Tyson came out of jail a different fighter but still was able to put together a string of knockouts leading him too winning back two of the world titles beating Frank Bruno then Bruce Seldon. Both weren't great champions by any means and Tyson would lose his title to an older Evander Holyfield. My question is what other champions do you think Tyson would've been able to beat at that stage of his career? Would he have been good enough at that stage in his career to do the same thing ten years earlier in the 80's and recapture the WBA belt from champions like Page, Dokes, Coetzee, Thomas, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Smith and Spinks? Could he at this time posed a threat for any of the great champions Holmes later in his reign, Ali in his second run, Frazier or Foreman? Would he have been too much for small champions of the 50's? Could he have regained the belt from guys like Chris Byrd, Rahman, Toney other champions of the early 2000's? Modern day could've Tyson at that time still beat Joshua or Wilder?
He wasnt the same mentally Physically he was still fast and powerful. He was in great shape and moved beautifully in the Holyfield rematch right until Holyfield started roughing him up, showing he wasnt shot in the traditional sense but that there was something not there anymore In his head. He still beats mikeand leon Spinks, rahman, Moorer Those caliber guys. And he takes Wilder. Wilder doesn't have the footwork or jab to stay at range he is nowhere near as skilled as Tucker Douglas or Lewis. Wilder can't take Mike's bodyshots or head shots and he can't knock mike out with. Just one shot either. Joshua destroys post prison Tyson. That Tyson doesn't have a better gas tank and would get pushed around he probably hurts Joshua at some point but Joshua will clinch him, hit him because tysons defense was **** after jail and I just think Joshua would want it more and beat him down and ragdoll him once Tyson slows down Maybe he could have still taken frazier early. Lewis could always get clipped. 1995-6 Foreman was also not the same as 1991. But not confident about those 3. Holyfield really broke him mentally. He would have knocked out 1996 Bowe who people didn't know was declining that badly so Mike would have probably trained really hard.
I don't see him beating any version Ali ,only perhaps spinks 1 Ali. I don't see him beating old Holmes in 85 ,but I see him stopping champion Norton . He still defeats Berbick by ko but I see Tucker out pointing him or stopping him late. Old Foreman soaks up the initial out burst but kos him before 10. He'd ko moorer but lose to Bryd ,Rahman or Tua .So in effect anyone with a solid Chin and talent would take him late rounds and stop him ..imo
Both Bruno and Seldon were beaten before they stepped in the ring so hard to say how Tyson would have coped if either had attempted to fight back. Holyfield wasn't intimidated and could cope with Tyson physically so I'd suggest smaller heavyweights might struggle but modern heavyweights who weren't intimidated and could survive the initial onslaught would all be in with a shot.
'96 Tyson would be undisputed today. He'd still have been quick enough to beat Joshua to the punch with ease, and if Luis Ortiz can have Wilder wobbling the Tyson of the Bruno rematch would've decimated him. There's no way the Holyfield of the Tyson fights makes it to the ring with modern day, strict PED testing.
'96 Tyson would've beaten many beltholders. Bruno wasn't worst among HW beltholders, and Tyson dealt with him very easily. Beltholders who are relatively small or have suspect chin or are featherfisted wouldn't give even '96 Tyson many problems.
Tucker was far better against prime Tyson than Ali was in his third fight vs Norton, his body looked really soft.
AJ`s jab is more powerful and sharper than Tyson`s was during his comeback, he didn`t bother with it and you need to get past AJ`s long reach and fast jab, plus AJ`s combo punching is better than Tyson`s was during his comeback, he had morons training him, Jay Bright was his head coach and he was in Tyson`s corner during the Douglas farce.
Bruno didn`t have the foot speed to evade Tyson`s punches and Seldon was knocked out by Bowe in a round.
Well if we're talking about Tyson and a second title.... A hungry 1991 Tyson on the comeback trail was in shape for 12 hard rounds, and very dangerous because he didn't have any quit in him yet His defense may have slipped a bit(hard to judge against an awkward ruddock) but I think that's made up by having learned not to underestimate his opponents recently and not taking wins for granted. I don't know if he Beats 91 Holyfield but it would probably be close as hell because he was in shape for 12 rounds of war and Holyfield hadnt fully bulked up yet and was also starting to get sloppy and reckless as we could see against Bert cooper and Riddick bowe. i see it as a brutal close fight.
Not suggesting either of those guys were capable of giving Tyson a fight, just that we didn't get to see Tyson fight anyone capable in his comeback until Holyfield, so other fighters better than Bruno and Seldon may well have been able to beat him or at least test him significantly.
