I can't remember who said this exactly, some sports scientist type. Doesn't matter (though God bless him). It always meant something to me - I thought it summed up Tyson rather nicely, explained away his greatness and his fall from greatness, it really seemed to me to be Tyson in a nutshell, in one beautiful sentence. But when you actually sit down to define exactly what it means... What are your thoughts on this statement and how would you explain it?
PRIME Tyson was a multi-dimensional super-being. When i say multi-dimensional i mean he could travel between paralell-dimensions, time And space, during his fights. He Also fought in bullet-time like Neo from teh Matrix, was never hit with a punch till Big Bus got to him, And threw a 6-punch combo every second. Not to mention, his power was rated @100megatonnes, he could fly at teh speed of sound, And shoot death-rays from his eyes with a mere stare!! :smoke
i'm a little underwhelmed Hey buddy. Don't post in this thread again please. I'm just asking you - don't post here again. I don't think you ought to post in this thread any more. I've seen a reasonable case, I think it probably gets a little over-sold sometimes too. Arguably.
People just seem to talk about his footwork and ability to cut off the ring a lot lately. Yes he walked towards his opponents but from what i see its the fact he is throwing combinations from all angles paired with upper body movement that leaves his opponents with no where to run. His footwork was nothing special. He would often cross his legs over or lead with his shoulder above the front knee.
I would think its referring to Tyson's head movement and angles to position himself where he wants. He did get himself into great positions to fire those body-head combos... I would take it to mean he got there (in position to fire at his best range) better than most, because all to often you see guys try to time their way in, but it seems Tyson just went for it.
Its referring to his angles, defense, the bobbing and weaving etc. Prime Tyson could beat anyone. Peak to prime Ali and Foreman could beat him, but those fights are 50/50 imo
The phrase seems open to individual interpretation. I'm Tyson's height, and I can only imagine how extremely difficult it is to not only fight a guy who is 6'5", but to fight a mobile professional fighter who is 6'5". I never sparred or fought anyone close to that height, and I don't know if people can appreciate the enormity of the task to get inside and land shots. The fact that he did it, and let's be honest, was very successful doing it at the top level is pretty remarkable. One thing about his syle was that he didn't fight particularly short. He didn't have the prototype short man's style, ala a Frazier. Sure, he ducked under shots and did a bit of bobbing here and there, but essentially he bent sideways rather than downwards. It wasn't just purely head movement, but he'd dip his shoulders and weave side to side to create both defensive and offensive angles. I think he showed that shorter fighters don't neccesarily have to take one to land one, and that even short fighters can get in, do damage, and not take punishment. The physical gifts need to be there, and of course the right coaching as well, but it can be done. I'm not well-versed enough on his footwork to comment (Please take up the slack here, chaps) but I don't think it was overrated at all. Again, to get inside and land power shots against much taller opponents time and again tells me that it had to be excellent. He did square up in brief glimpses, and he did get his feet a little muddled here and there, but in all his fights, he suffered only one knockdown that you could say was because he was off-balance. In any fight there are little transitions that fighters work through, and I guess now and then in the heat of the moment he'd get his footwork a little screwed up. But his footwork and handspeed are two of the biggest reasons for his success, imo.
I would've thought he was talking about his movement and angles i donrt see the fall from grace thing there. Formeans Hook, course he was hit before douglas
Tyson was a 200+ pound HW. Not many of them have great footwork. A lot are plotters compared. And often look like they are fighting like their feet were dipped in cement. He was fast of foot and could shuffle fast into position. All this had to continually be trained. When he didn't, he showed up dragging and flat-footed (for the most part)...and it cost him.
Floyd Patterson fought same exact way, both had style developed by D'Amato. Tyson just did it better. More power, faster, just more effective.
