Tyson vs Page

Tyson stated that he liked sparring partners that were tough and could give him a good workout. McCall fitted the bill perfectly.
He was Mike's sparring partner for many years, so the number seems believable.
In a fight, I think Oliver may have suffered from sparring partner syndrome.

 

It's as clear as day what happened in Tokyo. Really, it's not rocket science. Tyson was in semi-decent physical shape. He was not in fine fighting trim, despite what he looked like.
He was a young man with a fast metabolism, so honestly just doing some roadwork and cardio would have been good enough to drop excess pounds.
Tyson typically ballooned to about 250 between fights and when you're young, relatively active and have a fast metabolism, that 30 lbs. isn't hard to shed.
But it doesn't mean that you're in tip-top fighting condition. Put it this way...I've seen him in much better condition than that night in Tokyo.

Even Page, who dropped him, was urging him to get his butt in the gym and start doing some work. They could see the deterioration right before their eyes.

And mentally yeah, in no way was he fit to fight a hard fight. Complacency set in due to too many easy victories, and on paper Douglas hardly seemed a threat.
The fight game is more mental than physical and you have to be focused and mentally prepared when fighting, regardless of opponent.

This is not to discredit Douglas' win, which was amazing and fully deserved. But there were two sides to the coin in Tokyo.
I don't know why there is still debate to this day about it.

 

The problem being, was that Tyson was rarely in the gym. And this wasn't a total anomaly either. He quit training early several times for the 2nd Ruddock fight to go shopping.

I do agree that he probably worked his tail off while he was actually in the gym, but he trained sporadically for a few of his fights.

 

Yeah? Take your own advice.

And I certainly am not your pal.

 

I'm not your mate either.

 

It is well documented that he hardly trained for the fight. He wasn't showing up to the gym and more interested in booze, blow and broads than training.

The fact he "looked good" can be attributed to his age... These days I work out almost everyday just to look a bit fit... At 23, I looked great no matter what I did... Youth is wasted on the young.

 

To put it in perspective he was much closer to his best self than Ali was against Norton (first and third), Young, Shavers and Lyle to name a couple. And closer to his best than Louis was for the Walcott fights - not to mention his losses to Charles and Marciano.

Tyson wasn't in poor physical shape against Douglas. Not top shape, but not poor either. If he was, he wouldn't have been able to last as long or pull that uppercut out of his hat in the 8th. He mainly seemed to have an off night. Just wasn't quite at the races, while Douglas had the best night of his career.

That's what makes records like Ali's and Louis's so outstanding. Because if you stay champ long enough, there's always going to be nights when you're not your usual self, while everything comes together perfectly for the other guy. When you're the HW champ, especially if you're great and long reigning, every fight that you're in is a chance for your opponent to completely transform his life, while for you the defenses eventually becomes more like a day at the office.