Mike Tyson is currently making the promotional rounds to spread the word about his new adult swim show, Mike Tyson Mysteries, that I sort of can’t believe exists. But it does! And so does this hilarious clip of the former heavyweight champ fighting himself on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. As you’ll see in the beginning of the video, Fallon and Tyson have a brief chat about the Nintendo game that starred the bruiser as the final boss, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Like so many other kids at the time of its release (1987), Fallon loved playing the game on his NES. So, really, what other option did he have here?
Now, as anyone who played the game knows all too well, fighting Tyson isn’t exactly easy. Not in the least bit. Neither is making your way to the final bout, but that’s a story for another day. Basically, you have to know exactly how to take down Iron Mike or you’re totally screwed, because he will knock you out faster than you could ever imagine. I don’t think I was ever good enough at Punch-Out!! to make it Tyson without using some cheat codes cough, but my brother did and it wasn’t pretty. I think he finally did beat the game at some point—right, Tim?—but I’m not sure I was in attendance. I do know that my good friend Jim Sharkey took down Iron Mike while we were living together during our college years, and that was pretty awesome to witness.
That brings me to my next point: Did you (the reader) ever defeat Mike Tyson? Let me know in the comments—or just tell me about your painful defeat.