McBride melts Tyson

“It inspired me,” a sore and stitched up McBride told the Echo
shortly after returning to Boston on Sunday night from his own Braddock-like
experience, “I’m the Cinderella Man.”
On a weekend when Barry McGuigan, Clones’ greatest fighter was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the “Clones Colossus” made world news by
retiring one of the most compelling boxers of modern times in the Nation’s
Capitol last Saturday.
Dismissed as a journeyman by pundits before the fight, McBride
battered Mike Tyson into retirement in their heavyweight match, watched by over
15,000 fans at the MCI Center and millions more worldwide.
It went down in the record book as a sixth round TKO for the
Irish and IBC Americas titlist who improved to 33-4-1 with 28 KOs.
And with the upset, McBride closed the book on a one-time boxing
phenomenon who in his prime could make opponents quake in their boots with a
stare. Once the self-acclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet,” the 38 year-old Tyson
announced that he was quitting after the sixth loss of a checkered 20-year
career.
“I don’t have the stomach for this anymore,” the former two-time
world champion said. “I most likely won’t fight anymore. I’m not going to
disrespect the sport by losing to this caliber of fighters.”
“I retired the baddest man on the planet and met Muhammad Ali,”
McBride jibed in Boston. “I shocked the world. I said I’d beat Mike Tyson and
I did. I’m a man of my word.”
Indeed, if “Iron Mike” stays retired the last name on his 50-6 (44 KOs) ledger will be that of probably the biggest Irishman to lace on the
gloves, a 6-foot-six, 271-pound giant and yet 9-1 underdog who was supposed
to be a pushover for Tyson.
McBride instead wove his own Cinderella story to complete a glorious night for Irish boxing. News of his upset win filtered through to New York’s Madison Square Garden about an hour after fellow Irish pugilists John Duddy and Danny McDermott had triumphed there.
It also came on the eve of Barry McGuigan’s induction into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum in Canastota, New York.
“I’m an Irish warrior and I proved it tonight,” McBride said at
the post-fight press conference. “I’m no Muhammad Ali, I’m Kevin McBride and
I’m going to be the first Irish-born heavyweight champion of the world.”
The 32 year-old prevailed the way he was expected to: by
surviving Tyson’s early barrage and dragging him into the middle rounds where he
usually fades.
By the fifth round, Tyson was battling fatigue, getting desperate and dirty.
“He tried to break my arm and he butted me,” said McBride, who received a cut
above the left eye that needed 15 stitches to close.
Referee Joe Cortez docked Tyson two points for butting, this
after being warned for trying to break McBride’s left arm.
The end came when under pressure from McBride, the spent Tyson
sank to the canvas just before the end of the sixth stanza. He got up and went
to his corner but failed to answer the bell for the seventh round.
Trailing 57-55 on two cards and ahead by the same margin on the
third at the time of the stoppage, McBride reveled in a victory he’d promised
to deliver. “This win was for the pride of Ireland,” he said. “I proved
everyone wrong.”
He made a reported $150,000 and will almost certainly be in line
for another big payday. Tyson is said to have earned $5 million.
“I’ll see what’s on the table,” said McBride of his next move. “I
want to fight (WBA heavyweight champ) John Ruiz in Boston but I’ll fight
anybody.”
“I’m a contender and not a pretender. I want to fulfill my dream
and become the world heavyweight champion.”