The Magic of Mike Tyson with Emanuel Steward

Good read, thanks for posting.

 

good interview. i agree with most of what he says about Tyson.

 

A lot of what he says makes sense but what Emanuel fails to acknowledge and what made Tyson so good was his ability to avoid punches and counterpunch. That kind of ability really created no barriers for facing a bigger man and although guys like Tucker and Smith were able to take him the distance they pretty much didnt do anything other than make it the distance.

The size factor really didnt start working in his opponents favor until Tyson became more stationary and easier to hit and push around.

As he said guys were becoming very unsure of themselves early in fights but it was more because they couldnt land on Tyson and they were getting hit when they threw punches at him not so much because of Tysons power. Most fighters arent afraid of power but they become very wary when they cant stop getting hit and countered. Thats what can turn a fight quicker than an opponent getting knocked down. The mental effects are much greater.

When fighters like Douglas and even Bruno in the first fight were able to hit Tyson cleanly I think thats what cleared that cloak of invincibility with Tyson because they could stand their ground and hit Mike and see the effects of hitting him whereas in the past they would come out throwing and then resort to holding or just survivng after throwing at air and getting countered.

Taking all that into consideration its very difficult to determine how Tyson would do against Lewis and Holyfield or Ali at his mental peak. Had Tyson stopped fighting after the Spinks fight I think a lot of trainers like Emanuel Steward wouldnt feel the same way especially after Tyson defeated a lot of their peers who they had a tremendous amount of respect for. Tyson defeated a number of fighters who had the guidance of top trainers in their corner. Fighters with the guidance of the Dundees and Futches of the boxing world should have been able to trouble Tyson more than they did because as Emanuel Steward said they werent great fighters but guys with good solid boxing ability.

 

Nice post. :good

 

Notice how Steward always predicted everything before it actually happened, Emanuel KNOWS!!!!!

 

Your post was written EXACTLY as Steward expected

 

He forgot to mention how he tried to bring Mike to court because he didn't want another Lennox Lewis fight, eh?

 

Excellent read. I think he overstates Mike's lack of height a bit, but you can't agree with everyone..

 

I agree with most of it. Although i dont agree with the part about Tyson having trouble with bigger guys.

Green, Smith and Tucker all tried to survive, if they had opened up, they would have got their asses handed to them

Smith threw ONE punch in the last few seconds of the 12th round, it stunned Tyson because he was probably more shocked than actually hurt.

Also i admire Holyfield, but hes talking **** about backing Tyson up until he folds.

I post an interview of Holyfield on here, quite a few months back. Holyfield stated himself the fight was tough and gruelling and he won from a condtioning standpoint.

Holyfield fought a superb fight in 96, he used the matador technique by goading Tyson in, making him miss and then countering and then moving away until Tyson tires. Stand in front of Tyson and go toe to toe he did not.

 

Same opinion.

 

I dont blame Smith though, imagine how he must have felt when he saw Tyson/Berbick and realised he was next on the list :good

Tuckers got no excuse, he had all the tools to do the job

Against Green, Tyson was...green