Mike Tyson is no stranger to an early knockout, but his fastest in the paid ranks came against the son of a heavyweight legend.
In 1986, at 24-0 and months from becoming the youngest top-division titleholder in history, Tyson fought 16-1 Marvis Frazier.
Despite being trained by his dad, ‘Smokin’ Joe,’ the fight lasted only thirty seconds.
In July 1986, months away from becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history, Iron @MikeTyson almost took his head off the shoulders of boxing legend Joe Frazier’s offspring Marvis.
The fight lasted 30 seconds.
Tyson was 24-0. Marvis 16-1.
🎥 @ABCNetwork pic.twitter.com/pDDVnJbRQl
— World Boxing News (@WorldBoxingNews) July 10, 2024
Tyson blasted out of the blocks and went straight for Frazier in the fight broadcast by ABC as part of its Wide World of Sports anthology series. There was no stopping Mike as Frazier struggled to get a single punch off.
The ending came within seconds as Frazier got caught with solid shot after solid shot, with Tyson clearly having bad intentions. An uppercut sent Frazier’s head into the clouds before a perfectly-timed and destructive right hook hit Frazier’s chin as he fell. An unnecessary left hook to the temple then pulverized Frazier and put him down in the corner, slumped against the ropes.
Suffering only a second career defeat, the first being to Larry Holmes, Frazier’s son would never fully recover from the events of that night. After a year out, Marvis returned in the summer of 1987. However, he only fought three times before retiring in 1988 at the age of 28. He later became a minister helping prisoners.
As for Tyson, it’s well documented that his career was already on the path to stratospheric superstardom. His 25th victory led to another one-sided beating of Jose Ribalta before a second-round knockout of Alfonzo Ratliff set up his first world title challenge.
When Trevor Berbick brought his belts to the ring in 1986, Tyson obliterated his compatriot to become the WBC champion and the best in the division at 20.
However, the Frazier knockout remains in the history books as Tyson’s fastest-ever professional knockout. His quickest in the amateurs was eight seconds at the Junior Olympics in 1981 when he took out Joe Cortez.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
