After Surrendering, Tyson Says, 'I'm Finished'

After lightly regarded Kevin McBride erased whatever was left of Mike Tyson's once-proud legacy with a stunning technical knockout Saturday night at MCI Center, Tyson admitted what many boxing observers had been saying for years.

"My career was over in 1990," Tyson said. "I'm finished."

So after duping thousands of fans into paying for tickets and pay-per-view for his fights during much of the past 15 years, Tyson said he will finally hang up his gloves after a 20-year career filled with as many terrible lows as incredible highs. Boxing's last memory of Tyson will be a pathetic one: After trying to break McBride's left arm and viciously head-butting his opponent in the sixth round, Tyson was pushed to the canvas and could barely muster enough energy to get back up.

Before the seventh round, Jeff Fenech, Tyson's trainer, told referee Joe Cortez that his fighter was done. It was Tyson's third loss in his last four bouts and easily the most surprising. McBride (33-4-1, 28 knockouts) had never beaten a boxer of consequence and was continuously slighted by the fight's promoters and even the D.C. Boxing Commission during the days leading up to the fight. While Tyson earned $5.5 million for the fight, McBride, 32, was paid a paltry $150,000.

"I proved everybody wrong tonight," McBride said.

Tyson, who will turn 39 on June 30, was unable to inflict much pain on McBride, aside from a cut below the Irishman's left eye that opened when Tyson slammed his forehead into the side of McBride's face. McBride, who wasn't expected to last much longer than a couple of rounds and was 38 pounds heavier than Tyson at 271, pushed the former champion around the ring all night, wearing the fighter formerly known as the "Baddest Man on the Planet" into submission.

"I just don't have this in my gut anymore," Tyson said. "It's just not in my heart anymore. It's very difficult for me to fight. I wanted to finish, but I just wasn't in it. Jeff Fenech is very sensitive about me and he wasn't going to let me get beat up."

But no one could have expected Tyson's career to end the way it did, with him sitting on a stool in a corner of the ring, while McBride and his trainers and managers celebrated the most unlikely of victories.

"I could have gone on but I thought I was getting beat," Tyson said. "I don't think I have it anymore. I felt like I was 120 years old."

Tyson said he hopes to become a missionary and plans to spend more time with his six children, whose ages range from 18 years to 3 months. His bankruptcy reorganization plan, which called for him to fight six more times and earn more than $73 million in purses, was left in ruins. Tyson still owes more than $20 million to a seemingly endless list of creditors, most of whom might never be paid.

"I'm not too interested in these swan songs I continue to hear," Tyson said during a post-fight news conference. "I'm just Mike. I'm a peasant. I'm not a big deal. You used to think I was a big deal because I had all these girlfriends and big cars. But I can't do this anymore."