Considered “The Baddest Man on the Planet” when he was still just a teenager, “Iron Mike” Tyson was already the WBC Heavyweight Champion of the World when he defeated James “Bonecrusher” Smith in a unanimous decision to win the WBA Heavyweight title on March 7, 1987 and became the youngest boxer to hold the WBC, WBA and IBF titles at 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old.

     This is an actual World Boxing Association Heavyweight Championship belt that was presented to Tyson for defeating Smith and contains the two engraved brass plaques with ornate crowns that were riveted onto the belt when Tyson became champion; the first one on the right reading: “Iron” Mike Tyson World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion 3-7-87. The left plaque reads: “Iron” Mike Tyson Defeated Bonecrusher Smith March 7 1987 Las Vegas, Nevada. The belt’s centerpiece is a gold plated globe shaped crest with four gold boxing gloves dangling in a crown ringed in faux rubies and gemstones containing a World Boxing Association Champion logo depicting a pair of boxers touching gloves while sanding on opposite sides of a scale under the word “Cooperation.” The words “Conformity” and “Control” are written at the opposite ends of the scale which is teetering on top of a blue globe with “WBA “ in raised relief gold letters on top of a banner reading: “Boxing as an international sport.” Backdrop of logo is painted white with red and gold trim and ringed gold lettering over red paint some of which has chipped away. The Gold leaf crest contains a pair of gold boxing gloves and two silhouette images of boxers. Some of the deeper impressions of the gold leaf backdrop are caked with an accumulation of dust. The centerpiece crest and side plaques are adhered to the brown leather belt that fastens with a pair of Velcro strips on the back and has a red velvet interior lining. This 7.6 pound vital piece of heavyweight boxing history is the physical representation of “Iron Mike” Tyson’s second step towards becoming the youngest boxer to unify the heavyweight crown and comes with a pair of photo-matched  LOAs signed by boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. and World Boxing Hall of Fame referee Richard Steele.

  Because the LOAs issued with the Belt and the initial sale took place nearly 20 years ago, Goldin Auctions took additional steps to authenticate and provide provenance for the belt. We are including a LOA from boxing experts JO Sports signed by Craig Hamilton, who confirms this is an original vintage WBA belt circa late 1980s given to Mike Tyson. He was also able to ascertain that Tyson's former trainer, Kevin Rooney sold three of Tyson's belts and Tyson received an additional belt from the WBA (we presume the one offered here). In addition photographs of Tyson with the WBA belt were studied and a match to the belt we are offering was confirmed. We also were able to track down the original consignor who many years ago placed it at auction, That individual was Marshall Enzer, a long time industry cornerman  and trainer who had worked with original Tyson trainer Cus D'Amato and currently works for Don King Productions. Enzer purchased the belt and other Tyson items from a member of the Tyson camp.  There has been a recent sale of a WBC Tyson belt, (NOT related to the Kevin Rooney sale) where the belt sold for $30,000 with no provenance provided. With much stronger provenance and a much more desirable belt (the WBC belt is a generic belt without any fighter identification, as opposed to the WBA belts which are personalized with the fighter information and date of championship) this presents as the most significant and most desirable Mike Tyson ever put up for auction.

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