Rocking an impressive fro, perfectly suited to the decade this picture was snapped in, tennis legend John McEnroe certainly has his game face on under all that hair. This was back in January of 1978 when McEnroe was 18 years old. He ultimately didn’t win Wimbledon of that year, but you can see him here celebrating the wins along the way.
The 70s tennis star was as famous for his on-court rage sessions as he was for his skill), and boy, he was skilled. He went on to win 77 singles titles in his career and was ranked number 1 in both singles and doubles rankings for years.
Gooden Goes Down!
It’s always interesting when athletes from two different sports meet. And it seems to be a running gag when one of those athletes is a fighter, for punches to be thrown. Here, we can see Dwight Gooden doing a poor job of dodging the deadly right hook of Mike Tyson. While we all know Tyson went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, Gooden had no idea at the time.
This iconic photo was taken at Shea Stadium way back in September of 1986. The other player you can see, laughing in awe of Tyson’s shot, is Darryl Strawberry. At the time, Gooden and Strawberry were big names. Tyson, on the other hand, had yet to make as much of a splash in boxing as Gooden and Strawberry had made in baseball. A month after this shot was taken, though, he took the heavyweight title from Trevor Berbick.
Richard Petty And His NASCAR Look
Another smoking sports star. Though at least this one’s not in the midst of the action! Here, we see NASCAR superstar, Richard Petty, doing a damn fine job of making smoking cool… something we can’t help feeling uncomfortable about, especially considering what we said earlier about sports stars being role models for children.
There’s no denying it, though; he does look pretty boss with that staunch cigar in his mouth, those wisps of smoke curling around his face, and that Dirty Harry aura about him. The shot was taken in March of 1981. That cowboy hat you see him in, with the rooster feathers? It was as much Petty’s trademark as the cigar hanging casually from his mouth.
Mr. Trump And Mr. Tyson
Boxing superstar turned controversial celebrity Mike Tyson and controversial celebrity turned former President of the United States, Donald Trump, have been pals since the 80s. While they may be friends, the pair’s connection was financially founded. Trump is a huge fan of boxing (and the revenue it brings in), and Tyson had several famous fights at Trump Plaza. One of these clashes took place in 1988 when an undefeated Tyson took on an equally undefeated Michael Spinks. It was Tyson, of course, who came out the winner.
In this picture, we can see Tyson and Trump cuddling up with Tyson’s wife, Robin Givens, and her mother on July 22nd, 1988. Seems like Trump knew something Tyson didn’t. While Tyson is all smiles, Trump’s face is tight-lipped. Whether he knew it or not, Tyson and Givens were destined for divorce.
Don't Mess with Vasily Alexeyev
This is a photograph of Russian weightlifter, Vasily Alexeyev. He wasn’t as big as most super heavyweights, so when he was just starting up, his trainer would encourage him to add more weight in order to gain more strength. Vasily Alexeyev trained with a personal coach until 1968.
This photograph was shot in 1970. Remarkably, he was able to clean & jerk 500 pounds in official competition, the first man ever to do so in that year. He set a total of 80 world records and is considered to be the greatest weightlifter in history.