The last man to beat Mike Tyson wants the opportunity to prove the first time wasn’t a fluke.
Ireland’s Kevin McBride forced Tyson to quit on his stool at the end of the sixth-round at the MCI Center in Washington DC in June 2005, a full 15 years ago.
After the fight Tyson admitted what those in the game had known for some time: he didn’t have the hunger to compete anymore.
“I do not have the guts to be in this sport anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to disrespect the sport that I love. My heart is not into this anymore. I’m sorry for the fans who paid for this. I wish I could have done better.”
Fast forward to 2020 and Tyson, at 54, is set to box an eight-round exhibition against fellow legend Roy Jones Jr, 51, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
“Imagine that?” the 47-year-old McBride said to Sky Sports: “I’d like to see him knock Jones out then say: ‘I want to fight the last man to beat me!’
“Of course I would love to mix it up with Tyson again.
“I would definitely give him a rematch and fight him again.
“I’d like an opportunity to finish the job.
“It’s very strange but Tyson is a mega-star, everybody is interested. He’s still dangerous.
“Everyone wants to know what type of fighter he will be.
“He tried to bite my nipple off so maybe he will try to bite Jones Jr’s nose off!
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, no. But the thing about us fighters? We want to fight.”
McBride said it was a dream come true to fight Tyson, although he readily admits that the former ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ had seen better days.
“Let’s be honest – Tyson wasn’t the same as he was 15 or 20 years earlier,” McBride said.
“It was a dream for me to fight Tyson. But to beat him?
“He had power and he was durable. George Foreman knocked out Michael Moore aged 44 – the last thing to leave you is power.
“Tyson is always dangerous, no matter his age. He will always be able to knock you out.
“He hit so hard that I can still feel the punch today!
“He hit me to the body and I felt something move on the other side.
“Then he hit me with a good right hand to the top of my head and I was seeing leprechauns for a while!
“He tried to break my arm. He tried to bite me.
“But I leaned on him, pushed him around, used my weight. I always think a big strong man will beat a small strong man.
“He hit me with some good uppercuts but I felt the energy sapping, I felt his will leaving him.
“In the sixth round he hit me with a good shot but I told him: ‘Is that all you’ve got? You’re in trouble…’
“In the back of my mind I was hoping that was all he’s got!”
Early in the sixth round, Tyson appeared to try to break McBride’s left arm while the two were in a clinch, as he did when he fought Francois Botha in 1999.
Tyson then opened a cut over McBride’s left eye with an intentional headbutt. The ringside doctor examined the cut and referee Joe Cortez deducted two points from Tyson for the foul.
Returning to his corner at the end of the round, Tyson clearly felt defeated.
“He just quit,” McBride sighs.
“He quit on his stool. He had an opportunity to go out in the middle of the round but didn’t.
“That will live him for the rest of his life, as far as boxing is concerned, because he quit on his stool.
“I was a bit disappointed. I was kind of sad. He is a legend.
“A man of his pedigree just quit.”
The Tyson victory was the highpoint of McBride’s career. He retired in 2011 with a record of 35-10-1 (29) after going 2-6 in his last eight fights.
