Tyson Achieves Greatness on a Bizarre Knockout

Thirteen years ago tonight, at the Las Vegas Hilton, Cus’ kid made history.

Mike Tyson, at 20, became boxing history’s youngest heavyweight champion when he knocked down titleholder Trevor Berbick three times with a single punch.

Tyson was still in the “Cus and the Kid” chapter of his life, when Floyd Patterson’s old manager, Cus D’Amato, had taken the troubled New York City kid under his wing and taught him to fight with gloves, instead of knocking over old men on the streets and taking their watches.

D’Amato lived only long enough to see his protege go 9-0. He died Nov. 4, 1985.

A little more than a year later, Tyson was fighting for a piece of the heavyweight title. Berbick was a crude, but powerful puncher and he held the World Boxing Council’s version of the championship. He was also slow.

According to author Montieth Illingworth, when first shown a Berbick fight video, Tyson asked: “Is this in slow motion?”

Berbick made a major mistake. He tried to crowd Tyson, to make him back up. Instead, he walked right into Tyson’s murderous punches.

In the second round, Tyson fashioned one of the sport’s most bizarre knockouts.

He hit Berbick on the forehead with a left hook that froze the champion for an instant, just before he tumbled backward onto his back. He arose, unsteadily, but stumbled into the ropes and went down again. He got up again, fell down a third and final time, and the fight was stopped.

Tyson netted $800,000. He improved to 28-0 and his future seemed to stretch beyond the horizon. He next defeated James “Bonecrusher” Smith and Tony Tucker to become the undisputed champion.

He remained undefeated for more than four years, before he was knocked out in Tokyo by Buster Douglas.

Also on this date: In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Roberto Clemente out of the Dodgers’ farm system. . . . In 1989, the Minnesota Twins made Kirby Puckett the first $3-million-a-year major leaguer. . . . In 1947, 102,938 at the Coliseum saw USC beat UCLA, 6-0.