Does Tyson get enough credit for ko'ing Holmes

At the time Holmes had no interest in boxing and did it for a quick few million. So yes he got enough credit IMO. Holmes showed later on when he got serious he still has some skills to showcase but one has nothing to do with the other if you dont mind me expanding a bit.

 

Holmes didn’t do himself any favours challenging a dominant undisputed champion after back to back losses and such a lay off.

Tyson was the man back then. Nobody had any business taking him on if they couldn’t beat world level guys in recent fights.

However, that could be the reason why they got the opportunity.

Think of the guys Tyson fought who beat world rated guys to earn their shot? Larry didn’t. Tubbs didn’t. Thomas didnt. Bruno didn't. Biggs didn’t.

 

It was impressive as even an aged Holmes was hell to get out of there, obviously. Tyson was however put together very well for such a task.

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

back at that time, people expected an old holmes to capitulate, 37/38 being a deathbed for world level boxing and beyond.

Because of the increasing age of fighters as quality has diminished, with fighters aged late 30s still being in boxing, people today are projecting their times back on that time, expecting larry to be able to win at 37/38. You need to look at what is what for its time - elite level boxing would have eliminated such aged fighters from the top level in those times.

Though larry, just to through a spanner in the works, kept boxing successfully in his 40s at just below world level, the sly bugga.

Larry should have had tune-up really, though I'm no one to tell an ATG what to do.

 

No. Holmes was a shell of who he had been.

 

Very accurate points. 37 back in 88 was seen for any boxer as old and past it ,not these days though. Wasn't. Ali More or less same age when he lost to spinks ?When Larry stepped up against Tyson he was seen as ancient ,given no chance. Only Jersey Joe up to then had done well at 37 ,but he was seen as a one off .

 

Prime tyson destroys every version of holmes, maybe he would ko faster the younger, lighter and more aggressive prime holmes

 

Tubbs was a former world heavyweight champion. Thomas was a former world heavyweight champion. Bruno was a ranked contender. Briggs was a highly touted challenger and former olympic gold medal winner. He fought them all and crushed them all among others in under eighteen months. What ever point you are trying to make its half baked.

 

Half baked? Im convinced he goes through at least 3-4 joints before he makes his posts.

 

LOL .. Tyson gets so screwed by so many on his overall rating ... you cannot separate Tyson's inside the ring career without understanding his life .. you have a severely fu-ked up kid that should have been on mood swing meds from his teens on who was instead nurtured and spoiled and manipulated because he had the potential to and did become a zillion dollar asset by the age of twenty .. he was played time and again by the best hustlers of the age .. he was a victim but he also had weak character .. his career was that of a meteorite .. from 86 - 88 while he was still focused he was one of the most dangerous men to ever lace on gloves. Once he lost his focus it was over in stages .. however his run from Berbick thru Spinks was astonishing .. the claims that those guys were scared as crap .. he destroyed a very tough group of big, strong and talented heavyweights , period end of story . I personally believe that the Tyson of 87 beats Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis as well ..

 

I agree with most of this. Tyson obviously had some sort of mania/bipolar issue and demons in his closet from hanging out in the streets and repressed sexual feelings. Honestly...he shouldnt have been allowed to box without being cleared by therapists and school teachers as a stable, functional person.

People always talk about how awesome his fights were and how "inspiring" his story is, and they arent crazy for feeling that way. But now that Im an adult and have experienced much, I can honestly stand by what i said: his was a cautionary tale. Cus d amato was brilliant but i think he was a little shady and knew he had a golden goose and justified letting such a savage man child loose upon the world by claiming he gave the kid a parental figure, confidence, and values like hard work, etc.

As for his resume, like all things, the truth is usually between the two extremes. The arguments that he was a greek demi god and if he stayed focused in his peak would demolish all challengers past, present, and future in 3 rounds or less at his peak are downright hilarious because we saw him with our own eyes struggle with men like douglas and ruddock. The opposite extreme, people who claim he was a manufactured hype job who quits as soon he gets a boo boo obviously have issues in their own lives and take it out on tyson.

He was a great, great fighter, highly skilled, exceptionally fast and powerful, but far, far from the worst and at his best he was just shy of being in the top 5 of all time. Cant complain about a rating like that.

Boxing and sports in general isnt about what "could have been", but if were speculating, then obviously a peak tyson gives holyfield, bowe, and lewis serious problems. I personally dont think he would have beaten a focused Lewis though outside of a punchers chance.

 

I agree with this part actually. Tyson really was a better fighter than Holyfeild, Bowe and Lewis at his best.

My only quibble is that because there was such a rush to line up the best fighters for Tyson to tackle, we all forgot the best available fighters were not fighting each other anymore. I would never dispute these opponents were not the best out there. They were! It is just they were pretty idle and rusty in comparison to Tyson.

Tysons phenomenal workload was a sight to behold. And he delivered.

 

I don’t need to smoke anything to come out with the truth. What recent wins against world rated fighters had Holmes, Thomas, Tubbs, Bruno and Biggs had within a year of fighting Tyson?

Back then I was amazed how much better Tyson was than those guys. They had the name and the pedigree and Tyson just crushed them. Looking back after the dust settled these guys were pretty inactive and could have done with better wins going up against Tyson.

Williams, Berbick, Tucker, Smith and Douglas were much better prepared.