Mike Tyson’s first boxing match after he was released from prison in 1995 was against Peter McNeeley – a fight the former world champion easily won.
Fans think they noticed what looked like a smartphone in the crowd when Mike Tyson fought Peter McNeeley in 1995. In his first fight after being released from prison, the former World Heavyweight champion entered Las Vegas’ MGM Grand 29 years ago looking to prove he was still an elite boxer.
As he made short work of McNeeley, the live broadcast captured a fan in the crowd who held up a device that looked like a modern phone, to record the action. The gadget even had black spots on it, which are in similar positions to the camera lenses on the phones we see today.
READ MORE ;Mike Tyson urges Biden to free thousands locked up over cannabis: ‘Right these wrongs’
This led fans on social media to spark a ‘time traveller theory’, as they tried to guess what the fan held to document the boxing match. However, Les Trent, the presenter of the Inside Edition YouTube channel, dismissed that theory and revealed the device used was not a smartphone.
“We did some digging and found out the device in the video is not a smartphone at all,” he explained. “It’s an early version of a camcorder called a Dycam Logitech. So for the time being, it looks like we’ll have to leave time travel to the movies.”
Fans in the comments were still in disbelief as one said: “That camera doesn’t look like what the guy is holding at all.” Another added: “Doesn’t look like the same device to me,” while this user posted: “That’s a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.” The device used to record his fight was the last thing on Tyson’s mind as he annihilated McNeeley in the first round.
His heavy blows knocked the now 55-year-old to the ground twice within the first two minutes of the contest. Worried for McNeeley’s health, the boxer’s former manager Vinnie Vecchione stepped in to protect him and got his client disqualified. That was just the second loss of his career at the time. McNeeley suffered five more defeats before hanging up his gloves in 2001.
McNeeley told The Sun in 2020: “That first punch that I went down, I was terribly off balance, I was standing square. But he caught me a good straight right and people didn’t even see it because he was that fast. I was back up before Mills Lane even started a count.
“In the history of Mike Tyson’s career, the uppercut was always his best punch and he caught me with it on the chin — and I went down on my face. I got to like the count of six or seven and I was confused. And when Vinnie jumped into the ring and pushed me towards the corner, I thought, ‘Oh, the round’s over and he’s gonna sit me on the stool’.
RELATED ;“I’m the Best Ever”: Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington Pays Homage to Mike Tyson After Victory
“But a minute 29 — 89 seconds, it sounds longer when I say a minute 29 than when I say 89 seconds! And that shows you that something was wrong, that I was a little out of it, even though I was on my feet.”
