
29:40They get confused.
29:41Subconsciously.
29:42Were you surprised that sphinx didn't throw more jabs?
29:45No.
29:47Mike got right on.
29:48We made him fight.
29:49That was the plan.
29:50Right there.
29:51See, I left up, but that's what hurt him.
29:54And then comes the body shot comes.
29:59That was the only clinch.
30:01Was that Mike's fault, or did you downgrade him for that?
30:05No.
30:06I worked on that.
30:07That's something I'm trying to work on getting him out of the habit of doing that.
30:09Now that body punch.
30:10That hurt.
30:11Must have hurt.
30:12And that was the start.
30:13Yeah, there's a left up.
30:14That's what hurt.
30:15That's what really brought him down.
30:16More than the right hand to the body.
30:18Was he just going down for a rest there, did you think?
30:21Yeah.
30:22He didn't even know where to go.
30:23The guy's all over him.
30:24He wanted to get out of the way.
30:28Bang.
30:29That's where he took his shot.
30:30Right there.
30:31That was a good right hand.
30:33He's out.
30:34You know, if I remember when he went down like that, because I was looking right up,
30:36I knew the fight was over.
30:38He was struggling to get up.
30:39And then the guy stopped counting, and I thought the count was a little long.
30:44Because I remember the guy saying six, and then Frank said six, seven.
30:48You're not very happy there, are you?
30:51All right.
30:52Now let's go through slow motion and show us where the skill is.
30:55For example, in the delivering of the punches, we've seen a lot of big guys.
30:59They don't punch as hard as Mike.
31:00Is it the way he delivers it?
31:02Sure.
31:03It's the snap.
31:04He throws it with snap, with the correct form.
31:07Which is what?
31:08Is it getting the shoulder in?
31:09It's getting the whole body and snapping the shoulder.
31:12That's really where it comes from.
31:13All right.
31:14Let's watch this and see.
31:15He throws right straight through it.
31:16Right.
31:17Right hand to the body is a good snap.
31:20Now you...
31:21See the shoulder?
31:22See the shoulder muscle snap?
31:23That one didn't miss.
31:25All right.
31:26Now you have obviously been working on him throwing more body punches.
31:30Because he's been remiss, he's leaped into clinches, and he hasn't thrown the body punches.
31:35Is he there where you want him on that score yet?
31:38No.
31:39Oh.
31:40You know, he's getting there, but he's not there.
31:43Because he doesn't throw that left hook to the body.
31:45I want to see that.
31:46All right.
31:47See, that's a good left double cut.
31:49And he's rolling.
31:50And he's rolling.
31:51It looks like he's rolling back and forth.
31:52Is that what...
31:53Is that how he...
31:54Is he got set?
31:55See, you can see the snap.
31:56You can see his shoulder snap.
31:57That was a pretty good shot.
31:58The one that missed was even better.
32:00Okay.
32:01Now the knockout punch.
32:05Describe that.
32:06That was a tremendous right uppercut to the opposite side of his face.
32:12It shows his good power.
32:14But watching this tape, you know, Michael Spinks came off the rope.
32:18Had to be knocked down the first time.
32:20He starts to throw the right hand.
32:22Mike makes the little head movement to make him miss.
32:24And Spinks shows how smart he is.
32:26He stopped throwing because he knew he wasn't going to hit.
32:29But I think by doing that, and the fact that Mike is going to make him miss, he's off balance a little bit.
32:33All right.
32:34So he moves away.
32:35He wants to go hard.
32:36And to be hard.
32:37It seems that the commitment is so much a part of Mike Tyson.
32:41When he commits like that, he's leaving himself open, it seems.
32:44But he's making a full commitment to what he's doing.
32:47Yes, but he's not open because we just saw it in slow motion.
32:51He made him miss that right hand.
32:52Spinks started to throw a hard right hand.
32:54And halfway through it, he wanted to stop it because he knew he wasn't going to hit him.
32:59And he was off balance.
33:00And then Mike had that tremendous snap and hit him on the other...
33:04The right side of his face with his right hand, which is wild.
33:08What makes Mike such a good finisher?
33:10Was it something that he got from Cuss?
33:13Cuss always said, you know, professional fighter, when you got a man hurt, you take him out.
33:17You get him out.
33:18You get the fight over with.
33:19Anything can happen.
33:20So there you have the anatomy of a knockout.
33:24And there is the anatomy of the man who was knocked out.
33:27After that, the issue no longer seems to be whether there's anyone out there who can compete with Mike Tyson now.
33:36But however prematurely, I find myself wondering, musing, whether there was ever anyone out there who could have beaten Mike Tyson.
33:45And here with me to go over that, a panel of experts, Mike Katz of the New York Daily News, Wally Matthews of Newsday, and Phil Berger of the New York Times.
33:59Given the scarcity of live opponents, have you fellas start to think of Tyson in terms of dead opponents?
34:06Well, I would rather see in my mind Mike Tyson fight Lewis and Marciano and Ali than Razor Ruddock or Carl Williams or, heaven forbid, Trevor Burbick again.
34:18I think you're right.
34:20It's premature to imagine him as the best or the greatest yet.
34:26He's 22 years old and he's never been in a fight.
34:30Well, Mike, you have to go by what's out there.
34:32Right now, he is the greatest unless you want to try Hulk Hogan.
34:36Well, I mean, greatest in history.
34:38No.
34:39Phil, do you think he could have beaten Ali, Joe Lewis?
34:44Joe Lewis, no. Ali, no. Not at this point.
34:47I'd have to see further development.
34:49And as far as what's out there now, Holyfield, Evander Holyfield, the Cruiserweight Champion, is the only one that could suggest could be a decent fighter.
34:58I take from what we're talking about here that nobody takes seriously his announced retirement.
35:03He may believe it, but that we all think we're going to see him fight again.
35:07Given that, he blames you guys for putting him where he is, for writing about his personal life, his battles with his manager.
35:15Did you guys do this to him?
35:17Oh, mea culpa, mea culpa, I did it. Everybody, I want to confess, I convinced Robin to call NBC ten days before the fight and blast Bill Caton.
35:29I also called Stephanie Givens, her sister, to call Wally. Wally didn't know this.
35:34And say, hey, Mike's been beating my sister. It was my fault, and I'm sorry, Mike, I'll never do it again.
35:41Did she really do that?
35:43Wally, did she?
35:44If it was written in Newsday, she did it.
35:46And I just want to say that I will take credit for bringing down the heavyweight champion of the world.
35:50If nobody else can do it, I'll do it.
35:52What you have here is a case of kill the messenger. Things are happening in his life that he doesn't have the control he wants, and the press is reporting it and following up on it, and this is bothering him.
36:03Does the public out there care about this?
36:06I don't think the public cares all that much about what Robin is after any more than they would care about any gossip about Madonna and Sean Penn.
36:15I think the fight public would rather read about who's he fighting and when, and this all, I think, plays in New York. I'm not sure it plays around the country.
36:26I disagree. I think people are interested in the chaos, the kind of carnival atmosphere, the fact that the Tysons, Robin and Mike, were on the covers of so many magazines, I think is a clear sign of what the public interest is.
36:40Also, in Tyson, you have a very private creature, and when he does something, people can start to compute it into just who he is. People are curious. Who is Mike Tyson? What's he like?
36:49As a fight fan and as a professional in the fight business, Wally, do you really care about that stuff?
36:54Absolutely. First of all, I think you need to know these things to make an intelligent choice on who's going to win fights.
36:59Now, let's face it, all of us have outside influences that affect us.
37:02Why do you pick Spinks?
37:03Thank you for reminding me of that, Mike.
37:06Yes, I think the fans do care. If not, why wouldn't the Dempsey-Estelle Taylor marriage be part of boxing lore?
37:12People obviously were interested in it back then, and they're interested in it right now.
37:15Is it going to damage him personally?
37:18I think professionally. I mean, I don't know what's going to happen between him and Robin over the years or over the months,
37:25but professionally I think it may hurt in terms of endorsements.
37:31I think there may be a lot of commercial companies that won't want someone like Mike Tyson endorsing their products.
37:38I think...
37:39Is he going to become a villain?
37:41I don't think it'll get to that point, but I think people are starting to judge him more than they did earlier in his career.
37:48Yeah, the plain fact is you've got a 22-year-old kid here who was a millionaire many times over,
37:53and all he's done lately is complain, and I don't think people are going to like that very much.
37:57Mike, you've called Mike Tyson an ingrate. Why?
38:01It's almost as if, since he's married, the women in his life, wife and mother-in-law,
38:08have asked Mike Tyson to forget about where he came from, forget about all the people who helped him,
38:13all the people who took him out of the ghetto, who gave him sparring partners when he was 14 years old,
38:18who took care of him, nurtured him, made him a contender, built him up, made him a millionaire by the age of 20,
38:25made him a champion by that age, and he's just supposed to forget these people.
38:30Thank you very much, Mike Katz, Wally Matthews, and Phil Berger.
38:34For those of you who don't read the sports pages, or even the front page,
38:38the infighting has been vicious on the surface, but below the surface, homicidal.
38:48Below the waves of money and fame, tides of turmoil swirl in Atlantic City,
38:54starring Mike Tyson, the lovesick groom who was groomed to be a champ.
38:58Robin Givens, the beautiful bride who was groomed to be a star.
39:04Bill Caton, the old manager whom the bride and groom are trying to elbow aside.
39:10Don King, the promoter who feels he owns the heavyweight division.
39:14And Ruth Roper, the mother-in-law.
39:17You may remember the storybook career of Mike Tyson, the boy king of boxing, as it continued in Tokyo,
39:24where he polished off Tony Tubbs while the beaming Robin shared the excitement.
39:29But soon after they returned home, Tyson's ailing co-manager and surrogate father, Jim Jacobs, died.
39:36The honeymoon was over.
39:40Bill Caton, Jacob's 69-year-old partner, the business whiz behind Team Tyson, was now sole manager.
39:48But the new Mrs. Tyson and her mother, Ruth Roper, began to accusingly demand the financial records and access to the champion's millions.
39:57An incident happened and we noticed a discrepancy with Michael's money.
40:01If Michael has $50 million and he's supposed to have $70 million, there's a problem.
40:06Jayden, put on the defensive despite brilliantly enriching Tyson, lashed out at colorful Don King for trying to work out a separate promotional deal with the fighter who said...
40:18Everyone else makes bigger issues than what they really are.
40:21You know what I mean? Don King's not my manager. Bill King, my manager, will always be my manager as long as I'm fighting. Don King's my promoter.
40:28But the heavyweight champion attracted attention to his personal life, the marital problems of the perfect young couple.
40:35And they were amplified to a scream by a strange car accident and by King and Givens accusing Caton of trying to break up the marriage.
40:43I'll tell you clearly, I'm angry. I could tell you that a person very close to us, he offered him money, $50,000, to help us get a divorce.
40:52He said he'd stop at nothing less than our getting a divorce. This is like something out of Dynasty.
40:56But that was followed by revelations made by Robin's sister that Tyson was hitting her.
41:03The newlyweds, however, continued to profess their love. Caton remained the villain or scapegoat.
41:09Then a full-scale confrontation broke out on the set of a commercial.
41:14As hundreds of workers waited hours, Caton was forced to agree to a slightly lesser percentage of his normal deal.
41:21Then, in Atlantic City, at ringside of the richest fight in history, which Caton had negotiated,
41:28Tyson, as he destroyed Sphinx, also served legal papers on his manager.
41:34He charged him and his late co-manager, Jacobs, with fraud.
41:39Where in the months leading up to Atlantic City, Caton felt under siege from the bride, the mother-in-law, and the promoter.
41:46Now he and Jacobs' little Lorraine put the blame directly on the heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson.
41:53He tried to embarrass my family. He tried to disgrace us. And as far as I know, this might be my last fight.
42:02Is it final? Stay tuned.
42:05I found myself hoping through all the chaos that Mike Tyson could have defused attention the way Paul Hogan, Crocodile Dundee, did when he was squiring around his new love.
42:26He said, I'm rich and famous, and she wants me for my money.
42:31Don King's main role in this seems to have been like Conrad Dobler's in that beer commercial, agitating both sides.
42:39Manager Bill Caton on the one side, Tyson, his wife, and mother-in-law on the other, so that he can pick up the pieces.
42:47It's no mystery why he wants to pick up the pieces. Mike Tyson is on the verge of becoming the first nine-figure athlete.
42:56He could be worth more, much more, than a hundred million dollars someday.
43:01More than the most valuable baseball or football franchise.
43:06But there's a price to pay that can't be measured in dollars.
43:11The battle over Mike Tyson's golden future is shredding connections to his storybook past.
43:19To the late Customato, his trainer, teacher, and legal guardian who rescued him from reform school.
43:25To the late Jimmy Jacobs, his co-manager and friend who helped finance his development and then steered him to the undisputed championship.
43:34To Steve Lott, the loyal aide he lived with for two years, but fired at the insistence of his wife and mother-in-law.
43:41And possibly to trainer Kevin Rooney, whose closeness to Tyson and 10% deal is resented by his new family.
43:49And the man who was born the brunt of the attack, manager Bill Caton, is with us.
43:55Bill, Robin Givens and Don King have accused you of trying to bribe a priest, a priest, of breaking up their marriage with $50,000.
44:06Did you?
44:07Of course not.
44:08I've been accused by Robin and Don of many things, but nothing as stupid as that.
44:12It is absolutely inconceivable that I would consider bribing a priest to break a marriage.
44:17The facts are just the opposite.
44:19I'm in favor of the marriage.
44:21Mike is madly in love with Robin.
44:23And the last thing in the world I'd want to see happen is that marriage broken up because it would destroy Mike.
44:30And I want Mike to be happy.
44:32She has also accused you of somehow tampering with the books.
44:38And Don King has even said very recently that you've never been willing to turn over the records.
44:43Over a month ago, the complete readout on the manager's account was delivered to Michael Winston.
44:51That had every dollar of income and every dollar of expenditure from the time the account was opened, way, way, way, maybe at the very beginning of Mike's career, so that they know where every dollar has come in and where every dollar has been spent.
45:05And they haven't said one word about that.
45:07So they haven't complained since getting that.
45:09Not a word.
45:10No complaint.
45:11There can't be any.
45:12Everything is completely accounted for.
45:13Every dollar.
45:14Thank you, Bill.
45:16We can expect many more chapters to that story.
45:19You might think a one-round KO is a short story, but the stories of one-round KOs, like Tyson and Spinks, are a lot longer than the fights themselves.
45:29They live in memory and sometimes in infamy.
45:33The famous Lewis Schmeling rematch.
45:44Well, I think the most dramatic one I thought was Lewis Schmeling, which was, you know, the big grudge match with the honor of the Aryan race versus, you know, the black guy from Detroit.
45:55That was the basic, dramatic storyline one-round fight, probably in history.
46:02The end came in two minutes and four seconds. Schmeling landed only one punch. I believe it was a left hook. Lewis did all of the fighting.
46:11He was a smashing puncher. That was sensational. That was a sensational one-round knockout.
46:18The infamous Marciano-Walcott rematch.
46:22Walcott, in the first round of the second fight, hit Marciano with a pretty good shot. And nothing happened.
46:29And I'm sure in Jersey Joe's mind, or subconscious, he figured, uh-oh, I've taken my best shot. That's it. Let me get out of here.
46:36He was very old at that time, and he was getting $250,000 guaranteed, more than Marciano.
46:44And he was, uh, maybe there just to, uh, to go through the motions. But it is a fact. The eyes tell us that he was not hit very hard and, uh, took the count.
46:58There was a lot of dissatisfaction. It was a fight for a payday.
47:05The Liston-Patterson mismatch, in which Sonny Liston proved that the smaller they are, the harder they fall.
47:17He overpowered Patterson.
47:20Ali Liston, too.
47:24The story I hear was that, uh, hey, this time Sonny, let's not take any chances.
47:29Uh, the kid almost quit the first time, so this time the first punch go down, and Sonny didn't wait for the first punch.
47:36Leading to Tyson and Sphinx.
47:41Michael Sphinx has to keep moving with every shot.
47:45Uppercut landed inside, and Sphinx went down.
47:48Woo!
47:49It was the left uppercut.
47:51I was surprised it was a body shot that put him to the canvas.
47:54And that is the first time Michael Sphinx has ever been down in a professional fight.
47:59And he's down again, and in serious trouble.
48:03A right hand right on the chin.
48:06Six.
48:07Seven.
48:08Eight.
48:09He's not going to make it.
48:11It's all over.
48:14So, you can write a novel about a one-round knockout.
48:18Back with us now is Kevin Rooney.
48:20Kevin, do you think, years from now, people will be looking at that minute and a half of tape and saying,
48:26that was the essence of Mike Tyson?
48:31I hope not.
48:32By saying that, you're saying he'll never fight again.
48:35I don't mean that.
48:36I mean that that is one of the landmarks of his career.
48:41Again, I hope not.
48:44I hope that someday there'll be a fighter that can really test Mike, really bring out everything he knows.
48:51When I say he's only fighting 50%, I mean it.
48:54And I feel it's true.
48:56Because there's a lot of things that he's capable of doing and has done in the gym that he has never done in a fight.
49:04Are you fearful then that his announcement of being retired, although most observers don't take it seriously, that it could seriously interfere with his career?
49:18Well, the only way he could seriously interfere with his career is if he retires.
49:24Now, I take it he hasn't said, he hasn't told me that he retired.
49:27The last time I talked to him, he was going to fight again.
49:30But, you know, fighters and people in the fight game are crazy.
49:35Mike's a little crazy, I'm a little crazy.
49:37And he could definitely retire, he could.
49:40I think that he probably won't, or he shouldn't, because he's a dynamite fighter and he's not at his best.
49:48And I would love to see him break these records that I speak of, because I think he has a legitimate shot to do it.
49:55You went into the ring wearing a shirt with custom motto on it and you had a hat with Jimmy Jacobson.
50:02You surely must be sick over this rift between the people who developed him and his new family.
50:11Well, I don't understand it.
50:15I'm a guy, let's sit down and let's straighten the whole mess out.
50:18That's how I feel.
50:19I want Michael to sit down with Bill Caton and discuss it.
50:23I do know that Bill Caton is honorable and honest.
50:27And you can't ask for better.
50:28You can't ask for better for that.
50:30From where I sit, you wonder why you would want to change something that has put Mike Tyson on track,
50:39not only to be a great fighter, but to be probably the richest athlete in the history of the world by the time he's 24 or 25.
50:48Well, that's right.
50:49If something ain't broke, don't fix it.
50:51Thank you, Kevin, for appearing with us.
50:53You're a stand-up guy.
50:55And finally, this.
50:56For a man who insists he has peace only when he's at war in a ring, Mike Tyson manages to spend as little time there as he can.
51:06That minute and a half he warred with Michael Spinks, however, was as perfect a display of brute skill as we're likely to see soon.
51:14A pure diamond of hard knocks.
51:16The terrible personal unhappiness that accompanied his triumph is sad.
51:21Perhaps it has been caused by his being forced or by being willing to make a choice no one should have to make between his old family and his new one.
51:31For all its faults, boxing has never been that cruel.
51:35Compared to that, what Mike Tyson did to Michael Spinks was poetic and merciful.
51:41For Jim Lampley, Ray Leonard, and the HBO staff, I'm Larry Merchant.
51:48The executive producer of HBO Sports and the producer of Tyson Spinks is Ross Greenberg.
51:55This fight was directed by Mark Payton, and the feature producers were Michael J. Whelan and Steve Salvatore.
52:02on shiqob.com.
52:08***
52:09People, get ready.
52:11It's time to show what you've got.
52:12Fighters, take your places.
52:15There's only one way to go down.
52:18You can steal that victory
52:21Release that energy
52:23Mm, right like the wind
52:26With the fire in your eyes
52:29Take those butterflies and do the best that you can.
52:36Victory, victory, let the party begin.
52:43Victory, victory, let's do it again.
52:50Victory, victory, victory, victory, victory.
53:13Can you feel it?
53:18Sweet, so sweet, so sweet.
53:22There's only one way to the top.
53:24If you really want it, you can never stop pushing.
53:28For the victory, go ahead, go ahead.
53:31This has been a presentation of HBO Sports, the network of champions.
53:49Go ahead.
54:02Go ahead.
54:04This has been a presentation of HBO Sports, the network of champions.
54:06Go ahead.
54:08Go ahead.
54:10Go ahead.
54:13Go ahead.
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