Good post If you followed boxing closely at the time - read the magazines, watched the fights, read the newspapers it was very apparent Tyson was going through real turmoil in '88 and '89. I can only imagine what it would have been like if the Internet existed at the time. Even I, as a 19 yr. old could see it wasn't going to end well. Still, it was suprising Douglas was the one to take advantage, because he had looked so mediocre in many of his biggest fights. But, the combination of Douglas GOATING and Tyson slipping was a perfect recipe for disaster for Tyson. People who post now just citing his age and saying 'oh he was so young, he couldn't have been slipping, are ignoring what many boxing insiders and fans could see and read with their own eyes back then.
Don't sweat it It's what Foxy does. He makes excuses for Hearns in the first Leonard fight because he doesn't like Leonard But, he won't tolerate what he sees as excuses for Tyson losing to Douglas, because he doesn't like Tyson. His emotions get in the way. Which isn't suprising seeing some of the vitriol he posts when people on here disagree with him. Subjectivity is his m.o.
Ha ha great posts saad. Was starting to wonder if i had got it wrong about tyson after talking with foxy. Began to think something was up when he started calling cus old tomato can. Lol. Too funny i ll give him that. Sure i seen somewhere him claiming leonard was just an okay fighter. Suppose thats what makes forums interesting. If we all agreed it d probably make a boring place. Cant work out if he does it to wind people up or thats just how he feels about them.
His combinations were already on the slide in this fight. And in the next fight he was already looking for just the one big powershot to the face.
I think he looked very sloppy loading up for big shots and with less head movement .So yes he appeared to have ,"gone back".
it was Mike's fault. He got too famous for his own good and slacked off in training and got yes men, who didn'ttrain him properly and his head movement slipped and he was hit more, which led to harder and harder fights with guys he would have beaten easily enough.
Bruno's management were foolish, leaving him out of the ring for 16 months prior to the fight. Tyson's plans kept changing. Originally there was a chance Tyson-Bruno would be in the early summer of 1988 but when the Spinks fight was made Bruno was pencilled in for September 3, in Wembley stadium. That fell through almost immediately with Tyson having drama all over the place and then injuring his hand in a street brawl with Mitch Green. Bruno's management should have taken advantage by getting Frank in the ring for a tune-up or two. But they were so over-protective and feared he'd blow it and lose the payday. Tyson came to the fight a bit rusty but Bruno had been out the ring twice as long, and that might have cost him the sharpness he needed when he landed those punches in round 1. Who knows.
I suggest you go and watch the Bruno fight, he threw plenty of combinations. Hell he landed arguably his best ever combination to finish Big Frank........
It was a good performance against hard hitting dangerous opponent.Tyson did look a bit rough round the edges but got job done.
Yeah, right You were 4 yrs old at the time. Those of us who were intricatly following the sport at the time saw what was happening. Foxy was an "adult" but his anti-U.S. bias was apparently already well developed by '89.