Welcome back fight fans to another video here on The Fight Game.
A knockout in Boxing is the cream of the crop.
Mike Tyson is one of if not the best knockout puncher the sport has ever seen.
To the untrained eye Mike Tyson would seem to be a reckless fighter, throwing wild punches,
but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Commentator: "Oh!
A big right hand!"
A knockout from Mike Tyson is the result of tireless years of practice, years of experience
and the channeling of momentum and ferocity.
Welcome to this video here on The Fight Game, where we take a look at 3 categories of Mike
Tyson's caliber, and how it enabled him to score the knockout punch.
[SHIFTING]
Mike Tyson's skillset was vast, one particular move Tyson utilized fully was shifting.
Shifting is a lost art in modern day boxing.
Without complicating things, it can be described simply as a seamless change in stance or movement
of the feet.
For an example let's take a look at boxer Israil Madrimov.
Watch how Madrimov misses the right, and instead of staying orthodox he shifts his right leg
forward after the punch to enter the southpaw stance.
Here he can throw a rear left hook to the body.
Shifting of the feet cuts down the distance drastically and puts himself in a great position
to continue his attack from.
Mike Tyson's shifting however is fundamentally similar, but different in it's execution.
He shifts laterally as opposed to Madrimov's forward approach, where he rotates around
his opponent with his footwork and changes stance in doing so.
Look at this sequence against Larry Holmes.
[CROWD NOISES]
Tyson starts off in orthodox stance, then after a duck Tyson steps out his left foot
and brings the right foot forward on a right hook,
putting himself in a southpaw stance from the side, and from there he's able to load
up on a massive left hook.
Let's take a look at another example.
Watch how Tyson lands the last right hook to the body.
Now watch his feet, he starts in orthodox and throws a right uppercut, and as he ducks
down he steps his right leg outside his opponent's, putting himself in an almost square stance,
and from this new position he can land a right hook around the side.
Now watch him use that move again moments later in that same round.
Commentator: "Again!
A double right hand!"
Tyson throws the jab in orthodox position, and as he throws the first right hook he shifts
again, but instead of a square stance it's a southpaw stance, and from this
new position he's able to land a right uppercut straight up from the guard.
Let's take a look at another knockout.
[CROWD NOISES]
Here Tyson jabs, his opponent ducks to the left, Tyson moves to the opposite side, and
then shifts his feet around his opponent into a southpaw stance,
and lands a right hook from this new position.
Mike Tyson's brutal knockout of Marvis Frazier was also made possible through shifting.
Commentator: "Uppercut and Marvis is hurt!"
Tyson throws a jab from the orthodox stance, then jumps into a shift to the southpaw stance,
from there he throws what has now become a lead right uppercut
through the guard, and then throws the finishing combination from the new angle he established
from the side.
Commentator: "Oh he's got a right uppercut, and another right uppercut!
And down goes Memphis!"
Here Tyson shifts while on the ropes, putting himself out of his opponents field of view
while transitioning to southpaw stance and scores a great knockout.
The philosophy of positive positioning in boxing was taught by Mike Tyson's great trainer
Cus D'Amato.
The art of hitting your opponent where he can't hit you is enabled through shifting
of the feet.
Mike Tyson "Boom boom, and I twist it, and boom I'm around the side where you cant hit
me.
You're expecting me to be here and you're throwing punches here, you're throwing punches
here, and I'm here already."
It was also a core principle emphasized greatly during his training routine.
Cus D'Amato: "That's it see?
Aint no way he's gonna hit ya then.
Right?
Remember - it's always good to throw the punch where you can hit them and they can't hit
you - that's what the science of boxing is all about."
"Remember from the side you can let that punch go with the worst kind of intention.
Because you know he can't hit you back, so you can throw the bomb with all the power
you can generate."
A change in stance is not always required for a shift of the feet, as seen here.
Commentator: "He lunges in and then gets caught!"
Tyson slips a punch, shifts around his opponent who is now out of position, then lands a left
hook.
[HEAD MOVEMENT]
The purpose of head movement would seem to be the simple evasion of an attack.
However it can also be the pre-requisite to certain counter attacks.
It is less commonly the propellant and generator for power.
Mike Tyson was a boxer who availed all three of the aforementioned facets of head movement.
Mike Tyson was taught a style that's also a lost art in modern day boxing.
His Trainer Cus D'Amato was a knowledgeable practitioner of the style, and it goes by
the name of the peek-a-boo style.
It asks for the boxer to have their hands close to their face, elbows tucked in tight,
and for them to move forward, aggressively, but strategically with intentions of instigating
an attack from their opponent, of which is to be evaded and exploited.
Here's an example.
[CROWD NOISES] Tyson slips the jab of Berbick, and then lands
a massive right hand counter, which sets up the following combination.
Here a low roll to the left sets up a perfect angle for a launching left hook.
Here again another low roll to the left sets up an attack angle for a knockdown.
An unconventional angle sees Tyson land a jab with the motion that's generally expected
from a hook.
[CROWD NOISES]
This bizarre knockout came from an unusual amount of slipping, the obscene amount of
slips made Tyson's launching left hook untimed, and unexpected.
An elastic snap of the left shoulder made Tyson's 1 punch the only punch that mattered.
Here two rolls allow Tyson to land a crushing left hook to the body.
The use of head movement is often unconditional in a Mike Tyson fight.
Commentator: "Tyson does not throw wild punches..."
And when it comes to boxing history, Mike's one of the best to ever do it.
[PSYCHOLOGY]
It is no secret that the success of Mike Tyson was driven greatly by his late trainer Cus
D'Amato.
Cus was one of the only men in Tyson's life he trusted, and with that trust came
the youngest heavyweight champion of the world.
Through a collection of strategies Cus taught Tyson how to box, and instilled confidence
in him to truly harness the full potential of such
skill.
Carefully placed compliments, Cus knew how to turn Mike from a young boy into a strong
man.
Cus taught Mike how to channel his fear and rage, to turn it into maximum violence through
punches in a boxing ring.
Cus D'Amato felt that in order to perform at a level when you're fighting professional
in a real fight, the only way to be at your absolute best - is to simulate that in practice.
The same way two Tennis players will go out at full steam out there on a Tennis court.
To have punches thrown at you with bad intentions and make it your job to get away from them
and hit back.
The only that can be accomplished to it's epitome, is to have it done in practice, every
day, without any lesser degree.
Cus believed that boxing was simply a contest of character and ingenuity.
The boxer with more will, determination, and desire will always come out the victor.
This was reinforced through D'Amato's teaching methods.
That starts with throwing a punch not only to land, but to hurt.
Commentator: "There's a combination uppercut by Tyson!"
Watch this knockout of Henry Tillman.
Tyson puts everything into the punch, starts from down low and swings his head to the opposite
side with an elastic snap of the shoulder.
A low centre of gravity with a strong base makes Tyson one of the hardest punchers in
history.
Physical conditioning is important in boxing, but mental conditioning is just as, if not
more, important.
Most of Tyson's knockouts came from a foundational killer instinct.
An unstoppable mission to destroy.
Tyson throws with the intention of not punching at an opponent, but through them.
Tyson: "My shots are so accurate, and so precise - not to be egotistic, but when they land,
they're so precise, I just can't help who you are, you have to go down.
Because it's all over when Mike Tyson hits you."
So now that we've looked at three categories breaking down how Mike Tyson scored the knockout
punch, to finish off the video let's take a look at one of his best knockouts, utilizing
all three chapters, head movement, shifting, and psychology.
[CROWD CHEERING]
First the slip to evade the jab and to get down low, then a kinetic push off the ground
with a twist in the feet to shift into the southpaw stance as he throws the hook landing
clean with the greatest of intention.
The punch, thrown with all the power he can generate.
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