# **Summoning Salt Makes History with Landmark Speedrun in *Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out* and Bids Farewell to the Challenge**
For more than 35 years, *Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out* has been a quintessential and demanding title in the realm of video games. The ultimate adversary, Mike Tyson (or his later skin, Mr. Dream), has mystified and brought down numerous players with his rapid-fire uppercuts and relentless knockdowns. Only the most adept players have succeeded in conquering him, and even fewer have done so at record-setting speeds.
Now, after almost five years and a staggering 75,000 tries, acclaimed speedrunner and gaming historian **Summoning Salt** has accomplished a milestone once deemed impossible—defeating Tyson in less than two minutes on the game clock. With a time of **1:59.97** officially recorded, Summoning Salt has established a new world record and declared his retirement from this challenge.
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## **The Path to an Unforgettable Knockout**
Summoning Salt’s journey toward this record has been nothing less than extraordinary. From the release of *Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out* on the NES in 1987, speedrunners have sought to beat Tyson in the quickest time possible. However, no one had successfully secured a TKO in under two minutes—until today.
The in-game timer in *Punch-Out* operates at approximately **three times the speed of a standard clock**, rendering every second in the game highly significant. Summoning Salt’s record-breaking performance, achieved live on Twitch, was the result of years of practice, near-flawless execution, and an incredible amount of fortune.
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## **The Talents and Fortune Behind the Record**
Breaking through the two-minute frontier necessitated **a combination of astounding skill and extraordinary luck**. As Summoning Salt has illustrated in his speedrunning videos, attaining the fastest conceivable Tyson TKO mandates:
– **21 “frame-perfect” punches**—each delivered within a **1/60th of a second precision**. Missing any of these by the slightest amount can prolong the fight.
– **Exact dodging and counter-punching**—Little Mac must quickly recover from Tyson’s strikes to optimize damage inflicted.
– **Minimal hesitation from Tyson**—The AI in the game randomly dictates how long Tyson pauses between his attacks. These pauses can vary from mere fractions of a second to **eight full seconds**, which can significantly influence a speedrun’s success.
Summoning Salt’s record-setting battle was **only seven frames shy of perfection**, costing him approximately **0.35 in-game seconds**. Nevertheless, his fortune with Tyson’s attack sequences was nearly impeccable. According to fellow speedrunner **Bismuth**, the likelihood of Tyson presenting such an optimal sequence in the initial phase is **1 in 1,600**. Moreover, the game’s random-number generator (RNG) worked in his favor during subsequent phases, making this run a **1 in 7,000 to 10,000** occurrence.
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## **A Moment of Surprise and Victory**
When Summoning Salt executed the knockout punch and noticed the game clock display **1:59**, his response was unexpectedly muted.
*”It’s over,”* he remarked during his Twitch stream, a bit dazed. *”I thought I’d feel way more excited about this. Holy shit, dude! It’s f***ing over… Dude, am I dreaming right now? … I’m sorry for being so quiet. I’m sort of in shock that just happened.”*
For a speedrunner who has dedicated years to maximizing *Punch-Out*, this moment felt both surreal and profoundly fulfilling.
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## **The Legacy of Summoning Salt’s Speedrun**
Summoning Salt’s fresh record eclipses his own earlier world record of **2:00.00**, set merely eight months prior. That run almost reached the 1:59 mark, falling just **three frames short**, making this latest triumph even more impressive.
His journey has been dotted with notable achievements:
– In **2020**, he became the **first player to surpass the 2:01 threshold**.
– Throughout the years, he has managed to replicate sub-2:01 times only **15 times** amid tens of thousands of trials.
– His most recent run is just **1.36 seconds behind the tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) record** of **1:58.61**, a mark viewed as the theoretical peak of human performance.
Even with such proximity to perfection, Summoning Salt has chosen to step down from the challenge.
*”I have no plans to ever better this time,”* he stated. *”Someone will eventually surpass it, likely by replicating this fight and then enjoying better luck in phase 3. I’m not keen on competing for that, but I am immensely proud to have achieved the first.”*
