The heavyweight unification series, also known as the Heavyweight World Series, was a sequence of professional boxing matches held in 1986 and 1987 to crown an undisputed champion of the heavyweight class. The series was produced by HBO Sports and promoted by Don King. It ended with Mike Tyson as undisputed champion, holding the championship belts of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA), and World Boxing Council (WBC). [1]
Prior to the series, the last undisputed heavyweight champion had been Leon Spinks, who won the championship in his 1978 victory over Muhammad Ali. [2] [3] Spinks was stripped of his WBC title later that year because he opted to fight a rematch against Ali instead of a mandatory challenger; the heavyweight championship had been fragmented ever since. [3] This fragmentation and the resulting proliferation of title fights was seen by many as a discredit to the sport, and resulted in declining public interest in boxing.
The idea of the series originated in October 1985, when Don King visited HBO Sports president Seth Abraham to propose a WBC title fight between Pinklon Thomas and Trevor Berbick. [4] Abraham had little interest in the fight, but, inspired by the World Series that was being televised at the time, he suggested making the fight the first in a series to unify the heavyweight titles. [4] King and Abraham mapped out the seven fights that would constitute the series, which King estimated could be produced for $20 million. [4]
King and HBO announced the series on January 17, 1986, during a press conference before a fight between Tim Witherspoon and Tony Tubbs. [5] That fight was seen as an unofficial prelude to the series, as the winner would hold the WBA title and would participate in the series. [5] The series would also include WBC champion Pinklon Thomas, IBF champion Michael Spinks, and top contenders from each of the three sanctioning bodies' rankings. [6] The organizers were hopeful that Mike Tyson, then a young, fresh face, would qualify for the tournament and generate excitement for what was otherwise seen by some analysts as an unappealing slate of fighters. [7] [8]
Michael Spinks had been stripped of his IBF title in the middle of the tournament because he had accepted a lucrative offer to fight Gerry Cooney, instead of facing his mandatory challenger, Tony Tucker. [19] [20] Spinks, however, was still recognized as the lineal champion (which he had not lost in the ring) as well as The Ring magazine heavyweight champion. [3] Following the unification series, there were ongoing calls for Tyson, the champion of all three major sanctioning bodies, and Spinks, the lineal champion, to fight and erase any doubt about the identity of the "true" champion. [3] [21] [22] In June 1988, the two champions faced off, and Tyson knocked out Spinks in 91 seconds. Although Tyson did officially unify the heavyweight title by winning the WBC/WBA/IBF belts in the HBO Unification Tournament, he did not achieve true universal recognition as the undisputed world heavyweight champion until he won this bout with Spinks. [23]
Tyson held on to his titles until February 1990, when he was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas. In October 1990, Douglas lost to a well-conditioned Evander Holyfield in his first title defense. Holyfield held the unified title until November 1992, when he lost a unanimous decision to Riddick Bowe. [24] The titles remained unified until December 1992, when undisputed champion Riddick Bowe relinquished his WBC title for refusing to defend his unified crown against Lennox Lewis. [25]
Michael Spinks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
James "Buster" Douglas is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1981 and 1999. He reigned as undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1990 after knocking out Mike Tyson to win the title, handing the undefeated Tyson his first ever loss. He also defeated heavyweight world champions Oliver McCall, Trevor Berbick, and Greg Page.
Tony Craig Tucker is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an interview with Barry Tompkins, he referred to himself as the "invisible champion," due to the press and general public largely neglecting him. He is best known for giving Mike Tyson in his prime a relatively close fight, in which he, in the words of Larry Merchant, "rocked Tyson" in the first round. However, Tyson went on to win a unanimous decision. As an amateur, he won the 1979 United States national championships, the 1979 World Cup, and a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, all in the light heavyweight division.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Pinklon Thomas is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1978 to 1993. He was boxing's first 'Centennial Champion' (1886-1986) and held the WBC heavyweight title from 1984 to 1986. He is often regarded as One of the Best Boxers of His Generation. He Scored Notable Victories Over Former Heavyweight Champions such as Mike Weaver, Tim Witherspoon, James Tillis and Future Cruiserweight Champion Alfonso Ratliff. He also fought to a draw with future WBA Heavyweight Champion Gerrie Coetzee. Thomas' distinguishing characteristics were his pink boxing trunks and a powerful left jab.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world sanctioning organisations recognized major by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have only been 18 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.
As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the mid to late 1990s.
Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defense of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks, billed as Once and For All, was a professional boxing match which took place on June 27, 1988. Both fighters were undefeated and each had a claim to being the legitimate heavyweight champion. At the time, Tyson held the belts of all three of the major sanctioning organizations while Spinks was The Ring and Boxing Illustrated magazine champion, regarded as "The People's Champion," and was considered the lineal champion. The fight was held at the Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey U.S., it was at the time the richest fight in boxing history, grossing some $70 million, of which Tyson earned a record purse of around $22 million and Spinks $13.5 million. Tyson won the fight, knocking out Spinks in 91 seconds.
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis, billed as Undisputed, was a professional boxing match contested on March 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships.
Trevor Berbick vs. Mike Tyson, billed as Judgment Day, was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1986 for the WBC heavyweight championship.
Mike Tyson vs. James Smith, billed as Super Fight, was a professional boxing match contested on March 7, 1987 for the WBA and WBC heavyweight championships, as part of the heavyweight unification series.
Mike Tyson vs. Tony Tucker, billed as The Ultimate, was a professional boxing match contested on August 1, 1987 for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs. Tyrell Biggs, billed as The Clash for the Crown, was a professional boxing match contested on October 16, 1987, for the undisputed heavyweight championship, which consists of the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles.
Mike Tyson vs. Larry Holmes, billed as Heavyweight History, was a professional boxing match contested on January 22, 1988, for the WBA, WBC and IBF Heavyweight Championships.
Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno was a professional boxing match contested on February 25, 1989 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs. Carl Williams was a professional boxing match contested on July 21, 1989, for WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight championships.
Mike Tyson vs. Pinklon Thomas, billed as Hard Road to Glory, was a professional boxing match contested on May 30, 1987, for the WBA and WBC heavyweight championships.
Evander Holyfield vs. Pinklon Thomas, billed as "The Countdown Continues...", was a professional boxing match contested on December 9, 1988.