Someone suggested Frazier was Tyson`s breakthrough fight, but I didn`t know Frazier was that highly regarded and Moore was said to be Ali`s big breakthrough, but Archie was really old in his bout vs Muhammad. Were any fights theese two had that are better contenders for their breakthrough fights?
For Clay, the Cooper fight. Cassius Clay took his act on the road--very few American fighters are successful at it. You could pretty much say poor as road warriors. What was it, like 45K all cheering for their guy? And Cassius gets hurt and then comes back to close the show the next round. That is a rarity and real character test. They could have insisted on another venue, but here they are taking him on that early in his career. Cooper at home with that many fans is a tough test for lots of guys on the way up & just how many are signing that contract? You just don't see young fighters going into the other guys backyard for non title fights often. It was a real good step for him and served him very well.
Ali was Liston . Though its a highly dubious fight, more ways then one. Without the Liston wins he would be looked at as a lucky fighter bc of the cooper fight. Tyson was Spinks. So much you had the EXPERT ? lol Bert Sugar picking Spinks. This fight was the only one where one could make a slight talk about any possible Tyson defeat which wasn't really possible here. One COULD argue Berbick bc after that Tyson became an icon with Tysons punch out. But Tyson ended all doubts in Spinks who unfortunately was his last fight with Rooney. Not even arguable selections here..
If you were in NY, it was way earlier for Tyson. He was being hailed as the future champ less than 10 fights into his career. My girlfriend saw him fight in person in November 85 when he'd only been a pro for 8 months and he was already drawing huge crowds and it was assumed that he was going to be champion in the near future. When he actually did win the title, it was treated like something of a formality.
True, he had a big following early and it just gathered momentum with each and every fight. For me (and i think lots of others) the Berbick fight completely confirmed him to be the genuine article. Going into that he had all those impressive knockouts but his resume at that point was still a bit bare to be convinced beyond all doubt. Going into the fight the mate and myself still had the teeniest bit of apprehension in the back of our minds. How will he handle the big step up? Is he really that good? He's so young. The odds had actually dropped from Berbick being a 6-1 underdog all the way down to 3-1 so others had that teeny bit of doubt as well. We needn't have worried, his title winning effort against Berbick is one of the most impressive of all time. Tyson was just immense.
