Thomas entered the fight with only one loss on his record and was still considered one of the division’s most dangerous contenders. At 6-foot-3, he possessed a respectable jab and previously held the WBC title before losing it to Trevor Berbick in 1986.
Meanwhile, Tyson had already wrested the WBC belt from Berbick and added the WBA title by defeating James “Bonecrusher” Smith earlier in 1987. The heavyweight tournament was drawing to a close, and Tyson knew that another win would bring him one step closer to collecting every major title.
The fight was competitive only in the sense that Thomas refused to fold.
Tyson nearly ended things in the opening round after trapping Thomas against the ropes and unloading a series of hooks and power punches. Thomas survived the onslaught and spent the next few rounds using his jab, tying up Tyson where possible and trying to slow the pace. It only worked temporarily.
By the sixth round, Tyson’s pressure wore him down. A left hook hurt Thomas and opened the door for a brutal finishing attack. Tyson unleashed a sustained combination that eventually dropped Thomas to the canvas for the first knock of his professional career.
Before referee Carlos Padilla Jr. could complete the score, the trainer, Angelo Dundee, stepped into the ring. The fight was called off, giving Tyson a technical knockout victory in the sixth round.
The image from that night remains one of the defining snapshots of Tyson’s rise. Thomas is back to the ropes. Tyson sneaks forward. The crowd can already sense the finish.
The victory pushed Tyson’s record to 30-0 and opened the way for a showdown with Tony Tucker, who defeated James “Buster” Douglas earlier that night to claim the vacant IBF title. Less than three months later, Tyson beat Tucker to become boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion of the triple belt era.
The loss for Thomas marked the end of his run as a serious heavyweight title threat. For Tyson, it was another reminder that the heavyweight division belonged to him.
