Why Tyson Isnt An ATG

Foreman was only interested in fighting Tyson when Mike had the title. As soon as Tyson lost it, all of George's attention shifted towards Holyfield, Moorer, or whoever had it at the time.

 

Tyson is an all time great, hw champ at 20? The 3 belts at 22? Winning. 2 by brutal ko, WTF. Tyson had a much better carrer than the ******ed peanut, tyson. FACED many OF the same rivals OF Holmes and mike was much more dominant

 

Agree that Tyson was an atg. But with all due respect to Larry Holmes, he was a great champion too.

 

OF course, IF tyson did not have the title then he was another guy in the bunch, so foreman ignored him

 

Where as a lot of guys wanted to fight him anyway just for the money and to have his name in their win column regardless of weather or not there was a belt on the line.

 

There are actually some great wins that can be listed for some of these guys.

 

What I found really interesting was that I thought he'd be shattered when he lost to Douglas but according to his book, he couldn't wait to get out and score some drugs. That was his priority. :-(

 

What heavyweights, both as champion and on the way to the championship, cleaned out the division more emphatically than Tyson did from 86-89?

Not Johnson, not Dempsey, not Ali, not Frazier, not Holmes, not Lewis, not Klitschko…

I can really only think of two…

 

Things is, was it actually possible to live up to what was expected of him? Many thought he was destined to break Marciano's record and reign for 10 years...extremely lofty expectations for anyone.

Also, if Ali is the benchmark, then everyone bar Louis falls short.

 

@ Seamus, Louis n Tyson!

 

I don't buy that for a second. Larry was proud guy and hated losing. Why would a guy who did what he did in his career suddenly offer himself as a lamb to the slaughter, just for money?

Larry didn't need the money, he was financially secure. Yeah the money was a nice attraction but he wanted that title back.

 

Agreed. I think he also mentioned before the fight that he was going to give some of that money to charity or something, but I have no source. Just a vague memory of the pre fight press conference 26 years ago. But at any rate, Holmes wanted to get up after being knocked down a third time, but the three knockdown rule was in effect and Carlos Pedilla quickly stepped in. A self proclaimed lamb for the slaughter doesn't repeatedly get up like that.