Remembered: Tyson stopped 62-1 Nielsen after 49-0 run in 2001

Mike Tyson stopped Brian Nielsen after six rounds in Copenhagen on October 13, 2001, ending the Dane’s run as the only heavyweight other than Rocky Marciano to win his first 49 professional fights. Nielsen had rebuilt his record to 62-1 before facing Tyson at Parken Stadium.

Marciano retired unbeaten at 49-0 in 1956, establishing one of heavyweight boxing’s most enduring records. Larry Holmes reached 48-0 before Michael Spinks beat him on points in September 1985, but Nielsen matched Marciano’s mark in April 1999 by stopping former champion Tim Witherspoon in four rounds.

Nielsen’s attempt to make it 50-0 ended two months later when Dicky Ryan stopped him in the 10th round. The Dane then won 13 consecutive fights, bringing him to 62-1 and setting up the biggest contest of his career against Tyson.

Tyson was 35 and had not fought for almost a year, while Nielsen weighed close to 260 pounds, roughly 20 pounds more than his opponent. The home crowd had mocked Tyson before the opening bell by throwing plastic ears towards the ring, a reference to his disqualification against Evander Holyfield four years earlier.

The fight quickly turned against Nielsen. Tyson opened a cut near the Dane’s left eye in the second round and dropped him heavily in the third. Nielsen rose and continued, but the damage worsened as Tyson kept landing. By the sixth, the eye was closing and Nielsen was struggling to see the punches. His corner stopped the bout before a seventh round.

Nielsen later argued that a head clash had contributed to the injury, but Tyson had controlled the contest. Tyson praised Nielsen’s toughness after the fight, while the defeat marked a sharp rise in opposition from the former champions Nielsen had beaten, Witherspoon and Larry Holmes. Tyson’s next bout was against Lennox Lewis in June 2002, when Lewis stopped him in the eighth round.