You've seen the box art for "Fight Night Round 4," but did you know which two atypical Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson fights were used to make that image?
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Before I covered video games I created a Hulk Hogan reality show. Before I did that, I met N'Gai Croal (pre-dreadlocks). Before that? I edited a boxing magazine.
So when I saw the new "Fight Night Round 4" cover, I started thinking about which fights the cover is referencing. The answers reveal some surprising Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson facts.
The Ali image is from the then-heavyweight champion's successful November 1965 title defense against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. This fight's unusual in that it is one of the few times that Ali demonstrated a mean streak.
Leading up to the fight, Ali nicknamed Patterson "The Rabbit." Patterson had his own name for Ali: "Cassius Clay." That was Ali's given name, but one he stopped using a year earlier when he won the heavyweight title and revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam.
At the time, an athlete converting to Islam was scandalous enough. Changing their name and expecting to be called "Muhammad Ali" was even tougher to take for some. Patterson, in calling Ali "Clay" was essentially taking the side of much of America that disliked Ali and what he represented.
The Ali-Patterson fight was a mismatch. But instead of simply dispatching the smaller challenger for a knockout, Ali mercilessly jabbed at Patterson and taunted him, repeatedly asking "What's my name?" Jab. "What's my name?" Jab. This was Ali at his most cruel. (CORRECTION: Read Rossle correctly points out that Ali directed the "What's my name?" taunt at a different opponent, Ernie Terrell. While Ali reportedly punished Patterson in the ring for calling him "Clay," he didn't use the taunt until he fought Terrell. Sorry about that, folks.)
The Tyson image is from then-heavyweight contender Mike Tyson's May 1986 fight against journeyman James "Quick" Tillis, from back when Tyson was sometimes fighting more than once a month. In fact, Tyson fought 13 times that year, ending '86 with his steamrolling of Trevor Berbick to win his first heavyweight championship. (See the reference image EA used here.)
What was unusual about the Tyson-Tillis fight is that it's the first Tyson fight to go the distance. Tillis lasted a full 10 rounds. Tyson won the decision, of course. No previous Tyson opponent had lasted more than six and most had been dispatched in first or second-round knockouts.
So you've got a mean Ali vs. a decision-bound Tyson on the cover of "Fight Night Round 4." Not either man's finest hour, but the image looks cool nonetheless.
And that's your boxing history lesson for the day.