Here’s a fascinating 94 second video of Mike Tyson getting knocked down during sparring. The sparring session is during Tyson’s training camp and within weeks of his shocking loss to Buster Douglas. At the time of the clip Mike Tyson had never been knocked down in competition.
Greg Page is the sparring partner in the video. Greg counters Mike Tyson’s famous left hook with a right hook of his own. If you repeatedly rewind and watch the slow mo’ replay from 55-1:01, you can see Greg Page has figured out one of Tyson’s “tells.” When Tyson steps forward loading up on the lead leg, Page anticipates and counters with a short right hook. It’s a very slick and a very tough counter to pull off.
Greg Page later became heavyweight champ of the world. Unfortunately he recently passed away in April 2009.
A bonus tidbit, Oliver McCall is another sparring partner that knocked Tyson down. In this case Tyson was helping out Oliver McCall in his training camp leading up to McCall’s victory over Lennox Lewis.
