Tyson unified the title and beat Spinks in 91 seconds as his old team fell apart

Mike Tyson had the WBC title. The next belt belonged to James "Bonecrusher" Smith, who had taken the WBA title from Tim Witherspoon in the first round at Madison Square Garden in December 1986. HBO's unification series put them together at the Las Vegas Hilton's outdoor arena on 7 March 1987.

Every time Tyson came inside, Smith held and smothered him. The referee, Mills Lane, took a point off him in the second round and another in the eighth, and Tyson cut him over the left eye. The scores were 120–106, 119–107 and 119–107. "Is he a bonecrusher?" Tyson said. "He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to win."

Undisputed

On 30 May 1987 Tyson stopped Pinklon Thomas in the sixth round. On the same night Tony Tucker stopped a heavyweight from Columbus called James Douglas in the tenth round to win the vacant IBF title. The IBF belt had become vacant because Michael Spinks, who had taken the title from Larry Holmes, chose a lucrative fight with Gerry Cooney instead of facing his mandatory challenger, Tucker. The IBF stripped him, but he was still recognised as the lineal champion, and by The Ring.

Tyson and Tucker met at the Las Vegas Hilton on 1 August 1987. Tucker won the first round. After that it was Tyson's fight, and the scores were 119–111, 118–113 and 116–112. "He stopped fighting after the fifth round," Tyson said. "After that he was just in there to survive."

That ended HBO's unification series, which had run for 16 months and cost $22 million. Tyson was the first heavyweight to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF belts at the same time. Don King marked it with a coronation: a chinchilla robe, a jewelled sceptre and a crown.

In October Tyson took seven rounds to finish Tyrell Biggs in Atlantic City, and did not pretend he had been in a hurry. Holmes watched from ringside. He was next.

Holmes

Holmes had held the heavyweight title for seven years. He had lost it to Spinks in 1985, lost the rematch on a split decision in 1986, and had not boxed for nearly two years. He was 38. "They stole my title," he said, "and I had to come back."

They fought at Convention Hall in Atlantic City on 22 January 1988. In the fourth round Tyson put him down with an overhand right. He got up, and another right put him down again. He got up again, and a right flush on the jaw left him flat on his back. The referee, Joe Cortez, stopped it.

"Larry was a great champion in his time," Tyson said, "but this isn't his time anymore." Holmes said: "Tyson is a lot better than I thought. A lot better." Bill Cayton kept it short: "Mike's a finisher. Extraordinary."

Losing Jacobs

In February 1988 Tyson married the actress Robin Givens. In March he went to the Tokyo Dome and stopped Tony Tubbs in the second round, his first title defence outside the United States.

On Wednesday 23 March Jim Jacobs died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He had had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia for nine years. He had once summed up his own life: "I always wanted to have the greatest collection of fight films in the world. I wanted to be the greatest handball player in the world. I wanted to own the most comic books. I wanted to be a millionaire."

With Jacobs gone, a power struggle over Tyson began, involving Cayton, whose management contract ran to February 1992, Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, and Don King. In a settlement, Cayton agreed to cut his share of Tyson's purses from a third to 20 per cent.

Ninety-one seconds

Tyson against Spinks, at Convention Hall on 27 June 1988, settled who was champion. Tyson was 34–0 and held the three belts. Spinks was 31–0 and held the lineal title. Tyson was paid about $22 million and Spinks $13.5 million, and 21,785 people were there.

Minutes before the start, Spinks's manager, Butch Lewis, complained about Tyson's glove. It was checked by Larry Hazzard of the New Jersey commission, and Spinks's own trainer, Eddie Futch, agreed there was nothing wrong with it. Lewis later admitted the protest had been deliberate, and explained what he had seen in Tyson's dressing room. "He's punching holes in the wall," he said. "I'm thinking to myself, this guy is getting ready to fight my guy, my little guy."

The referee was Frank Cappuccino. A left uppercut and a right to the body put Spinks down. When he got up, a left hook and a right to the jaw put him down again, and he did not beat the count. It had lasted 91 seconds. Spinks never boxed again; he announced his retirement about a month later.

"I'm the best fighter in the world," Tyson said. "Write that." Givens said: "I'd hate to see this man when he's on." And Tyson said something else: "As far as I know, this might be my last fight."

The fall-out

It was his last fight for eight months. In October 1988 Givens filed for divorce in California; a week later, on 14 October, Tyson filed for annulment and divorce in New Jersey. Givens said on ABC's 20/20 that King's presence may have "affected some decisions that he's made".

By then Tyson had signed an exclusive four-year promotional deal with King and given him power of attorney. Cayton accused King of tampering with his contract. "King latched on to Mike when he was on the rebound from Robin and Ruth," he said. "It may sound as if I'm pontificating but I'm trying to protect Mike. Mike doesn't know his best interests." On 27 October King announced that Tyson was now his promotional partner. "I'm absolutely amazed," Cayton said. "It was a total surprise."

Rooney went next. He had trained Tyson since 1982 and been in charge since D'Amato's death, for ten per cent of the purses and without a written contract. He had also appeared on television talking about the divorce and seemed to side with Cayton. In December 1988 he read in the New York Post that he would no longer be training Tyson. "I never heard from Tyson," he said, "so I can only go by what I read in the paper. I'm his trainer and I should be training him for the fight. If I train him, he'll win."

Bruno and Williams

The fight was against Frank Bruno, who had beaten Joe Bugner on his way to a title shot. It had been set for Wembley Stadium on 8 October 1988, but was postponed after Tyson hurt his right hand in a street fight with Mitch Green, then moved again while Cayton and King argued.

It finally went ahead at the Las Vegas Hilton on 25 February 1989, Tyson's first fight in eight months and his first as a professional without Rooney in his corner. Aaron Snowell and Jay Bright had taken over. Tyson dropped Bruno with a right in the opening seconds, and Bruno was docked a point for holding. Before the first round was out, though, Bruno landed a left hook that staggered Tyson. In the fifth Tyson trapped him on the ropes with a right uppercut and a left hook, and the referee, Richard Steele, stopped it with five seconds of the round left.

"How dare they challenge me with their somewhat primitive skills," Tyson said. "They're as good as dead." Bruno said: "I could've fought a more constructive fight, but Mike Tyson is a good fighter."

On 21 July 1989 in Atlantic City Tyson dropped Carl "The Truth" Williams with a left hook. Williams was up at seven, and the referee, Randy Neumann, looked at him and stopped it after 93 seconds. Williams's camp asked for the result to be made a no-contest and were refused. "We're not about killing people," Neumann said. "We're not about getting guys maimed or impaired." Bright was blunter: "If they didn't stop it, there would have been nothing but hair and bones."

Tyson was 37–0. His next opponent was the heavyweight Tucker had stopped in 1987, James "Buster" Douglas.