The heavyweight fighter who stunned the world by knocking out Butterbean to secure his place in history never won another right.
Mitchell Rose ripped up the script at Madison Square Garden in 1995 when he pummeled Butterbean into submission. The fight lasted less than two rounds as the referee, Joe Santarpia, saved the Bean while on his feet but with his eyes fully glazed over.
Rose, a 25-year-old known as “The Cigarette Man” at the time, smoked Eric Esch in an effort that was one of the biggest upsets of the 1990s. Heading into the fight with a record of 1-7-1, Rose was handpicked to get smashed by Esch, as all his previous opponents were. Butterbean was a four-round attraction, a sideshow of the sport, and fans paid money for tickets to see him get the knockout.
That was the 90s, though. It was a time when Celebrity Deathmatch was popular on TV, and the boxing fraternity had grown up on seeing Mike Tyson demolish every opponent he faced until Buster Douglas.
As Tyson was incarcerated, the sport needed that one-punch KO artist to fill the void. Turning pro in 1994, Butterbean was born and instantly gathered a cult following.
Butterbean’s unbeaten run ends
Esch was fifteen fights down the road when he ran into Rose, who entered the lion’s den fully expected to be planted to the canvas. Things didn’t turn out that way.
The Brooklyn puncher landed a few bombs on Butterbean to daze and confused the KO star before backing him into a corner and giving the third man in the ring no choice but to end it.
Improving his record to 2-7-1, Rose – paid $1500 for the privilege – could have been forgiven for thinking his career may take off a little. Rose waited eleven months to finally be offered a fight against up-and-coming future world title challenger Monte Barrett.
At 3-0, Barrett was still green but had more than enough to defeat Rose handily on points. Two more years passed before he was stopped against Gerald Nobles and another eight before James Clancy defeated a 36-year-0ld Rose.
After fighting twice in one year for the first time since the Butterbean bout, Rose lost to Costa Philippou in what would be his final match.
Mitchell Rose
Fifteen years after he retired from boxing, Rose died at 51 due to complications from Covid-19. His feat against Esch had been safely stored despite his untimely passing.
Speaking about the Butterbean triumph in 2005, it was clear Rose held the achievement in the highest regard.
“Beating Butterbean at the Garden was my version of the Thrilla in Manila,” Rose stated. “It’s been almost ten years. I still get a lot of respect for that fight.
“That is one of the few times I had time to train, about five weeks, and I surprised many people. It was me everyone was usually laughing at. For a guy who was always walking around down and out, that was a triumphant moment for me.”
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