2 days Ago By George Glinski
Mike Tyson has fought some of the best heavyweights of his generation. From Lennox Lewis , Evander Holyfield , and Michael Spinks to Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno, Tyson has shared the ring with a whos who of boxing greats. But none of those mentioned above are credited with being his toughest-ever opponent.
That distinction lies with Pinklon 'Pink' Thomas , whom Tyson knocked out inside six rounds in 1987. “I thought it was Pinklon Thomas, he was my toughest opponent," Tyson told History Bites. "I never thought him, but two years ago I watched the tape of him, a friend of mine told me to watch it.
I hit him with seventeen punches, flat, on the face, he went down but it was seventeen punches! "Seventeen punches, flush, all of them were as hard as they could be and the last one he just passed out. I thought ‘God, that is my toughest fight, he took seventeen on the chin!’” Thomas reigned as WBC heavyweight champion from 1984 to 1986 and holds notable wins over former world title holders Tim Witherspoon and Mike Weaver. These achievements are impressive in their own right but are made even more remarkable by the fact that Thomas was battling a heroin addiction at the time.
Thomas first tried heroin when he was 12 years old and by the age of 14, he was spending $150 (£125) on it a day. He was kicked out of school at 15, leading to a life of crime. He told The Ring : “I chose to go to the projects, I wasn’t from the projects, I chose the lifestyle.
I was an athlete in .
