THE LOST SEQUEL
Thirty-one years later, the Mike Tyson loss still bugs Tony Tucker – as James Slater discovers
Tucker recalls his clash with Tyson, and wishes he had received a rematch
FORMER IBF heavyweight champion Tony Tucker achieved plenty, yet the tall, athletic and naturally gifted boxer should have achieved a lot more. Tucker was denied the opportunity of winning an Olympic medal when the 1980 Games were boycotted by the US, and later, in his biggest fight, against a peak Mike Tyson, “T.N.T” broke his right hand in the early going – this not long after staggering Tyson with a left uppercut. What followed that August night in 1987 failed to top anything that came before. He retired in 1998 with a record of 57-7 (47).
All these years later, does it still hurt that you couldn’t box at the 1980 Olympics, due to the boycott?
Oh, of course. I know I would have won a gold medal. A lot of the guys I beat, in the Pan-ams and in other tournaments, I would have fought them again and I would have beaten them again. I’d have won a gold, for sure. And the Olympics, everyone watched, so I would have been so much more well-known all around the world. But I carried on and I went pro.
You were 34-0 and the IBF champion before you fought Tyson. Looking back, did you fight enough top guys to equip you for that fight?
Really, none of the fighters I fought before [fighting for] the world title were that great. I met some good fighters. Jimmy Young [w pts 10], he was slippery [laughs]. He rolled with the shots real well, he never took the full impact. Yeah, he was a good boxer. Me and Buster [Douglas], that was a great fight [Tucker stopped Douglas in 10, winning the vacant IBF belt]. We both had our dads training us, we had sparred before, and we both had a lot to prove. I knew Buster could beat Tyson [when they fought in 1990]. When they fought, I wasn’t surprised at all when he beat him, because he [Tyson] was a bully, but Buster could be a bully himself.
The fight you had with Tyson was obviously a big deal. You rocked him early with that left uppercut, but broke your right hand.
I’d have knocked him out. He couldn’t beat me, not with [me having] two hands. I kind of blame my dad a lot for that fight, that loss. I was sparring and I hurt my hand, and I told my dad I’d hurt my hand, and he told me to use my left hand. I was in pain
‘I’D HAVE KNOCKED MIKE TYSON OUT. BUT I HURT MY HAND’
and he said I could have 10 days of therapy, that I couldn’t use my hand for 10 days – but the fight was in 10 days. My dad told me that if I didn’t fight, we wouldn’t get paid. My dad convinced me I’d be okay in the fight. That showed me how much money can come into things, even with family, you know? But Tyson, he never hurt me. It was an easy fight. I was desperate for a rematch, so much so that I even signed with Don King. Never would I have done that otherwise. But after I signed with him, he [Tyson] went to prison, taking my rematch with him.
You suffered from depression after the decision loss to Tyson, before coming back just over two years later, in December of 1989.
Yeah, I was depressed. I hadn’t just lost a fight, I had that argument with my dad. I just wanted that rematch [with Tyson]. I wound up fighting Lennox Lewis for the WBC belt instead [Tucker dropping a unanimous decision in May of 1993]. Lennox Lewis was a helluva fighter, and a helluva puncher. Again with Tyson, I knew Lewis would beat him. But Tyson was done by the time they fought – doing drugs and drinking and having been in jail and everything. Even so, Lewis would always have beaten Tyson. Tyson always had trouble with tall guys who could punch and move; that’s why he lost to Douglas. Lewis would always have stopped Tyson.
You were close to fighting George Foreman in 1995, after he had regained the crown at age 45. But then he relinquished the WBA belt.
He did what was best for him. I wouldn’t have been a good fight for him. I’d have outboxed him. I’m not sure if I would have knocked him out, but I like George, he’s a Christian man like myself, and I’m glad our fight never happened. I would have hurt him, bad maybe.
You retired in 1998. What would you say was your last good fight, your last good performance?
My very last fight. I fought a guy [Billy Wright] who was knocking everyone out and I knocked him out in the first round. I remember I looked over at Don’s face and he wasn’t happy. I was supposed to lose. King thought he’d let the guy use my name and go on. So I decided right there to retire. It was the same thing with Herbie Hide [who stopped a faded Tucker inside two rounds in 1997]. He used my name to go on. I was done as a fighter by then, no way would Hide have beaten the real Tony Tucker.