Mike Tyson was a quick-fisted, thunderous puncher; a deadly menace in the ring, but he had flaws that certain kinds of fighters could exploit. Tony Tucker had the height -6′ 5″- the reach, and handspeed, and footspeed to be a really formidable heavyweight.

He could avoid the medium range bombs on which Tyson relied, and had excellent infighting skills, something Tyson always lacked. Legendary trainer Emanuel Steward thought he was the best fighter in the world at the time he met Tyson. “Physically and talent-wise, he’s the best all-around heavyweight in boxing, including Mike Tyson.”

Tucker was far more talented than his record shows; a sad case of someone who ran into some bad luck, and injuries. He also undermined himself with substance abuse. He entered the ring for the Tyson fight with what seems to have been a hairline fracture of a metacarpal.

Unscrupulous promoter Don King knew about the injury, but pressured Tucker into going ahead with the fight anyway. Tucker understood that he would be blackballed if he had the fight postponed to recover from the injury. Early in the fight he landed a crushing uppercut on Tyson, really jarring him, but the punch also shattered the metacarpal into four fragments.

The pain that ensued for Tucker was the only thing that saved Mike Tyson from being knocked out in this fight. Tony “TNT” was jarring him with combinations before the third round, when the injury was exacerbated.

Mike was so badly shaken by the early exchanges, and had to dip so deeply into his limited stamina, that he could not catch the one-armed fighter for the remainder of the fight, although he did win the decision. The truth is that on his best day, Tony Tucker was just too good a fighter for Tyson.