 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | July 21, 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyson wins via 1st round TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Tyson vs. Carl Williams was a professional boxing match contested on July 21, 1989, for WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight championships. [1]
After Tyson's dominating victory over Frank Bruno five months prior, negotiations for a potential bout with Carl Williams began, and on June 15, 1989, the fight was made official. [2] [3] Four years earlier, Williams had challenged then-IBF Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes for the title, only to narrowly lose by unanimous decision. Prior to his fight with Tyson, Williams had won his previous five fights, including a victory over former champion Trevor Berbick which got him back into contention.
The fight would only last 93 seconds, becoming Tyson's second quickest title fight after his 91-second victory over Michael Spinks the previous year. Tyson and Williams began the fight trading punches with each other, though Tyson's aggressiveness caused Williams to hold several times. About 76 seconds into the round, Williams attempted to hit Tyson with a left jab. Tyson countered and hit Williams with a left hook that sent Williams to the canvas. Though Williams was able to get back on his feet and was seemingly ready to continue the fight, referee Randy Neumann controversially stopped the fight and awarded Tyson the victory by technical knockout. [4]
In an interview after the fight, the referee was asked why he had stopped the fight and he replied: “When he got up at eight, he [Carl Williams] was wobbly. He wasn't standing up, he was leaning against the ropes. I asked him a question, a very simple question, ‘How do you feel?’. Not for the answer, but to see how he responded. His eyes were blank, his expression was blank, he had no answer.” [5]
Because of the controversial nature of Tyson's victory, both Williams and his manager Ira Leibowitz urged the WBA, WBC and IBF to change the ruling Tyson victory to no-contest while also demanding a rematch between the two. [6] However, all three boxing organizations, as well as Tyson's camp refused a Tyson–Williams rematch with Don King's spokesman stating that Williams would have to "go out and knock out a few good fighters" before a rematch with Tyson could happen. [7]
Tyson's victory over Williams would mark the last successful defence of his Undisputed Heavyweight Championship. His next fight would be against little-known James "Buster" Douglas on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan. Despite being a 42-1 underdog, Douglas was able to knock out Tyson in the 10th round to pull off the upset and become the new Undisputed Champion.
HBO, which broadcast the fight live across the nation, did not expect the early conclusion and was hence forced to fill time with episodes of The Kids In The Hall and HBO One Night Stand (prior to the latter, they put up a card explaining the unscheduled broadcast).
Confirmed bouts: [8]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division.
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the three belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
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.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all recognized major organisations 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 defence of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "The Moment of Truth", was a professional boxing match contested on October 25, 1990, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. The bout took place at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada, USA and saw Douglas making the first defense of the titles he won from Mike Tyson in February 1990.
Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match that took place on November 13, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was contested for the undisputed world heavyweight championship, which consisted of the WBA, WBC, and IBF championships.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II, billed as Repeat or Revenge, was a professional boxing match that took place on November 6, 1993, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, billed as One for the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on November 5, 1994 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.
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.
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II, was a professional boxing match contested on November 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, IBF, and vacant IBO undisputed heavyweight championship.
Mike Tyson vs. Tony Tubbs was a professional boxing match contested on March 21, 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. Buster Mathis Jr., billed as Presumption of Innocence, was a professional boxing match contested on December 16, 1995.
Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes, billed as "Class of Champions", was a professional boxing match contested on June 19, 1992, for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
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.
Lennox Lewis vs. Oliver McCall, billed "Whose Moment of Glory", was a professional boxing match contested on September 24, 1994 for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis II, billed as Final Judgment, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between unified WBC, IBF, IBO and lineal champion Hasim Rahman and former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. The bout took place on November 17, 2001 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada, and served as a rematch of their April 22 bout in which Rahman scored a major upset.
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).