Mike Tyson put on many a performance to remember over the course of his 20-year career.
With a persona as fearsome as his, ‘Iron’ Mike was often credited with beating men before they made their ring walk. If they put up a fight, more often than not Tyson would beat it out of them – at least in the early stages of his campaign.
As one of the most watchable fighters from any generation, Tyson’s opinion on ‘sensational’ fights and fighters carries plenty of weight.
To find the man he felt deserved the most praise takes looking back to 2013, when the former undisputed heavyweight champion spoke to ESPN’s Max Kellerman about Manny Pacquiao‘s recent win over Brandon Rios.
“No fighter, in the years I have witnessed, looked more sensational than Pacquiao looked the other night. Name a fighter that looked more sensational than Pacquiao the other night.”
“It was masterful; the side movements. He threw a lot of punches and Rios couldn’t get a punch off. He was like Willie Pep. It was brilliant. It was really brilliant.”
The fight, billed ‘The Clash in Cotai’, was for the vacant WBO Welterweight World title back in 2013. The US’s Rios entered the ring on the back of a loss – his career first – to Mike Alvarado.
Pacquiao was after licking wounds, too, returning to the ring following back-to-back losses against Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez and a call from his own trainer to retire should he lose a third time on the bounce.
He didn’t, his speed proving too much for Rios over twelve to win a unanimous decision with the scores of 120–108, 119–109, 118–110. Rios would say the Filipino fighting sensation was just ‘too quick,’
‘PacMan’ has fought ten times since, beating Bradley twice but notably losing to Floyd Mayweather and, most recently, Yordenis Ugas. Despite that last defeat being in 2021, he is currently in talks for a comeback to break a record he set himself.
