03/07/1987 - WBC WBA THE RING

Mike Tyson unified the WBA and WBC titles against James Smith in a fight billed as Super Fight, a professional boxing match contested on March 7, 1987, for the heavyweight championships as part of the heavyweight unification series.

Background
Tyson was coming off a dominant victory over Trevor Berbick, where he won the WBC title with a second-round knockout. His next opponent was WBA champion James “Bonecrusher” Smith, who had knocked out Tim Witherspoon in the first round to win the title four months earlier. The stakes were high, as the winner would unify the WBA and WBC titles and face IBF champion Michael Spinks to determine the next undisputed champion. However, a month before the fight, Spinks vacated his IBF belt to defend his lineal title against Gerry Cooney, delaying plans for an undisputed title fight.

The fight
Smith became one of the few men to last 12 rounds with Tyson but offered little offense, constantly clinching to nullify Tyson’s attacks. Referee Mills Lane deducted points from Smith in rounds two and eight for excessive holding. Smith’s only notable success came in the final seconds when he landed a right hand. Tyson won a unanimous decision, taking every round on all three scorecards. After the fight, Tyson criticized Smith’s tactics, saying, “When I was trying to put the punches together he grabbed. This hurts boxing. This is show business. People expect a performance.”

Aftermath
Tyson next defended his titles against former WBC champion Pinklon Thomas, winning by sixth-round TKO. The IBF then matched Tony Tucker against James “Buster” Douglas for the vacant title, with Tucker winning by tenth-round TKO. This set up Tyson vs Tucker to decide the next undisputed heavyweight champion. For the second time in three fights, Tyson went the distance, beating Tucker by unanimous decision.

Undercard
Tyrell Biggs knocked out David Bey at 2:18 of round 6. Azumah Nelson knocked out Mauro Gutierrez in round 6 to retain his WBC Featherweight Title.

Broadcasting
United Kingdom – ITV
United States – HBO