Mike Tyson ’s second round demolition of Trevor Berbick in 1986 has been called his best ever by Iron Mike’s former trainer Teddy Atlas.
Tyson picked up the WBC heavyweight world championship at the age of just 20 by beating Berbick in Las Vegas.
Despite his young age, it was Tyson’s 28th fight with the legendary boxer having dominated from the opening bell.
Tyson ended his career with a record of 44 wins out of 58 fights coming by way of knockout with Atlas praising his stoppage of Berbick.
Tyson hit his opponent with a right to the body followed by a left hook to the head that dropped the older man for the second time in the fight with referee Mills Lane stopping the bout.
And Atlas, who assisted Cus D’Amato in training Tyson, was pleased with the work his fighter put in over 30 years ago.
Asked by SportsCenter Tyson’s best ever knockout, Atlas said: “Oh, that’s an easy one. It’s got to be Trevor Berbick.
“There was no other opening, so he hits him with a left hook on the temple, and what does he do.
“Berbick falls this way. He falls that way. Falls backwards, he gets up, he falls again. He goes through the ropes.
“You talk about dramatic knockout. You talk about that’s for the heavyweight title.”
Berbick admitted in the aftermath of the fight that he didn’t see the punches coming from Tyson.
“He’s a very hard, very sharp puncher,” he said. “I never saw the punch that put me down.
“I made a silly mistake. I tried to prove my manhood with him in the early rounds.”
Tyson went on to dominate the division, not suffering his first loss until a surprise defeat to Buster Douglas in 1990.
He may be in line for his 59th professional bout in the coming months with talk over a return for the 53-year-old continuing to grow.