Clifford Etienne shot to notoriety for his KO defeat to Mike Tyson, but his life quickly became much different.
Etienne rose through the heavyweight ranks as a hugely exciting operator in the 2000’s, which saw him ink a promotional deal with Showtime.
After being dropped twice in an epic draw with Francois Botha in 2002, Etienne was catapulted into world level.
He had the biggest fight of his career against heavyweight icon Mike Tyson in 2003, whom was looking to bounce back from a defeat to Lennox Lewis.
The ferocious puncher albeit far from his heyday was simply too much for Etienne.
And it was just 49 seconds in the opening round when Tyson found his mark.
Tyson came out of the traps on a mission to prove he still carried his heavyweight aura, and he unloaded some thumping shots.
But it was a right hand that toppled Etienne quickly, sending him crushing to the canvas and folding him in half.
Incredibly the fight ended with Tyson suggesting he had a ‘broken back’ but it wasn’t enough to deter him from battering Etienne.
Tyson’s damaging victory sent him into a sharp decline as he suffered back-to-back defeats against Calvin Brock and Nikolai Valuev in 2005.
And his boxing career was quickly over as he was arrested and charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, and the attempted murder of a police officer.
He was subsequently sentenced to a mammoth 160 years in prison, a sentence which was later reduced to 105 years without parole.
Etienne to this day is still serving his prison sentence.
He works as a painter while in jail, now producing artwork in a complete contrast to his all-action career.
The American has also worked as a barber, but remains notorious for his high-profile fights.
Tyson had already had an incredible career, but was too left in adversity after declaring bankruptcy the year that he picked up the KO win.
He continued fighting after his last hoorah but was badly beaten by Danny Williams in 2004.
The following year in 2006, ‘Iron Mike’ was beaten by Kevin McBride and forced to retire from the sport.
Incredibly, Tyson returned at the age of 58 to fight Jake Paul in 2024 despite the potential health risks at stake.
He was beaten having looked a shadow of himself in the ring, a sad curtain-closing bow for his stellar career.
But he pocketed a mammoth $20 million for the pleasure, and has retired with a new fortune.
