Celebrities in attendance for Mike Tyson’s return in 1995

Tyson had his issues but aside from Ali - no other boxer has carried the sport and sold more tickets/PPVs.

It’s sad how it ended against Lewis but in his prime, he printed money.

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Cocoon of horror

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Dude’s still making money off that.

He used to be Mel Clark!

As a kid it felt like Mike Tyson was in jail for a really long time.

Now that I'm older, 3 years is not really that much of an absence. Just felt at the time he had been away so long so his comeback seemed extra huge.

I remember going to some friend of a friend of a friends apartment that lived by Bryant-Denny to see it, because he bought the pay-per-view. Poor guy may as well burned that money. At least we brought him some beer for extending the invite.

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Of course the fight only lasted 89 seconds because McNeeley was a bum, but nobody cared.

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Which was the case for the majority of his career. Any good boxer Mike ever fought either beat him or gave him hell. I love Mike, but he is probably the most overrated boxer in history. Easily the most overrated heavyweight.

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no other boxer has carried the sport and sold more tickets/PPVs.

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Have your ever heard of Floyd Mayweather???

Yep, he had the early and dramatic knockouts with a menacing demeanor. Wild, tough guy from the tough streets with power and speed in his punches.

Unfortunately, he is a bit of a "what could he have been" story. His biggest win was against Michael Spinks. Several fighters lost before they stepped into the ring due to being intimidated, like Spinks. Once he stepped up in competition and fought guys who weren't intimidated by him he lost. His life outside the ring was chaotic, to say the least, which surely contributed to him never reaching his potential. He never fully realized his potential against another great fighter, although he did beat some good fighters.

He was only 23 years old when he lost to Buster Douglas. Then there were two losses to Holyfield. Later, the man who he told "I want to eat your children" , Lennox Lewis, knocked Tyson out in eight rounds after delivering a fearful beating to Mike.

However, many casual boxing fans believe he was the greatest boxer ever, up there with Ali. They saw his highlight reel knockouts and are completely ignorant of fighters from the past who were, or probably were, better than Tyson. If you ask them who he beat to deserve such praise there isn't much they can say. He apparently dodged old George Foreman. In his own generation he wasn't the best heavyweight. Lewis and Holyfield were both clearly better. Riddick Bowe was on his level also.

I realize money Mayweather made a billion. I also wouldn’t compare a Mayweather fight in his prime to a Tyson fight. Outside of the Pacquiao fight - which was too late - I don’t remember Mayweather fights having the same “must watch” element to them. Not to mention the knockout fighter is more watchable than the dink and dunk, technical boxer.