I am up to his first fight with Holyfield, and theres a couple of things which seem blatantly obvious to me from watching this in quick succession; his downfall wasnt due to Cus dying, which is the overwhelming consensus, not at all, after cus died he won his next 17 fights on his way to the Heavyweight title and looked as raw, rugged and powerful as he ever did, he was progressing in a world class manner.
It wasnt until he lost his training partner, Kevin Rooney, in late 1988 did things take a nasty downwards spiral. With a record of 36-0, They split ways and Tyson lost the man who was responsible for his rise, along with Cus they had the trust in each other, a three way partnership, Rooney was the guy who kept him in check and the trainer who knew more than Tyson than tyson did himself, Tyson did all he could for him, like a dog to its owner, the final link between himself and the late Cus.
Until Tyson's bout with Michael Spinks in 1988 he was rampant. Instantaneously with Rooney dismissal (which was through the persuasion of Don King), Tyson's unique boxing skills which separated him from all the other heavyweights, (speed, focus, fitness and head movement....) declined noticeably. His first fight without Rooney was against Frank Bruno, and he just didnt seem the same, granted Tyson won the fight, but it wasnt as easy as it should have been.
The Tyson circus had started and he had forgotten where he was from, and who put him there.
Fight after fight, it was more noticeable and the lack of spark and shear thirst to rip the opponents head off was diminishing. He won his next fight against a already beaten carl williams but still looked out of shape. The next big challenge against Buster Douglas in tokyo and Tyson would no longer be the invisible destroyer. He got KO'd in the 10th and looked a shadow of his former self, it was hardly a surprise.
It was interesting to watch as an outsider, seeing Kevin rooney leave him was like seeing him walk away from a family member, and I was watching everything around him change and crumble. The poison of don king and his money grabbing wife, all the leaches in the ring, the media circus came into full effect and Tyson was too unstable, too insecure and not clever enough to see his mistake had cost him.
He came back with an intention to redeem himself winning his next 4 fights, still looking dangerous but not the Tyson we knew and loved, unfortunately his wild extra curricular activities were soon to damage his life for good, Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. There was no turning back.
On his return to the ring as a new muslim convert he was like a brain washed zombie, giving all the credit for his win to Allah and speaking like a robot on his victory. What about all your other fights Mike? He was simply, a changed man. Different in the ring and in the mind. From then onwards he showed glimpses of his former self but never found the passion and desire he had as a virginal youth, for me this is all very sad as it makes you think what could have been, the saying "troubled genius" springs to mind.
I think its only fair to judge Mike Tyson, during and after the Kevin Rooney reign, as he was 2 different people. During, he was the most devastating, fearsome and unrelenting warrior the world has seen at heavyweight. After - It was like asking a Puppet to dance without its master.
Kevin Rooney on Mike Tyson - Interesting interview with Kevin Rooney on Tyson and what could have been.
