WATCH: Mike Tyson’s Sick Explanation for Battering His Close Friend in a Boxing Ring

Published 03/17/2022, 8:00 AM EDT

Mike Tyson never shied away from offering a slugfest inside the boxing ring. Be it against his close ally, ‘Iron’ was always famous for displaying his knockout power to the foray. That said, his 44 professional knockout wins also include his friend, Henry Tillman, as an in-ring victim.

After suffering his maiden pro defeat against James ‘Buster’ Douglas, which was a massive heavyweight upset, Mike Tyson rebounded to the win-track with a highlight reel KO over Tillman. ‘Iron’ fed his opponent to the canvas in the opening round, earning his way back to all the fame. 32-years later, Tyson looked back at the incident when asked whether he has ever fought a friend.

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In a conversation with Jermall Charlo and Paul Pierce, he said, “I fought Henry Tillman, yeah.”

“He [Tillman] wasn’t taking it easy on me, he already kicked my a** two times in the amateurs. You know.” – ‘Iron Mike’ added.

The win over Tillman was a historic resurrection for Mike Tyson, who had lost his heavyweight titles to Buster Douglas. Tyson needed to get back to the title ride, and Henry Tillman came as a perfect gateway. Although Tyson had to accept many more non-title fights after that, his win over Tillman was still the ticket to earning the bigger fights.

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Meanwhile, Henry Tillman had vanquished Mike Tyson twice in the amateur circuit. He also had an Olympic gold medal to tout. But all of it fell short when the heavyweight stars locked horns as professionals.

Mike Tyson looked extremely vicious in-ring. And coming from a heartfelt defeat on his previous outing, Tyson infused all of his skills on Tillman, who struggled to cope with so much action.

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Mike Tyson was a menace inside the ring

5’10” Mike Tyson poleaxed 6 foot plus heavyweight opponents with his alluring power. All he needed was one punch and several of his opponents, including Tillman, came across the fact in the worst possible way. Tyson will always be regarded as one of the hardest hitters in the sport of boxing. Well, he fell prey to the other side, too.

However, Tyson never let go of his monstrous aura. Even in some of his defeats, Tyson didn’t hail his opponent. It resulted in severe controversies on many occasions. But ‘Iron’ Mike never changed his approach inside the boxing ring.

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Written by:

A senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports, Raj Sarkar is a mass media graduate who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to his current role, he has worked with the MMA team at EssentiallySports and has interviewed prominent fighters such as Ritu Phogat and 'The Red King' Rory MacDonald. Combining his bachelor's degree with his adoration for combat sports, he has earned a combined 3000 plus bylines over the last two years.

WATCH: Mike Tyson’s Sick Explanation for Battering His Close Friend in a Boxing Ring

Mike Tyson was a menace inside the ring

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