Al “Chico” Evans remains the forgotten heavyweight who handed Mike Tyson one of the most overlooked defeats of his rise, stopping the future champion as a 16-year-old amateur before the sport moved on without him.
Tyson was not yet the fearsome professional force who would tear through the heavyweight division. He was still a teenager learning on the U.S. amateur scene when Evans, a fully grown 27-year-old Chicago heavyweight, beat him in the 1982 U.S. Amateur Championships.
The context matters. Evans deserves full credit for the win, but the age gap adds perspective.
This was a man facing a youngster who had not yet become the finished version the world would later know.
How Al Evans Beat Mike Tyson
Evans did not score a one-punch knockout. The available record points to a third-round stoppage, which aligns with the most detailed newspaper account of the fight.
In a later Chicago Tribune report, Evans recalled being warned about Tyson’s power before the bout. He said Tyson started fast, throwing in volume early, but felt he was controlling the action despite the pressure.
According to that account, the turning point came in the third. Evans said, “I got a left hook in and that started it.” He then dropped Tyson again with a right hand before the fight was waved off after another collapse, a sequence later described by the Chicago Tribune as having “flattened” the future champion.
It doesn’t take away from the result, but it does explain it. Evans beat Tyson clearly enough for the referee to step in, and the sequence of knockdowns tells the real story better than any headline version ever could.
The Context That Cannot Be Ignored
Any honest telling of the story has to note where both fighters were at the time. Amateur boxing can match fighters at very different stages, and Tyson had not yet become the compact, ruthless world title force seen a few years later.
Even so, the win still carries weight because Evans was not some anonymous opponent pulled from nowhere. He was a legitimate heavyweight on the amateur circuit with size, ability, and enough pedigree to make the result stand up under scrutiny.
A Real Contender, Not Just Tyson Trivia
Evans had substance beyond this single night. Reports from the period and the broader record around his amateur career place him among the tougher U.S. heavyweights of that era, even if injuries repeatedly stalled his progress.
He beat serious opponents, reached high-level competition, and remained known in boxing circles as the man who managed something almost nobody else did at any stage of Tyson’s career.
That is why the story lasts. Not because it rewrites Tyson’s legacy, and not because it needs exaggeration, but because it shows how uneven the sport can be before greatness fully takes shape.
Evans never came close to sharing Tyson’s fame. ‘Iron Mike’ became one of the biggest names the sport has ever produced, while Evans slipped into the background.
But the result remains, and so does the account of how it happened.
For that reason, Al “Chico” Evans deserves more than a passing mention. He deserves to be remembered as more than a trivia answer attached to someone else’s story.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Read full bio.
