Mike Tyson Reveals the Heavyweight Fighter He Regrets Not Facing: ‘I Would’ve Settled the Debate
Mike Tyson still holds the record of the youngest man to win a world heavyweight title. His career regret is that he didn’t face the man who sits at the opposite end of that scale.
Tyson burst onto the scene in 1985 and won his first 19 bouts by knockout. He beat Trevor Berbick in his 28th contest to win the belt and would become undisputed three fights later.
Despite doing all that he could in terms of records and title wins, Tyson, like most fighters, hung up the gloves feeling something was missing. In a feature with The Ring Magazine, the feared puncher said his one career regret was not facing ‘Big’ George Foreman.
“I would have liked to fight George Foreman. There have been many fans who wondered who was the bigger puncher. I would have liked to put an end to the discussion – one way or the other.”
Foreman was a heavyweight like no other, retiring in 1977 before making an incredible comeback a decade on. He would recapture the world heavyweight championship in ’94 at the age of 45, knocking out 26-year-old Michael Moorer to become the oldest man to ever hold the belts in the top division – a record that doesn’t look in any danger of being broken.
Differing from Tyson’s explosive power, Foreman’s was a relentless clubbing that put his opponents down, with 68 of them not seeing the final bell out of a total of 81 fights. Opponents recalled his jab being the heaviest of weapons even before feeling the uppercuts and hooks.
‘Big’ George did look to face Tyson in the beginnings of his second run but the fight never materialised, presumably because the latter would lose his titles in a shock upset to Buster Douglas in 1990 and Foreman had eyes on the prize rather than a particular opponent.
