Despite displaying worrying frailties during his pre-fight neurological exam, Ali was allowed to fight and was duly dominated for ten rounds by Holmes before trainer Angelo Dundee called a halt to proceedings.
Fergie Pacheco, who was Ali’s former doctor, called the fight ‘an abomination’ and demanded all the people involved in be arrested because of Ali’s clearly deteriorated state.
A record two billion people watched the one-sided mauling across the globe, including Tyson and D’Amato on their small closed circuit set in Albany.
The teenager was raging, his desire to seek instant retribution brewed and Tyson, in an interview with ESPN, vividly recalled how he began to hatch a plot with his mentor from that very second.
“Cus had wanted me to beat him so bad. I was offended by how bad he beat up Ali.
“When we drove home to Catskill [about an hour from Albany], nobody in the car said a word, we were all so upset. The next morning, Cus was on the phone with Muhammad Ali after taking this shellacking from Holmes.
“He said to Ali, ‘I have this young black kid who is going to be heavyweight champion someday and I want you to talk to him.’”
Even though Tyson had the chance to talk to his hero, one of the greatest sports stars in history, he still had just one thing on his mind – vengeance.
“When I grow up, I’ll fight Holmes and I’ll get him back for you.”
