One of the first fights in the series that was very competetive was Bruno v Witherspoon.. It was one of the preliminary fights.. Unfortunately , Spoon later lost via KO to last minute replacement James Smith... Smith then lost the WBA Strap to Tyson prior to his bout with former champ Pinklon Thomas.. Tucker v Douglas was very good too until Douglas's spirit was broken.. The best fight in many peoples opinion probably will be the finale between unlikely Competitor TNT Tucker and Mike Tyson.. It was a great fight until Tyson put his foot on the gas pedal..
Yes, Douglas-Tucker was very good but i think Bruno and Witherspoon was a more brutal affair overall, shame it did not go the distance. Tucker injured his hand in the fifth round with Tyson so we shall never know how that fight would have turned out.
Frank was indeed on his way to victory until Spoon brutally showed what a champion really is.. Tucker v Douglas once again was a fight were the larger and more qualified heavyweight (Douglas) took a grasp on the tempo of the fight until the true man with the larger heart (Tucker) just purely brought the dog out in the shapely Buster.. TNT earned his corn but so easily could have lost out had he laboured towards the latter rounds. Tucker v Tyson.. A great defining fight for Tucker.. He got his reputation enhanced threefold after the Tyson performance.. He was probably the first man to show Mike that he wasn't quite the man his press clippings suggested......
How does this work when Witherspoon was ahead 97-94, 98-96 and 99-96 going into the fateful 11th round of a 12 round fight? To be fair for some reason i used to think the same thing before rechecking lol. Frank did indeed perform stoically, me and the mate were cheering like crazy for the big lovable bugger. He hit Spoon with some damn good shots. Witherspoon, way overweight and tits jiggling freely did well to win this one.
Indeed your right, frank was behind at that stage though Mickey Duff, the matchmaker, actually had Bruno on his own scorecard two rounds clear by the end of the ninth, though his scoring hardly matters! It was still an excellent fight.
There were 5 rounds left in Bruno-Witherspoon too, so even if Bruno had been ahead 2 rounds he needed to do a lot more if wanted to win on points. But I just cant imagine Bruno going 15 rounds with anyone decent. The way i remember it Bruno started well but the tide began to turn noticeably around the 6th and 7th, like Witherspoon's toughness wouldn't wane and Bruno's power was starting to. Lots of heavy punching in that fight. Anyway, my choice - although not a competitive fight - Tyson v. Berbick. That's a classic bit of nostalgia for me.
Its possible that Tucker could have been the first upset for Tyson if Rooney wasnt in his corner that night. Tucker was a good fighter and came into that fight with a hand injury.
