Tysons speed post 1999 is overrated

I don't think too many astute observers who would rank his combo speed, in that era, too highly. He devolved into a one shot artist with no plan B.

 

Seeing Tyson in the gym in 1999 you would think he was still the fastest heavyweight in the world and when his weight was in check he probably was.

 

He was a good ten years past his best performances. And he proved he could not maintain pace or form for more than a few rounds in an actual fight.

 

Yes but Tyson moved like a middleweight in the gym. Truly a spectacle seeing a big man move like he did. Tyson just didnt try and was lazy but when he was in the mid 220's his speed was amazing even at an advanced age.

You could see a big difference in Tyson when he was carrying weight in the mid 230's. I think there was a big difference in the Tyson vs Lewis and the Tyson vs Etienne which was after the Lewis fight.

 

I tend to think he'd earned his ranking by the time of the lewis fight but with hindsight it seems if he wasn't victorious in the first 5, he wasn't victorious full stop.

 

Watching vids of him training showed he still had the talent and ability to move and put tjem together but all reports exposed tysons lack of motivation to train, and his heart to fight wad basically all but gone.

 

Hmmm... I saw him train pre-prison but not after, at least not live. He was a phenom, no doubt. But he didn't have the focus in the ring and didn't use his combo's (and thus show off that dazzling speed) if the fight played out longer than a few rounds. After that, his biggest victories were early blow-outs wherein this handicap was not exposed.

I don't know if this was a preparation thing or a physical manifestation. It is not easy, to use the kind of movement, with the speed and output that he used as a 23 year old man as a 33 year old man. Perhaps it can be pulled off in the gym for stretches but not in the ring.

 

Seriously. That's like saying "Robinson's ability post 1962 is overrated."

 

his punches from a-b where dangerous. the timing was sometimes there, the one he dropped on botha was perfect counter...but rebuffs your statement due to botha outhustling him for the whole fight till he dropped that.

 

Botha seemed to clinch constantly rather than out hustle mike, but botha
was winning rounds. Yes that is one of my favorite kos. Tyson showed his
2000 era power with a perfect counter. A devastating one punch ko. I think
Mike still had speed, but not like his eighties speed. As someone mentioned
all that defense head movement and phenom speed is hard to maintain
Especially after prison and different trainers. I don't think his 2000 speed
is overrated. I mean its Tyson. His 2000 era speed is still better than a lot
Of heavyweights, but yes he was all about that one big shot. How good do
you think Bothas chin was? I mean that shot was just devastating. Ill conclude
my rant with a shot 2002 tyson almost got to lewis in the first round, so imagine
what an 1988 tyson would do. Lennox would be crying all the way home to britain
with broken ribs.

 

Tyson had without a doubt slowed down by that time but in his prime his handspeed rivaled any heavyweight in history. I saw him hit trever berbick with a lead right - left hook combo with the same speed that most fighters land a left-right.