On June 27, 1988, Tyson faced Michael Spinks. Spinks, who had taken the heavyweight championship from Larry Holmes via fifteen-round decision in 1985, had not lost his title in the ring but was not recognized as champion by the major boxing organizations. Holmes had previously given up all but the IBF title, and that was eventually stripped from Spinks after he elected to fight Gerry Cooney (winning by TKO in the fifth round) rather than IBF Number 1 Contender Tony Tucker, as the Cooney fight provided him a larger purse. However, Spinks did become the lineal champion by beating Holmes and many (including Ring magazine) considered him to have a legitimate claim to being the true heavyweight champion. The bout was, at the time, the richest fight in history and expectations were very high. Boxing pundits were predicting a titanic battle of styles, with Tyson’s aggressive infighting conflicting with Spinks’s skillful out-boxing and footwork. The fight ended after 91 seconds when Tyson knocked Spinks out in the first round; many consider this to be the pinnacle of Tyson’s fame and boxing ability.
Wilder vs. Zhang took place June 1 at the Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. Deontay Wilder (43-4-1) and Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1) squared off in the the main event clash. The fight aired live on pay-per-view on DAZN.
In interviews, Tyson has described the tattoo as a “warrior mark” that signifies his readiness to face any challenge that comes his way. He sees it as a tribute to his own strength and determination, as well as a reflection of his deep respect for the warrior tradition that he feels a part of.
During an interview with Graham Behich, which is available on YouTube, he said, “I just thought it was a cool tattoo. I was going to get a bunch of hearts and stuff. That would have been really stupid. I was going to be the man of hearts, baby. I was very close. Victor Perez, the tattoo artist, said, I ain’t doing that. I can’t do that. I said, ‘what do you think I should get?’ Because I was confused. Victor Perez is a good guy and said, ‘come back see in bing.com a couple of days. I’m going to try and write up some stuff.’ I waited around, and two days later, he called and said, ‘Mike, I’ve got some tribal stuff.’ I said, ‘Woah, put another one over there.’ I was like, ‘this is cool; I like this.’ So he did it.”
Over the years, there have been rumors that Tyson was going to get the tattoo removed, but that’s not likely to happen. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the boxer said he likes the ink. “A lot of stuff happened out of this tattoo, a lot of good stuff, Tyson said. “Other young athletes come to me and say, It’s because of you they call it the Mike Tyson.”
“We went through the whole list, a lot of fighters didn’t want to fight with me and I’m glad that we found one who wants that,” said Hrgovic in his press conference. “Thanks to Zhang and his team, I think we’ll make a great fight.
The boxing star also admitted to being wasted when he got the tattoo on the same podcast. “I think I was on cocaine at the time,” he said “I am drinking and I was fucking wanted to get a badass tattoo. Some mean shit on my face.” Well, he certainly achieved his goal.
Zhang, says Tommy, “can be the godfather of Chinese boxing,” a pioneer for future generations. “The next Sugar Ray Robinson could be some 8-year-old from Shanghai who’s never seen a boxing glove,” says Tommy. “They have the athletic talent pool. There’s no reason it can’t be.”
Round 3: Nice body shot from Zhang before another chopping head shot. The crowd gaps. “He’s too slow for you!” chirrups one of Team Zhang. Joyce’s eye does not look good and he takes an uppercut on the inside. The home favourite is having more success with the jab and he’s roared on but Zhang cannot miss with his backhand at the moment.
“I’m just disappointed with my performance. The (left) hand he kept hitting me with, I couldn’t get out of the way,” Joyce admitted. “Respect to Zhilei Zhang, it was a good fight. I think I could have done better. I hadn’t fought a southpaw for so long. And credit to him, because he’s a good fighter. I gave it my all. I think I could do better, but it’s just disappointing. I expected to win like I normally do. But thanks for all the support, and congratulations (to Zhang).”
