Twenty years after one of boxing's most shocking upsets, Kevin McBride has opened up about the night he forced Mike Tyson into retirement.
The Irish journeyman, who earned just $150,000 for the bout, defeated the former heavyweight champion in June 2005 after six brutal rounds.
"I'd always dreamed about fighting him since I was a kid," McBride told talkSPORT. "I'd have fought him for nothing."
The fight proved to be Tyson's final professional appearance until his 2024 return against Jake Paul.
Kevin McBride landed a surprise win over Mike Tyson in 2005 that forced him into retirement
Showtime
McBride recalled the physical toll of facing the 38-year-old Tyson, who remained boxing's highest-profile active fighter despite a previous loss to Danny Williams.
"He was the most intimidating fighter I ever fought. He hit the hardest – I know it was years ago, but I still f***ing feel the punches today," McBride said.
McBride's preparation for the fight saw him enlist former amateur teammate Paschal Collins and Goody Petronelli, who had previously worked with Marvin Hagler. Training in Brockton, Massachusetts, McBride followed in the footsteps of Rocky Marciano.
"The DW Park was where Rocky Marciano used to do all his running, because he's from Brockton, and it's right by our gym," Collins explained.
"This was the same run Rocky Marciano did every day."
Three nights before the fight, McBride and Collins watched Russell Crowe's film Cinderella Man, about unlikely heavyweight champion James J Braddock.
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"I was like the modern-day Cinderella Man, fighting Tyson, because there weren't too many giving me a chance of beating him," McBride said.
The underdog also visited a hypnotist as part of his preparation, whilst maintaining sobriety throughout the training camp.
The fight itself proved as brutal as McBride had anticipated. "Tyson headbutted him; tried to break his arm; hit him low," Collins recalled.
"He done everything that Tyson does to win."
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Mike Tyson was downed by Kevin McBride in a huge upset
Showtime
Forty seconds into the sixth round, referee Joe Cortez deducted two points from Tyson for an intentional headbutt that cut McBride above his right eye.
"I needed 18 stitches afterwards. He got me with a good headbutt – it was well timed," McBride said.
Despite Tyson's tactics, including attempts to "bite me nipple off," McBride landed a succession of right hands and uppercuts that hurt the former champion. Tyson ended up on the canvas, partly held up by the bottom rope.
Though Cortez ruled it a push, Tyson's trainer Jeff Fenech recognised his fighter was finished and told the referee Tyson would not return for the seventh round.
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Mike Tyson had a long and successful career in heavyweight boxingGETTYFollowing his defeat, Tyson delivered an emotional retirement speech.
"I would have like to have continued but as soon as I was getting beat on I realised I don't think I have it anymore," he said in his post-fight interview.
"I'm just fighting to take care of my bills basically, I don't have the stomach for this anymore, I'm more conscious of my children and those guys, I'm looking at my opponents, I just don't have that ferocity, I'm not an animal anymore."
McBride expressed mixed emotions about defeating his childhood hero.
"I was sad for him. He's a legend. But at the same time, when you go in the ring, you wanna win," he said.
"The most feared man in the world quit against an Irishman, and that was me."
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