I watched Tyson fight as an amateur. I can't remember the exact year because I'm terrible at years and dates, but it was at the Holyoke Boys Club in Holyoke, MA. It was an AAU tournament featuring one group called something like the Catskills Boys Club. Tyson was on this team. Larry Holmes was the heavyweight champion at the time. I had NEVER HEARD of Mike Tyson, had no idea who the kid was, but he looked about 15 or 16 years old and just looked incredibly tough. He tko'd some tall, red-headed guy. Not a brutal knockout, but a stoppage. I said to myself at the time, never having heard of or seen Mike Tyson before, I said to myself, "This guy is going to be heavyweight champion. He could beat Holmes right now." I'm not saying this was any great insight. Any experienced fan or even streetwise person could see Tyson was unbelievably tough. It was just that obvious. After Mike's fight, he came out of the dressing room and was quietly standing there watching the fights. Nobody bothered him at all. But I noticed him. He wasn't very tall, but I just couldn't believe the size of his neck. In those brief moments, he seemed like a quiet, humble guy.
I am not sure but I remember someone posting this exact same story a long while ago. Again I'm not sure but this story rang a lot of bells.
Good story. I don't know if it's the same guy but I saw a video of Tyson fighting a tall skinny red-head kid like you described. Tyson looked pretty darn good but in retrospect I was impressed with the kid he fought just because he looked like he was trying (in vain) and wasn't just rolling over. Maybe he just didn't know what Tyson was about to become.
Good story, Tyson was definitely the most exciting fighter of my generation, maybe even more so than Ali.
i remember the first time i met Kostya Tszyu here in Sydney - he was also very humble but at the same time you could tell he was tough as nails good share mate!
