By John Haughey BBC Sport

McBride v Tyson pictures

While Mike Tyson's best days are long behind him, Kevin McBride's victory in Washington DC still must rate as one of the biggest shocks in boxing history.

The 32-year-old was a 20-1 outsider going into the contest after Tyson's handlers had trawled to 154th in the world rankings to find a man they thought the former champion would be certain to beat.

However, the six-foot six giant from county Monaghan is now the one looking forward to a world title fight.

McBride began boxing at the age of nine, apparently to ward off abuse he was taking from some neighbourhood bullies who were picking on him because of a speech impediment.

He was originally a member of the boxing club in his home town of Clones but soon switched to the neighbouring Smithboro outfit where Barry McGuigan had learned his craft.

McBride even linked up with McGuigan's first trainer, Frank Mulligan, staying with him throughout his amateur career and for his opening 17 professional bouts.

It proved to be a relatively fruitful partnership.

McBride claimed three Irish amateur titles before qualifying for the 1992 Olympic Games.

It didn't go well in Barcelona, though, super heavyweight McBride suffering a first-round exit.

Convinced to try his luck in the professional game, McBride, who initially signed a deal with Frank Warren before switching to Frank Maloney, drew his opening bout in 1992 with little-known Gary Charlton.

Tyson was a pale shadow of his former self

He went on to win his next 19 fights but none of the victories were significant enough to make any real impact on the world rankings.

In 1995, talk of a McBride-Tyson bout first surfaced only for Peter McNeely, another man with Irish connections, to become Tyson's first victim following the American's release from prison at the end of a four-year sentence.

Two years later, McBride suffered his first defeat when he lost to fellow journeyman Louis Monaco.

Two fights later and back on home turf, McBride claimed the Irish heavyweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Paul Douglas in Belfast.

But after ending the year with an eighth-round defeat by then world contender Axel Shultz, worse was to follow.

Pitted against Manchester's Michael Murray in Southwark, he was stopped inside three rounds by a fighter he was expected to beat.

Those two defeats seemed to confirm McBride's status as a journeyman.

But the Irishman seemed to think otherwise, linking up with world-renowned trainer Goody Petronelli, who helped guide him to the best win of his career, a 10-round points win over Willie Phillips.

Another attempt to step up in class in 2002 ended in a five-round defeat to future heavyweight contender DaVarryl Williams.

McBride boxed in the same amateur club as Barry McGuigan

And when Danny Williams was chosen as Tyson's route back into world title contention instead of the Irishman, McBride's chances of fame seemed to have disappeared.

But then Tyson's management contacted McBride again, the Irishman finally getting his chance to face the fading American.

Not many people gave him a chance of beating Tyson, but McBride was undeterred.

"I told my father, who died six years ago, I wanted to fight Tyson. I dreamt it and now it's going to happen," he said.

"I'm going to shock the world, and after I beat Mike I want to fight for the world title."

Every pundit in the boxing world thought McBride's claims were just the usual pre-fight blather.

But he proved true to his word and lucrative pickings now await the lumbering giant from Clones.