When exactly was Mike Tyson's prime?

Hamburglar , You're right , we could use that excuse for any loss a fighter suffers for not being prepared , this fight should have been won by Tyson but Mike didn't take him serious enough , rumors of illness even . I'm talking about Tyson's prime and that was obviously the end of it or the true catalyst for the decline , Mikes off the field antics gave him the overrated status (all his own doing ) He had the ingredients to be the GOAT but fame and fortune corrupted and poisoned his mind as you can see with many athletes who reach stardom but Mike peaked so quickly and he was young and dumb. Like I said I'm referring to his prime which ended with Douglas . 86-91ish? I'm sure there's a thread out there stating Mikes overall career as being a letdown and I wouldn't completely agree. He lit the world on fire and then tarnished himself by going to prison . He didn't have a chance of beating Holy or Lennox when he did finally fight them which was post prison . He should've fought Evander before he fought Douglas but there was some contractual clause making him fight Douglas I believe. Fighting evander and Lennox that far removed from his prime is the same example as Ali Holmes . Ali and Tyson probably needed money if Don King had any hand in it . Tyson is overrated in the aspect that he was his own worst enemy and that will always be a sore spot with me . Ali being 40 and washed is the perfect comparison for Tyson Holyfield / Tyson Lewis with rationale of they were both nuts for getting into the ring during that point in their careers.

 

I think Tyson's ideal peak was from the Berbick fight of 86' to the Williams fight of 89' - A period of roughly three years and ten fights, which is long enough to justify one's prime. By the time he entered the ring with Douglas in February of 1990, he had only seen 93 seconds of boxing action within the previous 12 months and had been working with incompetent management for about a year and half since his original camp had been replaced. That says nothing of the distractions that were getting in the way outside the ring. James Douglas also showed up in rare form and fought what should be considered as an exceptional performance by anyone's standards. Upon losing the title, Aron Snowel and Jay Bright were terminated, then replaced by Rich Giachetti. For a brief period Tyson looked somewhat rejuvenated and successfully dispatched Stewart, Tillman and Ruddock ( though tough fights. ) But unfortunately it wouldn't last. His prison sentence took away 4 years of his life and boxing career. By the time he returned in 1995, much of his abilities were diminished.

 

I dont think that i have ever seen a fighter that people come up with more excuses for than Mike Tyson.Maybe floyd mayweather but thats about it.

Oh he wasn't prepared for douglas ohhh he would have beaten holyfield in 91 ohhhhh if he would have fought lennox in his peak he would have won

like wat in the **** is wrong with you clowns. Tyson came back and regained two crowns you say??? yea against bruce ****en seldon and frank bruno dude……….not exactly the cream of the crop at heavyweight

and i loooooovvvvvvveeee how you think that im basing my argument on wether or not he beat lennox and evander. If you could actually read we wouldn't be having this conversation. No my friend im basing my argument on the fact that tyson never beat anyone of note and lost evey big fight he was ever in and also lost to a 42-1 underdog that people like to pretend that he was out of shape for ( which is bull**** by the way)

and you seriously are bringing up ali-holmes? Right because its totally fair to compare mike tyson to a 40 year old ali in the early stages of parkinsons disease, on thyroid medication and who had been out of the ring for two years. YEEEEAAA totally comparable


another feeble attempt to try to defend the mediocre career of mike tyson.

 

im not sure if your being sarcastic but uh i was joking…maybe read it again in its entirety ok homie?

 

Look, if you REALLY REALLY REALLY have this overwhelming urge to try to force your Tyson fanboyism on everyone else, could you at least try to get the dates right.

Doulgas fvcked Tyson on the 11th of February 1990, so he didn't exactly mow through everyone from 85 - 91 did he?

 

Your right after he lost to Douglas he didn't reel off 4 wins in a row against Tilman , Stewart and Ruddock .

 

Fixed it for you.

 

You were joking ? So this post has no sarcasm in it at all ? I'm talking about his prime and the people that were put in front of him to fight , I'm not saying Ali ,Louis, Foreman ,Holy field,Lewis couldn't have beat these guys . Sure they could've beat them but Tyson DESTROYED them only to ask "Who's next?" Should I apologize to you that he fought who he fought and unified the WBA,WBC and IBF all within a year of defeating Berbick . He fought who was available and did it by the age of what 20yoa. I agree that he is overated because of his overall career is overrated and that was his fault because he lost too many years away from the ring by being a dumbass and going to prison . I would've loved to see Holyfield Tyson in 89-90-91 . Magoo put it well from 86-89 had a three year reign of terror. Tyson could've been even money with any prime version of anyone during this time . I honestly at the time when he lost to Douglas thought it was merely a hiccup and I was hoping for him to get back on track and I thought he would be by reeling off 4 wins in a row after the loss but like I said before Tyson screwed himself. I see alot of people ***** about Holmes opponents and what he may have ducked Page and Coetzee but he beat who was put in front of him and was a distance oriented fighter. **** I think Holmes even looked decent against Tyson until he got KOd . I thought Spinks was scared shitless against Tyson and was surprised the way he lost to Tyson ,blown up hvywt or not Spinks was a good opponent for Tyson . People talk about Marciano being overrated bc he beat a bunch of washed up legends. Is it there fault when they were born and when they entered the sport and peaked . Who else was Rocky supposed to have fought, who else did Tyson not beat during his prime . Did Mike make Pinklon Thomas Tony Montana's best customer? I wouldnt go as far as calling myself a fan boy but for sure a fan . I'm dissappointed that he tarnished his legacy when he had the ingredients for the GOAT title . I never was much of an Ali fan but I see objectively how he is the GOAT.

 

i think your confused. That whole thing i wrote was sarcastic. I believe tyson was the most overated fighter that has ever lived

See i am a fan to of tyson but that doesn't change what he was. He was a exciting fighter with a good punch but he ALWAYS came up short in his biggest fights

you trying to justify the opponents that he beat doesnt help in the SLIGHTEST when you consider he lost his biggest fights. yea he beat everyone put in front of him you are absolutely right but that doesn't change the fact that they were all bums. That would be like me saying Gerry Cooney is great to because he also beat a bunch of bums, beat an over the hill Ken Norton and than lost the biggest fight of his career

You must understand, im not trying to hate on tyson BUT to be honest at least imo he was a product. People saw the flashy knockouts instead of who he was knocking out.Who gives a **** that he was knocking people out. Anyone can knock out bums but you CANNOT be considered an all time great when you never beat anyone of note

 

What were his biggest fights , Holyfield ? Lewis? That must be what you are referring to and if you are basing his all time status on a post prison version of him then to each his own. Were all the fights that he gained championships not his biggest fights ? Were the 9 successful title defenses not big fights? How is this coming up short?

 

Cmon man. You cant be serious. So because he had nine successful title defenses that makes him great? so is Marco Huck an atg???? i mean he has 9 successful title defense and using your logic hes great right??

NO. I dont give a **** if he had a thousand title defenses, if you beat nobodies that doesn't make you great.

And post prison version huh? i seem to recall everyone on this planet thinking that Tyson was going to literally kill the OLDER,OUT OF HIS PRIME evander holyfield if i remember correctly. What other excuses ya got? that he was out of shape? didn't seem that way to me. that he lacked speed and power? didn't seem that way to me. Was he the same fighter from 1986 no. But it wasn't like he declined that much. Theres a difference in eroding skills and just not training which is really what was the problem and thats his own fault.

I have never see a fighter that people make up excuses for more than Tyson

 

Good lord , I think you and my wife would get along great . I admitted his prison sentence was of his own doing and that was it . I'm referring to his prime , he wasn't **** after he got out of prison . Train in prison , am I missing something , of course he lacked everything post prison training speed desire DISCIPLINE. Ali fighting Holmes is the same comparison as a post prison Tyson . Do you give Holmes credit for beating Ali , or might i say was it a quality win ? Of course it wasn't . How dare Tyson knock off existing champions to unify it all . Nothing but a bunch of bums who were able to become World Champions . Tyson was great during his PRIME and he was a disappointment afterwards. Did Tyson avoid anybody during his prime? Im not making excuses for the fact that Tyson cleaned out the hvywt division during his prime period . How the hell is it his fault that the division was the way it was? Like I said get the Dolorian started up and insert him in his prime to whatever decade you want . Lets go for the seventies since that is the golden era of heavys

Tyson vs Ali ,vs Foreman, vs Norton , vs Shavers , vs Quarry , vs Lyle , vs Chuvalo , vs Frazier , vs Young, vs Bugner , vs Bobick , vs Wepner , vs Holmes , vs Leon Spinks , vs Foster

How does he fair against these guys

 

well he probably beats quarry,chuvalo,young,nugner,bobick,wepner,spinks,foster and probably Norton

Toss Up
Shavers,Lyle

He looses to
Ali,Foreman,Frazier,Holmes ( unfortuanetly prime for prime these guys are in a different class than Tyson and that is undeniable)

although i will say if tyson was going to beat anyone in that group i would say him and holmes would be the closest but its still at the least 65-35

i refuse to debate with you wether he could beat the other 3 because that would just be nonsense.

 

You can discredit anyone’s resume, or glorify it depending on your agenda. Tyson’s wasn’t that bad when compared to other greats. Staying away from the resume all I know is that those fights in his prime showed one thing, a beast of a fighter, I’m not trying to repeat every fans gushing orgasm about the man, he just was simply a beast. I am in no way saying unbeatable, but what I am saying is that to beat the prime 86, 87, 88 Tyson you had to be something pretty special. You had to fight off a guy that comes in with speed, power, movement and the intention to punch through your head like a murderous animal. Basically a human tank. If you couldn’t stop that tank you would be ****ed.

Tyson never really needed to show that much heart because of his raw talent and physical abilities. If a fighter could keep him away and outbox him then I’d guess it could shut him down but I can only think of a handful of great fighters that could do it. There is also a little unknown factor that helps and harms Tyson’s legacy. If he was still with Rooney and had the great discipline he started with would he been so easy to shut down, he was a more determined fighter in his prime than people give him credit for. He was tagged plenty but never allowed himself to be effected. I only see skilled supersize boxer types with great chins having a chance against him, and they are not falling out of trees. That fact has to put him up there.

edit - just to add, I name Ali, Holmes, Foreman, Bowe and maybe Lewis as guys prime Tyson would have real trouble with. I think he beats Frazier easy along with Norton and Shavers.