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“Something has happened to Pinklon Thomas’ glove.”
Larry Merchant, sitting alongside Barry Tompkins and Sugar Ray Leonard, explained to the HBO audience at home why there was an interruption to the action, an interruption that had now lasted several minutes.
After the fifth round ended, Thomas went back to his corner. While calmly sitting on his stool, his trainer, Angelo Dundee, stripped off his left boxing glove. Dundee replaced it with a spare which, by rule, was required to be available at ringside.
On an interesting side note, the last time a glove ripped at this level, Dundee was replacing Muhammad Ali’s on a night in which he fought Henry Cooper.
Fans patiently waited for the experienced Dundee to tape the replacement glove and for referee Carlos Padilla to signal the bout to resume.
A torn glove was the least of Thomas’ problems. His biggest concern was standing just a few feet away from him, who was also waiting for the action to resume. That man was the WBA and WBC Heavyweight champion “Iron” Mike Tyson.
Billed as “The Hard Road to Glory”, the undercard bout featured Tony Tucker and James “Buster” Douglas. Ironically, both of those men would later play a role in Tyson’s career, both serving entirely different purposes in the annals of boxing history.
Tonight, with summer knocking at the door, dusk was settling in on a warm night in the desert. On May 30, 1987, outdoors at the Las Vegas Hilton, Tyson was facing one of the toughest, most experienced men of his young career.
This was not the 29 year old Thomas’ first rodeo. With only one loss on his record, he had been in with the likes of Tim Witherspoon, Trevor Berbick, and Mike Weaver. His left jab was an immensely effective weapon often compared to that of Larry Holmes and Sonny Liston.
Ranked No.1 by the WBC and himself the former WBC champion, Thomas (29-1-1, 24 KOs) was reunited with Dundee, absent during Thomas’ only loss. They were an effective duo, however, tonight’s opponent was a juggernaut wreaking havoc in the boxing world.
Thomas was as durable as he was experienced. He had only one loss, to Berbick, and had never been knocked down nor stopped in the professional ranks.
The undefeated Tyson (29-0, 26 KOs) had run roughshod through the division. His last two bouts, against Berbick and James “Bonecrusher” Smith, had produced the WBC and WBA titles.
His sights were set on unifying the title later in the summer and taking the IBF crown from Tucker who stopped Douglas earlier in the evening. To unify the titles, however, he first had to take care of business tonight against the venerable Thomas.
At 6’3” tall, Thomas held a 3 ½ inch height advantage over the champion. His game plan was simple, pop the left jab and refrain from engaging in heavy exchanges with a man who had dynamite power in both hands.
In Round 1, Tyson, who entered the ring in his trademark black trunks and black shoes, went right to work on his challenger.
Listed as a 6-1 betting favorite in the local sportsbooks, Tyson began unloading heavy artillery on Thomas from the get go. Like a bar room brawler, Thomas seemed willing to trade with the young champion and test both his skill and his chin.
It was not a wise decision.
Tyson quickly demonstrated his edge in power and bombed away early with laser like precision. A sensational left hook drove Thomas into the ropes just 60 seconds into the fight. Tompkins wailed, “Another big left hand! Thomas is hurt! His legs are not rock solid at this moment, either.”
The challenger was looking to survive and weather the early Tyson onslaught. Leonard seemed astonished that Thomas was willing to trade early on, “Pinklon can’t take too much more of this because he’s standing straight up. All Tyson is doing is nailing him.”
With less than one minute remaining in the opening stanza, Tyson again rocked his challenger. The crowd rose as did Tompkins voice, “And a big left hand right on the jaw of Pinklon Thomas. Thomas is in all kinds of trouble! It will be all Thomas can do to get through this round!”
While the timekeeper pounded the bell, Tompkins continued, “Brutal first round!”
A wounded Thomas went back to his corner. His left eye was already beginning to swell and he was cut on his cheek, just below the left eye.
As the ring doctor stepped into the corner, Dundee went berserk, “But he’s alright! Leave him the fuck alone! Leave him alone! Goddammit leave this fucking man alone! Get away from this man!”
After the early fireworks from Tyson and Dundee, Round 2 got underway. Thomas had survived and was now popping his left jab at Tyson with authority. Although Tyson continued to press, Thomas was effectively slowing down the action after taking a brutal beating in the first.
Rounds three and four saw the champion attacking Thomas. The challenger continued to work behind his left jab and keep Tyson off balance.
Although all three judges at ringside were decisively scoring the rounds for Tyson, the challenger was slowing the pace of the action.
Tyson’s trainer, Kevin Rooney, exhorted Tyson to work on the inside and get back to unleashing combinations. He wanted Tyson firing his own left jab.
Round 5 may have been Thomas’ most effective three minutes of the entire night. Much of the round was spent in clinches and the action had slowed to a crawl. Merchant concluded, “He’s making the champion look a little sick right now.”
Tyson had whispered to Rooney that he thought Thomas was slowing down and getting tired. It was at that moment a delay ensued as the challenger, and champion, were getting extra time to rest.
Ring announcer Chuck Hull addressed those in attendance to explain the pause in the action, “Ladies and gentleman, the right glove of Pinklon Thomas is torn.”
Dundee diligently placed the new glove on Thomas hand and slowly began to tape around his fighter’s wrist.
After the delay and the challenger’s good fifth round, Leonard touched on the subtle shift, “Well, Pinklon Thomas is starting to fight his fight and use the jab. He’s breaking Mike Tyson’s rhythm.”
With the sixth round now underway, Thomas resumed his game plan and went back to work with his left jab. As the round neared the halfway mark, Tyson had had enough. He fired a sweeping left hook that blasted home on the side of Thomas’ face.
The sound reverberated around ringside as the crowd moaned. As Tyson attacked, the ringside crowd rose to their feet as Thomas stumbled backward.
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Tompkins wailed, “And a left hand and that staggered Thomas!”
Clearly hurt, Thomas was now in full retreat. Tyson, sensing his man was hurt, unleashed a firestorm of rights and lefts.
Tompkins continued, “And a right hand behind it! Thomas in trouble again! And now Tyson moves in for the kill! Thomas trying to hold on! Serious trouble! And down he goes!”
Thomas crashed to the deck as the outdoor arena at the Hilton went wild. Padilla began the count while Thomas struggled to get to his feet.
Incredibly, he rose at the count of nine. Just as he climbed to his feet, Dundee rushed into the ring as both he and Padilla each held one of his arms.
The bout was savagely ended as Tyson had finished a game challenger in Pinklon Thomas. The bout ended at exactly 2:00 of Round 6.
With Merchant now in the ring for the post-fight interview, Thomas made his way over to congratulate the champion. Shaking hands, Tyson responded, “You’re a great fighter also. It was my pleasure to give you a shot at the title, because you deserved it.”
Respect given, respect earned.
Tyson would go on to unify the title in August by defeating Tony Tucker.
Thomas took nearly 19 months off before returning to the ring to fight the former Cruiserweight champion, now Heavyweight contender, Evander Holyfield. Holyfield won handily en route to setting up a showdown with Tyson in the fall of 1991.
After adding James “Buster” Douglas into the equation as well as Tyson’s troubles outside the ring, it was a showdown the world wouldn’t see for another five years.
In May of 1987, the Heavyweight division was alive and well.
