Mike Tyson.....Was he overrated?

Nope

 

Yup

 

He is overrated by some and underrated by others.

 

mike tyson was a phenom in his younger years, he was awesome under cus d'amato. once don king got his slimy paws on tyson it was the beginning of the end. as for the argument that tyson fought cans, watch some of his 1 minute knockdowns, those guys might have been cans but they were in shape. mind you tyson was knocking out a guy a month for a while there! imo a young at the top of his game tyson would have knocked out any heavyweight ever including ali. he might have even improved and been even better than his cus d'amato days had he kept his head on straight. he was just so fast and powerful, he had great defense, head movement and an underrated jab. wish there were more guys like a prime tyson around.

 

He IS overrated.

And this is coming from a Tyson fan.

Still, he'd beat the **** outta any Heavyweight from today's era.

But when I say overrated, I mean when people would say: He's the best of all time p4p EVER!

And he's underrated generally by klithuggers - saying he's too small etc to fight a klitschko etc etc.

Truth is, Tyson is ONE OF THE greatest fighters of all time. The fact that people still talk about him as often as they do, is testament to this.

Just watch his fights, and you'll see what I mean. (Prime Tyson, not shot to **** Tyson)

 

P4P Julian Jackson was a much dangerous puncher.
Yes, he was also overrated.

 

no.

 

Yes...So much so that this guy's aura is absurd. Even people who don't give a **** about boxing know the name "mike tyson". He's one of the most super hyped athelete in boxing history. (maybe sport's history)

Having said all that...He also was a legit talent , a top athlete and probably could've achieved more...Under D'amato's wings , he was at his full potential. Unfortunately , he had bad influences. And his career took a hit because of it.

Prime Tyson wasn't invincible though. Only in the eyes of his deluded hardcore fans. But that takes nothing from his greatness. All great fighters had their weaknesses at one point in their career.

Lennox , Holyfield , Klitschko , Bowe , Ali etc..None of them are perfect.
And certainly not Tyson. So yes , he was an overrated (but great) fighter.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QACELH3www[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YvtkqjtBc[/ame]

 

He is overrated by casual fans. They think his ability to create some quick knockouts make him better than boxers with versatile skillsets.

 

As a phenomenon; no. As a fighter; probably.

 

Not just that , it's mostly a testament to the power of mass media. He was a controversial and interesting character. Kinda Ali but in a different way. That's why the public...even kids who weren't born during Tyson's era , know the name "mike tyson".

Just like you have tools who believe Bruce Lee would've kicked the **** out of any top boxing or mma fighters in the blink of an eye. That's the power of media. Whether we're talking about Tyson , Bruce Lee , Ali...The media can turn you into a demi-god if they want to.

The Klitschkos are the anti-Tysons , the anti-Ali...In other words , not as interesting for the mass media. Because they're foreigners , not controversial at all (in or outside the ring) , too polite , too discreet...And their fights are either too one sided or boring. And even when they manage to pull entertaining fights , there's never anything controversial buzz-worthy about their victories.

David Haye understood this from day 1 , (smart decision on his part) , and managed to super-hype his fight against Wlad. Whether he truely believed he had a chance or not wasn't even that important.

If boxing had more controversial figures in the HW division , you'd have more people glued to their screen. Even with the Klitschkos around. (because the haters would tune in to see if any of the Klit bros get brutally koed).


Dana White perfectly understands this. That's why he had the great idea to hire an ex-wwe star with a big mouth (Lesnar) , who also looked the part. (physically speaking)...

That's why Sonnen wasn't fired from the UFC (even though he was on roids in his first fight against Anderson Silva) , Because Sonnen has a big mouth , gets the fans pumped... Just like Haye did before his fight...It's good for the ratings , good for business.

 

Only, Tyson had other assets too - That's what made him better than other more 'versatile' fighters.

He had speed, accuracy, power, explosiveness, head movement, upper body movement, exceptional combination punching, mastered the bob and weave style, a highly underrated defence, and a highly underrated jab - It might not have been the most powerful, but he could out jab much bigger guys.

Tyson also learnt from the greats of the past. He was a scholar of boxing, and would study tape after tape of fighters from the previous generation, so as to not make the same mistakes as them... Only, Tyson went and made all his own mistakes that nobody before him had made :S


To the OP: Don't pay too much attention to what Tyson's fans and detractors say. Just watch some videos of his fights, and see how your jaw drops in amazement at one of the greatest fighters of all time.

 

No matter how good you were, if you can't perform without your special trainers/coaches you're really not that much.