ray mercer that fought spoon and lewis vs mike tyson that fought bruno and holy in 96 how does it go ? my opinion is tyson was notthe same when he came back not even close / my money is on ray mercer to take tysons early on slot and take tyson out late (prime 4 prime different story) discuss these guys in 96 against each other
Ray would be the underdog, but i like him in this fight, Tyson was too mentally unstable, and unpredictable, and prone to do stupid ****, when things aren't going his way, which is exactly what happens here... I like Ray by late stoppage or DQ win...
Tyson. Maybe Tyson from 2002-2005 wasn't better than Marion Wilson and Jesse Fergusson, but 96 version clearly was. Holyfield beat Mercer convincingly, I scored it 97-92. Yet Mercer won 3 rounds which was very good for him. Lewis - yes, it was very close, but you can't ignore other fights, too. BTW, Bruno who was KO'd in 3 by Tyson in 1996, KO'd Fergusson in 1 round.
Tyson, because hes simply a better fighter. As long as he doesn't gas (which he might), hell beat Mercer handily. Mercer was an all round tough punchbag, nothing more, nothing less.
Yeah and that punchbag went 12 hard rounds against huge punching Lennox Lewis, a feat Tyson wouldn't be able to do in 96. If Tyson doesn't blast out Mercy early he's in for a long night and would lose in the later rounds, he wasn't exactly hard to hit in 96.
In 1996, I'd go with Mercer, assuming he got in shape, because an in shape Mercer, the one that fought Lewis, had a great chin, and enough speed, power, and skill to withstand the early storm and then take Mike when he started fading. It would have been a whole lot of fun to watch.
Mercer would prove tough but Tyson would prove tougher if he was up for this particular fight. He overlooks Mercer like he did Holyfield than it could be a long night. Tyson should take it. Mercer was never quite championship material.
I fully agree with this assessment. In '96,Mercer would have rode out the massive early storm and capitalised on Tyson's frustration after the seventh round or so.