Tyson v Jones ... products of weak Eras and or divisions

Unlike other all-time greats Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. were products of weak eras and lack of competition in their primes. You can name off good fighters that they fought or shared the same era as they did but to be honest Tyson's HW era was filled with a bunch of nobodies and has beens. Once he started to lose was when the competition stepped its game up. The same can be said for Jones who hasn't won a significant fight since his first pro defeat (I don't care about that DQ) from Tarver.

Others include

Kostya Tszyu
Calzaghe (even though he would destroy fighters from any era)
Hopkins (didn't fight a significant MW until Tito and DLH stepped up ... No H.O.F talent in between)

If you can name any more let it be known

 

oh no the Tyson fan boys are gonna be all over this..... Dont you know you cant point out Mike fought in a weak division on ESB people get all emotional and what not.

 

He did ... all the decent fighters he fought beat him ...

 

Jones didnt win a significant fight since his first pro defeat????:huh:huh

He was IN HIS MID 30S when he had his first legit loss! So what if he hasnt had a significant win since then! He had been pro for 15 years,plenty of fights in that timer to judge him.

 

This is the same crap that has been said about Holmes...Tyson...Lewis...Klits brothers....Rocky....Joe Lewis...almost HW in the world could be said they had a weak Div. Same with Jones.....it seems that the 70' into the early 80's for the HW and LW where some of the best and even fighters.

 

Sometimes AWESOME fighters simply make everyone in their division in their era look like nobodies. Not saying it's always the case but it can be. Tyson beat some very good heavies IMO - Bonecrusher, Berbick, Thomas, Tucker, Biggs, Holmes (though not what he once was - still had enough to give Holyfield problems), Spinks, Bruno. All these guys were extremely capable heavyweights, and unlike guys today, in shape- not GREAT fighters by any means (aside from Holmes) but still VERY good. Guys like Bonecrusher, Berbick and Tucker would have done well today IMO, Bruno had his power to get him by. So I know what you're saying but Tyson ANNIHILATED these guys - the manner of his victories were impressive - you can see just stylistically that Tyson would have been a force in any version of the heavyweight division.

As someone has already pointed out, you could level the same arguments at say Joe Louis - he had the famous bum of the month club. But were these guys bums? Hell no. Louis beat Sharkey, Schmeling, Braddock, Farr, John Henry Lewis, Billy Conn, the list goes on - no one really mentions these guys because they are not GREAT but they were VERY good and Louis dealt with them in impressive fashion nearly all the time.

Don't be too hard on these guys man, especially by looking at records - it is only part of the story. You can see just by looking at Jones, Tyson, Tszyu, Hopkins, Calzaghe etc that they had some serious tools at their disposal.

 

ROy Jones is dominant in any era he fights in.

 

Tyson just lost the eye of the tiger. Had he maintained the hunger for victory, he may have never been beaten.:deal

 

Jones was an athletic specimen - beyond belief. He had everything: reflexes, hand and foot speed, power, unorthodox style - mental punching angles and just extreme ability. I agree. Though I know what the guy is saying - he could have used a few more great opponents at his best to show that off to its potential. It's like Ali without Liston, Frazier, Norton or Foreman - we would think he probably was the greatest of all time just by looking at him - but we wouldn't have definitive proof.

 

You don't know what the **** you're talking about Fitzgeralds.

Tyson's era was a GOOD era. And Roy Jones has an excellent resume. Who else do you know that has guys like James Toney and B HOP beatin EASILY on their resume?

****in idiot.

 

Thing about Tyson-Holmes was although Holmes was past it, Tyson just destroyed him and Holmes went on for another 10 years fighting a lot of big names and never got destroyed like he did against Tyson even though he was only getting older. I think that shows what level Tyson was on at the time.

 

Not only is that true, but also before Buster beat Mike - T. Biggs and F. Bruno had Tyson beat until they got overconfident and decided to trade with him. :deal

Tyson was a Good fighter with Great power. Not a Great fighter with Great power.

 

I think Jones has better resume then Tyson though overall...

 

Fair assessment.

 

There's a lot of truth in this (and I wouldn't call DLH a significant MW). RJJ's opposition takes a little too much stick IMO. People like Eric Lucas and Clinton Woods are good fighters and dominating them deserves respect. Also, he beat good opposition before even becoming champ.

Tszyu is by far the biggest beneficary of a weak division. Tyson and Calzaghe also deserve mentioning. But if Tyson deserves mentioning, so does Holmes.