Off the top of your head you would think so, but when you really get down to it what do you think? Not everyone has him on their list. I know Bert Sugar didn't. What say you?
I think what he achieved, at the age he achieved it, puts him in there. I don’t rate him as highly as some, but what he achieved is likely a feat we won’t see again in our lifetime at the heavies.
Mike the Personality transcends Mike the Fighter. Although his prime was brief, during that prime he was probably the most recognized man on the planet. To this very day Mike is an icon. He’s the last of the great heavyweight champions when that title was still regarded as the ultimate in sporting crowns. Only Ali was a larger than life figure than Tyson. If you’re old enough to have lived through Ali’s heyday (I’m not) you probably believe Mike wasn’t all that, but for those of us that did live through Mike’s time it’s difficult to describe. Mike was to boxing in the 80’s what Michael Jackson was to pop music in the 80’s. Ironically enough, it’s Tyson that is still alive.
If popularity got Gatti into the Hall of Fame than this right here cements Mike in the rarefied air of all time greats
Imo, in Mike’s case it wasn’t popularity...it was awe. Also IMO, Gatti deserves to be in the Hall - but I admit that my personal Hall standards are different than the voting members. Gatti was known only to hardcore boxing fans and was also no doubt assisted into the Hall by his death. Mike Tyson, Kid Dynamite, the Baddest Man on the Planet, Iron Mike, captivated people of all stripes - boxing fans, sports fans, other athletes, business men, housewives etc. At his brief peak everybody knew who he was and why they knew him. Only Pele, Ali and Bruce Lee (maybe Gretzky) are other athletes that match up with Mike in terms of persona.
Your nan, your auntie and your pet goldfish knew who mike Tyson was back in the day.. I was absolutely gutted as a youngster when it all went Pete tong for him.. Still am I think.. Lol
mike was pure electricity, from the time he started the ring walk till the time he walked to the neutral corner after having broken another huge man, you were like a spring under tension that exploded when the opponent dropped. when they called him the baddest man on the planet, people believed it.
No. His resume isnt very good but in terms of sheer ability hes as good as anyone we`ve ever seen. At his best he gives any hw all they could handle and beats most of them.
Yes imo but, I’m biased because I watched it all as it was happening…I might have a different opinion had I lived through the Dempsey, Marciano, Louis, etc years. I know for some that did, they rated him differently because they didn’t like him as a person…I remember al Bernstein claiming Tyson was an okay puncher and no where near the power of almost any atg but, he hated Tyson. Once you reach the ATG level, it’s a toss up what order to put them that basically amounts to a game of mental masrerbation…
Yes to all that, and to your point at his peak I’ve never seen a big man that could move that fast, so precise, really really bad intentions...What’s not to like
Ali, Louis, Marciano, Johnson, Foreman, Lennox, Holmes, Jeffries, Frazier, Dempsey, Holyfield, Wladimir, Wills, Ezzard, Langford ...in my opinion he's somewhere 12-15+ish.