Matched with Mike Tyson
- Ashlee Franken
- Jun 3, 2014
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 7
William "The Destroyer" Hosea recounts his experience fighting with Mike Tyson.
I recently had the opportunity to interview former professional heavyweight boxer, William
"The Destroyer" Hosea. The phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" came to mind, as his intimidating, 6'1" frame settling into a creaky chair presented an imposing aura and pushed me away, yet his soft-spoken and engaging delivery drew me back in. After general introductions and niceties, he began to recite his life's story, notably his colorful account of his career-defining fight with rising boxing star: Mike Tyson.
Originally from Bloomington, IL, Hosea’s first exposure to boxing was
on the streets of New York, where, as a teen, he moved to live with his
father. In 1976, when Hosea moved back to Bloomington, he began a formal education in boxing with Jack Wooding Hill. Between 1976 and 1980, he quickly moved up through the amateur leagues in the IL area, fighting mainly around Danville, Peoria, and Chicago. Hosea went on to receive training in Chicago with Jim Strickland, alongside the Pontiac Prison Boxing Team.
In 1978, Hosea fought friend and rival, heavyweight Greg Page for the National Golden Gloves Championship title, but lost. In 1980, Hosea went pro and hoped to make the Olympic boxing team. However, with the Cold War creating icy tensions between the US and Russia, the US decided to boycott the Olympics, crushing Hosea's dreams.
In 1986, a phone call about a match-up came into Hosea’s
camp from the manager of an ambitious kid from Brooklyn. This “kid”
was none other than Mike Tyson. Hosea found himself nervous. His stats were fantastic, with 17 wins (12 knockouts) and 3 losses overall. "Kid Dynamite's" record, 21 wins and 0 losses coupled with reports of him being a fierce, hard-hitting machine, painted Tyson as a formidable opponent. Hosea, decidedly also in the prime of his career and with decades more experience under his belt, considered this fight a career-defining move and jumped at the opportunity. The fight was scheduled for June 28th at the Houston Field House in Troy, NY.
At the start of the fight, Mike Tyson saunters out into the ring in black, with Hosea in blue, and they get the formalities out of the way. The bell rings and at first Hosea and Tyson seem to be
evenly matched, with attacks coming equally from both opponents. However, something's noticeably off. Hosea admitted that he wore a brand new pair of boxing shoes because they matched his trunks, instead of the comfortable, worn shoes that he had been training in. If you watch Hosea’s feet, you notice him start to slip all over the mat. After slipping in a corner, while dodging one of Tyson's right hooks, Hosea's fighting style is noticeably more guarded. The two brawl and continue to trade blows but after a few good punches, Tyson knocks Hosea to the floor. Hosea has plenty of fight left and quickly scrambles up to a kneeling position but remains on the ground. An incredibly calculated move, Hosea knows he can't win while he's slipping around and estimates that if he can soak up some blows and run down the clock to the next round, he could add tape to his shoes. This would give him much-needed traction on the mat and be able to school the young punk, Tyson. After a few seconds, Hosea jumps up, ready to get back in the fight, but to everyone’s shock, the ref makes a gesture. 1,200 angry boos drown out the call... Tyson had won by TKO (Technical Knock Out.)
"I had bad shoes, and I was slipping all over the canvas. I went down and was waiting to get up, and then the ref had to stop counting to send Tyson to a neutral corner. I misjudged the timing of it, and when he got to 10, I wasn't up yet. I just wanted to get through that first round and get my shoes taped up. For all of my fights, I got nervous just because of the unexpected. You can get hurt. Anything can happen. But I wasn't really thinking about Tyson as a heavy hitter. I just knew he could fight, and I had been training hard because of that. The thought of beating him was great. It definitely would have changed my life."
Hosea had just fought the biggest match of his career and lost in two minutes. Was it because the referee had been mistaken? Did Hosea misjudge how long he had been down? Hosea speculates that he wasn't the "easy-to-beat cannon fodder" that Tyson's camp estimated him to be and that the referee was instructed to TKO him out at the first sign of trouble. Hosea believes that he wouldn’t have lost if he had been allowed to keep fighting, as Tyson reportedly wasn’t the hardest hitter Hosea had ever fought, a distinction that goes to Hosea’s Golden Glove Match opponent, Greg Page.
After the fight, Hosea turned down a job from Tyson to stay in New York and work in Tyson’s
training camp. His family was well-established in Bloomington, IL, and at his age, it didn’t make sense to pick up and chase a young man's dream. Hosea went on to fight a few more times in Illinois before his last loss against the "Iceman" Lyle McDowell at the Peoria Civic Center in 1992. Hosea retired with 38 wins (35 knockouts) and 6 losses.
Hosea's thankful for the time he spent in the boxing arena, as it gave him a purpose during a chaotic time in his life and directed him down a positive and fulfilling path. He's nostalgic for the time he spent traveling the world, basking in celebrity, reminiscing of when fans would swarm him for autographs and photos. He was even able to leverage his fame to meet boxing great Muhammed Ali in his locker room, shortly before Ali lost his last fight with Trevor Berbick in 1981. In his life after boxing, he continues to work hard and devote his time to becoming a positive role model for his community by volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, coaching at a local boxing gym, and setting up carpools to shuttle underprivileged children to their tutoring appointments and sports practices.
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