Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno

Tyson was coming off a 1st-round knockout over the previously undefeated Michael Spinks, which not only gave Tyson the lineal heavyweight title, but laid to rest any doubt over who was the rightful heavyweight champion. Next for Tyson was a bout against popular British fighter Frank Bruno that was originally set for October 8, 1988 at Wembley Stadium in Bruno's native England. However, on August 23, 1988, Tyson was involved in a street fight with former adversary Mitch Green, whom Tyson had defeated prior to his Championship fight with Trevor Berbick. During the scuffle Tyson hit Green with a right hand that resulted in Green requiring five stitches and Tyson breaking his hand.[1] Due to Tyson's injury, the fight was pushed back to October 22. This was only the beginning of Tyson's troubles. On September 5, Tyson was involved in a car accident that knocked him unconscious[2] A month later, Tyson's estranged wife Robin Givens filed for divorce on October 7 and in the following month filed a $125 million defamation suit against Tyson as well.[3]

Because of Tyson's problems, the proposed October 22 fight against Bruno at Wembley Stadium was scrapped. Instead the fight was shifted to the United States and rescheduled for January 14, 1989 at the Las Vegas Hilton. However, this fight was also postponed, allegedly because of financial disagreements between Tyson's manager Bill Cayton and Tyson's promoter Don King.[4] On December 15, 1988, it was officially announced that the long-awaited Tyson–Bruno fight would finally take place on February 25, 1989 at the Las Vegas Hilton.[5]

The fight got off to a fast start with the two men exchanging punches in the middle of the ring as soon as the round started. At the end of this exchange, Tyson would knock down Bruno with a right hook, though Bruno was able to get up at the count of 4. Tyson and Bruno would continue to fight aggressively, but after several warnings from referee Richard Steele, Bruno had a point deducted due to excessive holding. With about 50 seconds left in the round, Bruno hit Tyson with a left hook–right hand combination that staggered the champion for the first time in his professional career. At the end of round 2, Tyson hit Bruno with a right hand that sent Bruno into the ropes. Sensing a knockout, Tyson would continue to hammer Bruno, but Bruno was able to hold on to Tyson and survive the round. Tyson would continue to dominate the fight into round 5 and, with a minute left in the round, would continuously attack Bruno with powerful combinations. The fight would finally end with less than 10 seconds to go in the round as Tyson was able to get Bruno up against the ropes and hit him with two right uppercuts and a left hook. Before Bruno could go down, Steele stepped in and stopped the fight, awarding Tyson the victory by technical knockout.[6][7] A feature-length documentary, Tyson Bruno, produced by Workerbee, part of Endemol Shine UK, in association with Sky Studios, charts the parallel rise of Mike Tyson and the UK's Frank Bruno, leading up to their championship match in Las Vegas. [8]

Tyson would only have one further fight in 1989. In what would turn out to be the last successful defense of his Undisputed Championship, Tyson easily defeated Carl Williams, knocking him out 93 seconds into round 1. After a seven-month layoff, Tyson would return to face James "Buster" Douglas, in what was supposed to be another easy fight for Tyson before he would meet number one contender Evander Holyfield. However, in a shocking upset, Douglas was able to earn the victory by 10th-round knockout, becoming the new undisputed heavyweight champion in the process.

Tyson then embarked on a comeback in hopes of securing a championship match with either Douglas or Evander Holyfield, who were scheduled to face each other for the undisputed heavyweight title on October 25, 1990. Tyson would go on to defeat Henry Tillman, Alex Stewart and Donovan Ruddock twice before being arrested and sentenced to prison for rape. When Tyson was released in 1995, he returned to boxing and easily defeated journeymen Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis, Jr. This would set up a rematch with Bruno for Bruno's newly won WBC heavyweight championship. In the rematch Tyson would again dominate Bruno, knocking him out in the third round to become the WBC heavyweight champion.