In honor of those who passed in the terrorist attack on The Twin Towers in NYC on September 11, 2001….I present this video as a moment of remembering….as the video leads off with a panoramic view of the New York City skyline….featuring the Twin Towers standing tall and being referred to as the world financial center…..which is followed by HBO providing highlights of great fights that had taken place at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City….prior to their coverage of the 10 round heavyweight bout between Iron Mike Tyson vs Mitch “Blood” Green…both being heavyweight who were raised and groomed in New York.
This video also provides some wonderful footage of Tyson’s co-managers Jim Jacobs and Bill Clayton….which I really appreciate cuz Bone Daddy’s video boxing library is chocked full of fight footage that belongs to Mr. Jacobs….who owns that world’s larges and most indepth library of boxing fights and footage ever assembled.. This part of the video is special….for it really gives the viewer the understanding of the “brain trust” behind Iron Mike Tyson…..the last legendary heavyweight champion in the golden age of boxing.
Blood Green actually gave Tyson a good fight on this day….as he unexpectedly goes the distance with the king of knockouts…in his most famous fight. In the buildup to the fight Green had complained bitterly of the disparity in purses between him and Tyson when a day before the fight, Green learnt he was being paid $30,000 to Tyson’s $200,000. He threatened to pull out of the contest and Green finally settled for being released from his managerial contract with King’s stepson Carl in return for his short purse. Green put up a stubborn showing during the fight where Tyson was unable to hurt or put down Green….but did at one point knock out a gold tooth which landed in front of writer Phil Berger. Green had been scheduled to box James “Bonecrusher” Smith in December 1986 on the under-card of the Tim Witherspoon vs Tony Tubbs world heavyweight title fight…..however, when Tubbs dropped out claiming injury….Bonecrusher stepped in and won the title, leaving Green without a fight or payday.
Another reason that I really like this video is because at the end of the fight….when the ring announcer is announcing the scores of the judges….in the background is the legendary sports artist LeRoy Neiman….drawing Tyson in the ring….as Bone Daddy has some 14 x LeRoy Neiman prints and 5 x LeRoy Neiman Oil Seragraphs in his memorabilia collection.
