Mike Tyson flattened opponent with crushing blow before rival was disqualified in bizarre win

Jesse Ferguson hung on for dear life
to become the first man to take Mike Tyson past five rounds in February 1986.

Tyson met Ferguson in his 18th professional outing
after a remarkable freshman year in the paid ranks
that saw him box 15 times in the space of 9 months.

Tyson fought Ferguson in his second year as a pro.

Every single one of his 17 previous contests had ended inside the distance,
with only Californian journeyman Mike Jameson
being able to extend Tyson to five rounds up to that point.

Ferguson went one better by clinching Tyson
and smothering his work on the inside.

However, ‘Iron Mike’ eventually landed on the button in the fifth round
with a booming right uppercut that sent Ferguson’s head into orbit.

The destructive blow broke Ferguson’s nose
and left him flat on his back,
although he bravely made his way back to his feet.

Sensing his man was still feeling the residual effects of the knockdown,
Tyson leapt on Ferguson like a man possessed,
unloading a blistering flurry of shots against the ropes.

Ferguson showed immense durability to see out the round,
but when the sixth stanza started,
he was no longer interested in engaging with the teenage sensation.

After eating a series of heavy shots,
Ferguson was warned for holding
and subsequently disqualified after not allowing the referee to break up the clinch.

The result was, however, later overturned to a TKO victory by the local commission
to keep Tyson’s stoppage streak alive.

“I never get frustrated,
because I know we have a ten-round limit
and the crop of heavyweights nowadays
have a little difficulty going the full ten rounds,”
Tyson said in his post-fight interview with Hall of Fame commentator Jim Lampley.

“The way they have it planned in their mind to beat me
is to jab, potshot, and grab me,
but it’s ten rounds, and eventually, I’m going to catch them…

In the fourth round, I was watching his shoulders
and watching the punches he was throwing so I could counter them.

At the end of the fourth round, I saw an opening
and I knew I was gonna hit him with an uppercut and finish him.”

Nine months after his win over Ferguson,
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight world champion of all time
at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old
when he knocked out WBC title holder Trevor Berbick inside two rounds.

He then snatched the WBA belt from James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith in his next contest
before unifying all three belts with a win over IBF champion Tony Tucker in 1987.

Ferguson, meanwhile, went on to have a long and punishing career.
His crowning achievement was an upset victory over Ray Mercer in 1993,
which led to a shot at the WBA heavyweight title against Riddick Bowe.

Ferguson was dispatched in two rounds
and never came close to a title shot ever again.

The final stretch of his 44-fight career (26-18)
saw him lose to Frank Bruno, Larry Holmes, and Hasim Rahman
before going the distance with Andrew Golota in his farewell fight in 1999.