Gone in 89 seconds.
Mike Tyson hammered Peter McNeeley in the first round of their Aug. 19, 1995, fight in Las Vegas. Three long months of exhaustive hype and buildup dissipated in a flash. Still relatively new to covering boxing, as a young sports reporter, I marveled at both the magnitude and triviality of the sold-out event.
The mismatch was obvious, but over the months that followed, the purpose behind it became clear. Tyson had been out of boxing for four years. In his rusty return, he needed someone who was tougher than a sparring partner, but not so dangerous that he put at risk the larger fights that were up ahead.
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To his credit, McNeeley, who earned $400,000, put up his dukes and came out swinging, but a straight right hand by Tyson, who made $25 million, sent him to the canvas 10 seconds into the fight. A minute later, an uppercut dropped him again. McNeeley’s manager jumped into the ring to save his fighter from impending doom and triggered an automatic disqualification.
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Portland State (0-1) at BYU (0-0)
Saturday, 6 p.m. MDTAt LaVell Edwards StadiumTV: ESPN+Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM
Fans were angered by Vinnie Vecchione’s actions, but no one could truly dispute why he did it. For Tyson, McNeeley was just a paid punching bag to knock around so he could move on to something bigger.
Portland State is BYU’s Peter McNeeley.
The Vikings (0-1) come to Provo for guaranteed money and a chance to throw a few haymakers in front of a national audience. Cougars coach Kalani Sitake won’t look past anyone, but Portland State was signed to help BYU get ready for bigger things ahead.
When the contract was agreed to last September, Bear Bachmeier was a senior quarterback at Murrieta Valley High in California and committed to Stanford. After a flurry of unexpected changes, Bachmeier is set to become the first true freshman to start a season opener in the modern era of BYU football.
Portland State is perfect for him — tougher than a sparring partner, but not so dangerous to threaten the bigger days ahead. The fresh combat will be priceless for the 6-foot-2, 220-pound newbie who earned his four-star recruiting status by throwing 59 touchdown passes and running for 33 over two seasons as a prep.
Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN+) will be a game of firsts for Bachmeier in every way — his first collegiate snap, handoff, pass, audible, play clock, timeout, blitz, home crowd of 60,000+ — his first successes and mistakes. Each moment will be priceless for a kid who is surrounded by a team capable of contending again in the Big 12.
Bachmeier, 19, expedited his development over the summer and proved good enough to knock out two incumbents in fall camp and rise from the undercard to the main event. He has Portland State, Stanford, a bye week and road date at East Carolina to get ready for his first Big 12 ‘mega-fight’ at Colorado.
Tyson’s success (50-7-2, 44 knockouts) started with the simple things — footwork, balance and establishing his jab to set up bigger punches. Same goes for quarterbacks where the small and simple can lead to the big and great. Bachmeier is free to borrow from BYU basketball coach Kevin Young’s mantra of “stacking days” by stacking plays.
The youngest heavyweight champion in history also faced opponents that prepared him, little by little, for bigger fights ahead. The Cougars’ schedule, with some foes more glamorous than others, is set up to do the same as they roll out the youngest opening day starter in program history.
Everybody needs a Peter McNeeley and thanks to Portland State, BYU and Bachmeier are getting theirs on Saturday. Not sure how it’s going to go, but I’m betting it will last longer than 89 seconds.
Peter McNeeley covers up as Mike Tyson leans toward him during first round of fight at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Saturday, Aug. 19, 1995. Fight was stopped in first round, with Tyson winning. | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com