After the jury deliberated for nearly 10 hours, “Iron” Mike Tyson was convicted in an Indianapolis courthouse of raping Miss Black Rhode Island Desiree Washington 21 years ago last Sunday on February 10, 1992.
Tyson (50-6-0-2, 44 KOs), who remains at 20 the youngest man to ever win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, was arrested in July 1991 for the crime committed against the 18-year-old Washington.
With Alan Dershowitz’s appeal denied in a 2–1 vote, “Iron Mike,” a deserved June 2011 International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum inductee who was named “the hardest hitter in heavyweight history” by ESPN.com in December 2007, was sentenced to six years in prison at the Indiana Youth Center.
Prior to getting tossed in the pen, a then 25-year-old Tyson had won four consecutive bouts since falling to 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas in February 1990 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet,” who converted to Islam while incarcerated, was paroled in March 1995 after serving three years.
Roughly five months after returning to society, Tyson, who, in his heyday, was a physical marvel possessing an amazing combination of quickness, speed and unrivaled power, reentered the squared circle and demolished the underwhelming Peter McNeeley in less than one round.
Unfortunately for the badass Brooklynite, Tyson’s skills eroded behind bars and he was never again the same prizefighter.
Although already spiraling downward, “Iron” Mike Tyson’s personal life, and professional career, never completely recovered from the verdict read in the “Crossroads of America” more than two decades past this week.
Comments