At the time, Tyson was the WBC Heavyweight World Champion and seemed almost unbeatable. He had won 28 of his first 30 fights by stoppage. Tucker held the IBF belt, setting up a big unification match.
The fight started with a bang. Tucker stunned Tyson with an uppercut in the first round. But that's when disaster struck - Tucker broke his hand throwing that punch. As the fight went on, Tyson took control. In the end, Tyson won by unanimous decision with scores of 119-111, 118-113, and 116-112.
Now, years later, Tucker is telling his side of the story. In an interview with Boxing News 24/7, Tucker made some bold claims:
"I would have knocked him out [if I hadn't broken my hand]. He couldn't beat me, not with [me having] two good hands. No way."
Tucker also pointed the finger at his father for the loss. He said he hurt his hand in sparring before the fight, but his dad pushed him to go through with it:
"I kind of blame my dad for that defeat. I was sparring ahead of the Tyson fight and I hurt my hand. I told my dad and he told me, 'use your left hand!' But I was in pain. My dad said I could have ten days of therapy – but the fight was just ten days away. My dad told me that if I didn't fight we wouldn't get paid."
Despite the loss, Tucker insists Tyson never hurt him in the fight. He wanted a rematch badly, even signing with promoter Don King to try to make it happen. But Tyson went to jail, and the rematch never came.
After the fight, Tucker said, "my hand just shattered. It was the worst pain ever." It was a tough blow for Tucker, who had just won the IBF belt from Buster Douglas two months earlier. His reign as champion turned out to be one of the shortest in heavyweight history.
Tucker's career continued after the Tyson loss. He got three more shots at world titles but came up short each time. He finished with a solid record of 57 wins in 65 fights and was well-respected in the division. George Foreman even admitted to dropping his belt rather than face Tucker.
As for Tyson, he went on to have 59 total fights in his career. He was only stopped 5 times, showing just how tough he was to beat, especially in his prime when he fought Tucker.