Rise to stardom

Main article: Trevor Berbick vs. Mike Tyson

Tyson made his professional debut as an 18-year-old on March 6, 1985, in Albany,

New York. He defeated Hector Mercedes via a first round knockout.[21] He had 15
bouts in his first year as a professional. Fighting frequently, Tyson won 26 of his first
28 fights by KO or TKO; 16 of those came in the first round.[31] The quality of his
opponents gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders,[31]
like James Tillis, David Jaco, Jesse Ferguson, Mitch Green and Marvis Frazier. His
win streak attracted media attention and Tyson was billed as the next great
heavyweight champion. D'Amato died in November 1985, relatively early into
Tyson's professional career, and some speculate that his death was the catalyst to
many of the troubles Tyson was to experience as his life and career progressed.[32]

Tyson's first nationally televised bout took place on February 16, 1986, at Houston
Field House in Troy, New York against journeyman heavyweight Jesse Ferguson.
Tyson knocked down Ferguson with an uppercut in the fifth round that broke
Ferguson's nose.[33] During the sixth round, Ferguson began to hold and clinch
Tyson in an apparent attempt to avoid further punishment. After admonishing
Ferguson several times to obey his commands to box, the referee finally stopped the
fight near the middle of the sixth round. The fight was initially ruled a win for Tyson
by disqualification (DQ) of his opponent. The ruling was "adjusted" to a win by
technical knockout (TKO) after Tyson's corner protested that a DQ win would end
Tyson's string of knockout victories, and that a knockout would have been the
inevitable result. The rationale offered for the revised outcome was that the fight was
actually stopped because Ferguson could not (rather than would not) continue
boxing.[citation needed]

On November 22, 1986, Tyson was given his first title fight against Trevor Berbick
for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the
title by second round TKO, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the
youngest heavyweight champion in history.[34] Tyson's dominant performance
brought many accolades. Donald Saunders wrote: "The noble and manly art of boxing
can at least cease worrying about its immediate future, now [that] it has discovered a
heavyweight champion fit to stand alongside Dempsey, Tunney, Louis, Marciano and
Ali."[35]

Tyson intimidated fighters with his strength, combined with outstanding hand speed,
accuracy, coordination and timing. [36] Tyson also possessed notable defensive
abilities, holding his hands high in the Peek-a-Boo style taught by his mentor Cus
D'Amato[37][38] to slip under and weave around his opponent's punches while timing
his own. [38] One of Tyson's trademark moves was a right hook to his opponent's
body followed by a right uppercut to his opponent's chin; very few boxers could
remain standing if caught by this combination. Lorenzo Boyd, Jesse Ferguson and
Jose Ribalta were each knocked down by this combination.[citation needed]