On this Day in Fistiana… 12/16/95 Tyson vs. Mathis Jr.

On this Day in Fistiana…

Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr.

December 16, 1995

On this day in fistiana in 1995, Mike Tyson beat a Buster, but no, not that Buster, this was Buster Mathis Jr son of the former heavyweight contender and an opponent who was actually shorter than Iron Mike, the only time he ever faced a more diminutive foe. And quite frankly on this night, Mike's second fight out of the slammer, Tyson didn't look all that impressive, missing with both hands and getting winded before finishing Buster off with a couple short uppercuts in the 3rd. The whole card however was an impressive Don King marathon show, featuring ten fights including several stars of the era and of all time(see below). It was also offered on regular commercial television on a Saturday night on FOX after so many had been disappointed with Tyson's first fight after being released from prison, his 89 second bout versus Peter McNeeley in August of that year. 

               

Saturday 16 December 1995

Core States Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

promoter: Don King (Don King Productions)

light middleweight Terry Norris  151½  40(25)-6  W Paul Vaden  154  24(12)-0   UD12

referee: Rudy Battle  judge: George Hill 119-109  judge: William James 120-108  judge: Barbara Perez 118-110
WBC light middleweight title
IBF light middleweight title

light middleweight  Carl Daniels 153  35(22)-1  L Julio Cesar Vasquez 154  55(38)-2  TKO11

time: 0:34  referee: Charlie Sgrillo  judge: Bobby Grasso 97-92  judge: Oswaldo Sanchez 98-92  judge: Hugo Pineda 98-92
WBA World light middleweight title

heavyweight Mike Tyson 219 42(36)-1   W Buster Mathis Jr.  224  20(6)-0  KO3           

time: 2:32  referee: Frank Cappuccino  judge: Ron Greenly judge: Carol Polis judge: Adelaide Triplett

heavyweight  Tony Tucker  237 52(43)-3  L Henry Akinwande 230  26(16)-0-1  UD10

92-98  93-97  93-97

super middleweight  John David Jackson  168  33(19)-1  W Guy Stanford  167 16(8)-10-1  UD10

middleweight Keith Holmes 155    27(18)-1 W Kevin Tillman  156 13(3)-6  UD6            

welterweight  Oba Carr  149 37(23)-1  W  Ramon Sanchez  144  2-7-1 TKO3                 

bantamweight  Tim Austin  117  12(11)-0-1 W  Jose Luis Velarde  114  22(14)-17(8) KO1

female lightweight  Christy Martin  134  24(19)-1-2  W  Erica Schmidlin  136  TKO1                 

welterweight  Rodney Moore  149 36(18)-9-2 W Robert Hightower 144 11(3)-12-1  TKO1