Mike Tyson's prime

rooney was the last of cus's style

 

spot on, rooney leaving tyson was the single biggest factor in his demise.

 

He was on the slide in Bruno I

 

Mike Tyson clearly lost a step when Rooney left him..
But he was still a dangerous fighter afterwards, i don't think that this thread was made to make any excuses for Tyson, but in the end of the day he still has three ugly losses when he still was a factor on the big scene, consistency is (imo) so important when judging legacy, some random baseball player once said" many athletes can have 1 or 2 good years, but when you have to do it for 5,10,15 years, then it becomes difficult"..
I am not taking anything away from Tyson though, he was an extremely impressive fighter in his prime, and he did enough to edge (in my book) the HW top 10..

 

True but we shouldnt overlook the influence of robing givens and how simple minded mike was, he was kept on a tight leash by cus, fighting often so he didnt have the time to get reckless yet afterwards he became more of a headhunter when he kicked rooney out and was with don king punching chicks and living wild.

 

Tyson looked better against Holy 2nd time round, he had trained harder & was doing ok until his old sparring cut reopened & he lost the plot.

Mike also had a couple of moments in their 1st fight, he rocked Holy with the 1st right hand he threw & landed a great combination in the 5th or 6th, I forget which.

Post prison he wasnt a ruined fighter, still dangerous but easier to beat. Holy would have beaten him back in 90/91 imo

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcRXu8PyZe8[/ame]

 

I really thought Rooney would go on to be a ATG trainer.Anyone who can't see something died inside Mike after Kevin is only fooling themselves.
He was never the same and I'll never be convinced otherwise.
Good thread.

 

I think you are overstating his decline. He still looked sharp & aggressive against a timid opponent & not that far removed from his prime

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2cOtzA64ns[/ame]

Against Holy (&Douglas)he was such a huge favourite & wasnt expecting a tough nights work. When Holy didnt crumble after the first big shot Mike gradually fell to pieces, but Holy would have always beaten Mike so I dont read too much into that.

In the 2nd fight Mike was better prepared & looked a lot closer to his old self but couldnt/wouldnt sustain that level of performance once he encountered problems he couldnt solve.

 

Who were those clowns in his corner in the Douglas fight? They were using a balloon with cold water in it,on Mikes swollen eye..Were was the enswell???

 

Mike is the sentimental favorite to most guys on the forum because they started watching boxing because of him. Tyson wasn't the same fighter against Douglas and Holy that's true. But Evender was also past his prime and Douglas was never that good to begin with. The only objective criteria for Mike greatness was the fact that when he faced another HOF around his prime he lost.