In camp with Mike Tyson, Andrew Golota and Gerry Cooney
Derek ‘Sweet D’ Williams reflects on sparring Mike Tyson, Andrew Golota and Gerry Cooney and the mindset required to succeed in a menacing environment
MY October of 1997 it seemed that the natural order of the heavyweight division had been restored. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield were champions again. They had beaten Oliver McCall, Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer between them to emerge as the world’s dominant heavyweights. The only real remaining threat to their supremacy was Riddick Bowe, and he had been fortunate to escape with two disqualification victories against Andrew Golota the year before. “Big Daddy” looked completely shot in the rematch, being pummelled throughout and sustaining permanent damage. He wouldn’t fight again for another 18 years.
Desert Island Fights: The 1990s
So far BN readers have voted Frazier-Ali I as their favourite fight of the seventies and Hagler-Hearns from the eighties. What will be the choice for Desert Island Fights from the nineties?
THE premise for Desert Island Fights is simple: You will soon be stranded on a desert island. To ease the boredom, you can take along one – and only one – fight from each of the last five decades (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s) to watch while you’re there. Which five fights do you take?
For many fans, the 1990s was the last true golden era. The decade began when Mike Tyson was still an invincible man and it ended with his powers exposed. That descent, which was bumpy in the extreme, saw fighters like Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis pass Tyson on their way up.