[Video] The man who kept Tyson from being a top 10 ATG.

Tyson is definitely top 10 but lower half. The problem with my own top 10 is that there are about 8 fighters in that lower half.

 

At this point I think he's a lock for top 10.

As much as I hate to say it as a smart ass contrarian.

 

Tyson would be in my top 3 h2h heavyweight ATG’s but unfortunately for him ATG lists are never based on h2h which is why Ali and Louis are forever locked in as the top 2 in heavyweight lists until the end of time.

 

How does Tyson rate so highly when he wasn't even the best of his own era?

 

Name 10 heavyweights to rank ahead of him and why.

 

You don't have one of either Liston, Frazier and Foreman in your top 10? Not Moore in your LHW top 10?

 

If being the best in your era, to the point Tyson is excluded, then who is in the top 10?
Jeffries, Johnson, Louis, Marciano, Ali, Holmes, Lewis, are the only ones that I think fit that without much controversy. I'd also add Sullivan, since Jackson was really of the next era, but then if Tyson doesn't count as the best of his, maybe they count as the same era. And Jackson Vs Sullivan is fairly debatable, and I think Sullivan's opposition doesn't seem to have been strong enough, especially if Tyson's wasn't. Maybe Wlad, though a lot rate Vitali higher.

So then are the other 2/3 spots in the top 10 vacant?

 

John L Sullivan
Bob Fitzsimmons
James Jeffries
Jack Johnson
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
Sonny Liston
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Lennox Lewis
Wladimir Klitschko

That's 11 without much thinking. You could also make a good case for Langford and Holyfield.

 

Tyson was considered the best heavy in the world for such a brief period of time that it doesn't really count as a definable era. I would say you have to dominate at least 4/5 years before you can claim to have dominated an era.

Oliver McCall beat Lewis in 1994 we don't talk of McCall as having dominated an era because he scored the best win of any heavyweight in 1994.

 

Crunching the numbers Tyson did an incredible amount of work in a short period of time. The way he did it was overwhelming. He loses some marks from a longevity standpoint but the above gets him a lot of traction as well. It gets him into the second half of the top 10.

 

No he loses a lot of marks because he wasn't even the best of his own time. If Povetkin had went out and beaten 20+ guys ranked in the top 10 he still wouldn't be an ATG because he couldn't beat Wladimir.

I have no doubt that during his prime Povetkin could have cleaned out the entire division bar Vitali and Wladimir. But these guys prevent him from being great.

 

Well you can have him outside your 10 but most will disagree. Povetkin cleaning out the division is pure speculation where as Tyson actually did it.

 

Good god Evander has an impressive back in that thumbnail, that some olympia **** right there.

 

It's speculation based on pretty compelling evidence. Also, Tyson didn't fully clean out his era as evidenced by his loss to Douglas. The guy who beat him was there all along throughout Tyson's reign.

 

There is no evidence he would run riot thru the division. The whole dynamic changes when the title becomes involved. Isn't he a drug cheat?!?!?!!? If you want to downgrade various champions based on fantasy or speculation go for your life but not many will take much notice of you.

Tyson never got the chance to make amends with Douglas. If we want to dine on stories we'll say given how Douglas came into the ring against Holyfield and how determined and in shape Tyson was until prison that Tyson beats him in the rematch and therefore cleaned out the division