ESPN On Demand CLASSIC

Tonight while surfing through On Demand sports I randomly chose ESPN. I was then shown a full page of ESPN choices that included the following:

Poker

World Cup

Australian Open

Tyson

So you can guess which one I clicked on. For the next two hours or so I relived the short classic boxing era that was all knockout Iron Mike Tyson's.

For five long years beginning in 1985, Iron Mike was a brutal force in professional boxing. His approach was very simple. He entered the ring, always touched gloves kindly with his opponent after instructions, then commenced in tagging said opponent with power punches that bordered on a felony assault. The young Mike Tyson displayed power and quickness that the boxing world hadn't seen since Sonny Liston and Foe Frazier. His first 19 professional fights all ended in knockouts, 13 of which were in round 1.

The young Mike Tyson bobbed and weaved with such quickness that his opponent usually didn't see the punch that ended the fight. Mike Tyson would become a boxing phenomenon known throughout the world and feared by boxers. You'd see the fear in the eyes of opponents as soon as the bell would ring to begin round 1. Legendary fighters like Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes, an old Holmes, were no exception to the fear factor once in the ring with Tyson. Tyson forced us to love his powerful style. In hindsight, I believe mankind feared Mike Tyson at the pinnacle of his career.

Challengers with names like James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, Carl 'The Truth' Williams, Tony 'TNT' Tubbs and 'Slammin' Sammy Scaff fell victim to the power and speed of attack of a young Mike Tyson. Tyson became the first Heavyweight to unify all three boxing titles. Nintendo had come out with a video game titled "Mike Tyson's Knockout Punch" and as Scarface so prophetically stated "The World is Yours!" The 1980's would end with Mike Tyson as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Then came Feb. 11, 1990, a night that'll live in the annals of sports infamy. It was Tyson's second time fighting in Japan, the first being a first round knockout of Michael Spinks, you remember, Leons younger brother.

The challenger? B u s t e r D o u g l a s, a man who's mother had recently died, wanted to win it for his mom. Nobody, and I mean nobody thought Buster had a fighting chance of even making it out of the first minute much less the first round. But I guess Buster's deceased mom put in a special divine order for her underdog son and the stage was set for history. Every boxing fan would remember the climatic call in the 10th round, the round following a knockdown of Douglas in the ninth. The only one who may not remember is Iron Mike. Here's a look back at history in the making some 20 years ago: