Heavyweight unification series

Prior to the series, the last undisputed heavyweight champion had been Leon Spinks, who won the championship in his 1978 victory over Muhammad Ali. Spinks was stripped of his WBC title later that year because he opted to fight a rematch against Ali instead of a mandatory challenger; the heavyweight championship had been fragmented ever since. Abraham had little interest in the fight, but, inspired by the World Series that was being televised at the time, he suggested making the fight the first in a series to unify the heavyweight titles. That fight was seen as an unofficial prelude to the series, as the winner would hold the WBA title and would participate in the series. The organizers were hopeful that Mike Tyson, then a young, fresh face, would qualify for the tournament and generate excitement for what was otherwise seen by some analysts as an unappealing slate of fighters. ==Fights==

• Tony Tubbs vs. Tim Witherspoon (unofficial precursor) – January 17, 1986 at the Omni Coliseum – Witherspoon defeated Tubbs by majority decision to win WBA title. • Pinklon Thomas vs. Trevor Berbick – March 22, 1986 at the Riviera – Berbick defeated Thomas by unanimous decision to win the WBC title. • Michael Spinks vs. Larry Holmes II – April 19, 1986 at the Las Vegas Hilton – Spinks defeated Holmes by split decision to retain the IBF title. • Tim Witherspoon vs. Frank Bruno – July 19, 1986 at Wembley Stadium – Witherspoon defeated Bruno by technical knockout in eleven rounds to retain the WBA title. • Michael Spinks vs. Steffen Tangstad – September 6, 1986 at the Las Vegas Hilton – Spinks knocked out Tangstad in four rounds to retain the IBF title. • Trevor Berbick vs. Mike Tyson – November 22, 1986 at the Las Vegas Hilton – Tyson knocked out Berbick in two rounds to win the WBC title. • Tim Witherspoon vs. James "Bonecrusher" Smith – December 12, 1986 at Madison Square Garden – Smith defeated Witherspoon by technical knockout in the first round to win the WBA title. • Mike Tyson vs. James "Bonecrusher" Smith – March 7, 1987 at the Las Vegas Hilton – Tyson defeated Smith by unanimous decision to add the WBA title to his WBC title. • "Hard Road to Glory" – May 30, 1987 at the Las Vegas Hilton • Tony Tucker vs. James "Buster" Douglas – Tucker defeated Douglas by technical knockout in ten rounds to claim the vacant IBF title (which had been stripped from Spinks) • Mike Tyson vs. Tony Tucker – August 1, 1987 at the Las Vegas Hilton – Tyson defeated Tucker by unanimous decision to become the undisputed champion. ==Aftermath==

Michael Spinks had been stripped of his IBF title in the middle of the tournament because he had accepted a lucrative offer to fight Gerry Cooney, instead of facing his mandatory challenger, Tony Tucker. Spinks, however, was still recognized as the lineal champion (which he had not lost in the ring) as well as The Ring magazine heavyweight champion. In June 1988, the two champions faced off, and Tyson knocked out Spinks in 91 seconds. Although Tyson did officially unify the heavyweight title by winning the WBC/WBA/IBF belts in the HBO Unification Tournament, he did not achieve true universal recognition as the undisputed world heavyweight champion until he won this bout with Spinks. ==See also==