Looking Back At Mike Tyson's 49th Second Knockout Against Clifford Etienne

This throwback clip of Mike Tyson knocking out Clifford Etienne shows just what the boxing world is missing today.

It took place 14 years ago on February 22, 2003 at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.

Billed as 'Back to Business', it was Tyson's first fight after what would turn out to be his final title contest against Lennox Lewis, who on June 8, 2002 had made mincemeat of the former heavyweight champion from Brooklyn.

Beaten in every round by the judge's scorecards, Tyson eventually got taken down for good by Lewis in the eighth. It was the beginning of the end for Tyson's career in the ring, which would eventually draw to an underwhelming close in 2005.

Credit: ShowTime Boxing

However, this brief fight in between that murky part of his latter career would demonstrate for the last time the once-unmatched aggression and power of Iron Mike.

Such was the aggression, in fact, that the two boxers both stumbled to the mat just seconds into the bout. Allowing for a brief time out on both sides, the referee soon resumed the fight. Tyson, once again, didn't beat around the bush.

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Etienne swung for Tyson with a left-jab-right hand combination but missed. Tyson then missed a left hook. Not that it mattered, because his follow-up right hand sent Etienne crashing to the mat like a fucking rag doll.

Etienne, completely surrendered, made no attempts to bring an end to the referee's count.

The victory would prove to be the 50th and final of Tyson's illustrious-if-troublesome career.

In an interview with Jim Gray following the fight, Tyson said he was reluctant to face Lewis for a rematch, saying he would require at least two more tuneup bouts before even considering getting in the ring with him again.

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With both men approaching the end of their 30s and careers, Lewis gave Tyson an April 15 deadline to accept the offer of fighting in June 2003.

Tyson passed and agreed to face Oleg Maskaev on the undercard of Lewis' title match against Vitali Klitschko.

He would eventually pull out of that fight, and take a 17-month break from boxing before returning on July 30, 2004, to take on Danny Williams.

Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing, Lennox Lewis

Josh Teal

Josh Teal is a journalist at LADbible. He has contributed to the 'Knowing Me, Knowing EU' and 'UOKM8?' campaigns interviewing everyone from student drug dealers to climate change activists.

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