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Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing
Ryan Sidle
Kevin McBride shocked the world when he beat Mike Tyson in what would be his last-ever fight, but what happened to the former Irish boxer after he secured the biggest win of his life?
Tyson, who made his much-anticipated return to the ring in November 20, 2020 – when he faced Roy Jones Jr in a one-sided exhibition bout – struggled in the final years of his professional career.
'Iron Mike' lost three of his final four fights in the early-mid 00s, with his last fight coming in June 2005, where he was stopped in the sixth round by relatively unknown Irish heavyweight McBride.
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After the surprise victory, however, the 50-year-old failed to build on his 2005 win over Tyson. He suffered six defeats in his last seven fight and retired in 2011.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020 ahead of Tyson's much-anticipated exhibition bout with Jones Jr, McBride opened up about his job as a tree surgeon.
"I work with a tree surgeon now. He has me dropping trees, clearing snow, shouting 'timber' and all that. It is good," he said. "It keeps me busy. My job is I pick things up and I put things down."
When discussing that memorable night at the MCI Center in Washington, McBride played down watching highlights of the fight on a regular basis, but mentioned seeing a clip on Facebook.
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"It is coming up more often at the moment because every time they say about him making a comeback, they say I was the last guy to beat him," he said at the time.
"I like that. I don't sit around re-watching the fight but someone put a clip on Facebook recently and I saw it - dream come true, isn't it?"
Tyson lost twice to Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997 but he then went on a run of six fights undefeated, with four wins and two no contests, to set up another shot at the heavyweight title, this time against Lennox Lewis.
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It would prove to be his final fight against top tier opposition as the British world champion stopped him in the eighth round.
'Iron Mike' won his next fight against Clifford Etienne in 2003 but he then lost to Britain's Danny Williams and finally to McBride, to bring the curtain down his career.
The Irishman signed with Don King after defeating the former world champion and beat Byron Polley in his next fight, but then lost six of his next seven fights.
Over 15 years on and McBride seemed happy that his time in the spotlight was short lived. Tyson, on the other hand, obviously felt he had some sort of unfinished business in the ring.