One of the strangest moments in gaming that might go down in history is seeing Mike Tyson fight Mike Tyson in Punch-Out. The game is iconic for being unbelievably hard and players tasked with taking down the final boss, Iron Mike Tyson, have to utilize unbelievable skill in order to win the game.
So before getting to how well Tyson did in Punch-Out, he was a guest on Jimmy Fallon's show to talk about his new book. After going through the typical jokes and reminiscing about childhood Halloween costumes (and a little bit about Christmas presents), Tyson was goaded by Fallon to play the old Punch-Out game from the NES.
With a little bit of pressure and some encouragement from the studio audience, Tyson decided to go head-to-head with the immortal icon from the virtual space. So what happened? How well did Tyson do against Tyson?
For anyone who played the original NES game they would know that it was hard as nails. Fallon and the crew had already made it up to the final boss so Mike didn't have to battle anyone else to get to the finally. He just had to enter the ring, keep his wits about him and fight off the boss as best he could. As evident in the video, one punch from the A.I., Mike Tyson and you're down for the count.
Things start off well enough, with Mike throwing a flurry of jabs as the underdog Little Mac. However, the fists of fury from real-life Mike were no comparison to the one-hit knock-out power by the virtual Mike. After landing a few punches after the A.I., blocked some direct attacks, the virtual Mike executed a well-placed uppercut to knock Little Mac flat down on his bottom.
Mike and Mac didn't give up, though. They had become synchronized to bring the pain to the immortal NES champion; a virtual god amongst men. After Jimmy coached the real-life Tyson to rapidly press the 'A' and 'B' buttons to get Little Mac back up to his feet, it was time to lay down some hurt. Real-life Tyson used Mac to evade punches, throw some mid-section jabs and dodge out of the way of danger like a pro.
The crowd showed ample surprise and support as virtual Tyson and real-life Tyson tangoed in the dance of pain.
For a short time real-life Tyson had managed to best his virtual counterpart, putting out some noteworthy combos and getting out of the way of danger. However, it just wasn't enough... the computer-controlled Tyson landed another hard-hitting punch that floored Little Mac.
Fallon once again encouraged Tyson to get back up to his feet, telling him to rapidly press 'A' and 'B' once more.
For his final time against the raging computer legend, Mike gave it everything he could; throwing bombs and dropping combos. However, everything real-life Mike threw at the virtual Mike just wasn't enough. One final punch from the computer-controlled Tyson finally put down Little Mac.
Real Mike Tyson versus virtual Mike Tyson was a real fight to behold, but I would have been a lot more interested seeing Mike fight Mike in a Kinect game. Come on, you all know you would have paid to see that.... am I right?
