Was Leonard`s comeback in `87 the greatest in boxing history?

They can all stand behind Johnny Tapia. Banned from boxing for 4 years because of drugs. At least that's what his layoff ended up being. He was only a contender when he got suspended. He comes back from his raging cocaine addiction and doesn't miss a beat. Wins the title and becomes one of the top 3 or 4 P4P boxers in the world. I'm tearing up just typing this.

 

Thanks for the link! Last time I scored it I had it a draw, but that was because I gave Tyson a 10-8 for the knockdown. The extra point made Tillis the winner, which I think he should have been.

To be perfectly blunt, I think Tillis looked like a great fighter against Tyson; he showed all the ring generalship and heart of a champion. I will always wonder what would have happened past the tenth round in a championship fight, certainly both fighters were still rowdy at the final bell.

 

Tillis was a very inconsistent but clearly talented fighter, who seemed to have a night where everything came together for him, except for the mistake that led to the KD. Not unlike a certain Buster Douglas. Like Douglas he was also one of the few Tyson opponents that showed no hint of fear in there.

I'm not toting that tired line that you only needed to stand up against Tyson to beat him, and I recognise that Tyson still was on a learning curve against Tillis and that he also seemed to have a bit of an off night and probably paced himself more than he needed to. Against Douglas, Tyson was in all probability at least to an extent overconfident and underprepared. But there weren't many Tyson opponents that seemed as comfortable fighting their fight as either Tillis or Douglas did against Tyson. I can't get away from that fact when I watch the fights.

 

Yeah, that is crazy.

 

It's incredible for sure. I can see it being second to Foreman's.

 

I remember thinking about Tillis when Mike fought both Biggs and Thomas. I was disappointed in both of them (though of course I figured they'd lose to Mike), and to this day have no idea what was on their minds when they fought him. Especially Thomas, a former champ with an excellent jab and no-joke right hand.

I think you're right. I put Ali-Foreman after those two...I didn't know a single person whom really thought Ali would win that fight back in the day.

 

ETM made a good case for Tapia, though. What's your take on that?

And Vitaly's comeback was also hugely impressive, seeing how he was 38 and hardly lost a round until he finally retired four years later.

 

I think Thomas fought a good a good fight against Mike, his stamina just wasn't that great at that stage and when he started tiring he was done against a finisher like Tyson. Tyson actually said before the last round that Thomas was tiring and in this interview he points out Thomas tendency to tire as one of the things he'd spotted before the fight (from 10.00):

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Biggs, on the other hand, was a classic case of looking like a deer caught in car lights against Tyson.

 

Thanks for the link! We could say the same for Holmes and Spinks, really. There are evidences of fear in both of those fighters' eyes, and in Spinks case I think he was beaten before the bell sounded. Not to take away from the Spinks victory (kind of hard to give too much credit for the grandpa Holmes fiasco).

 

Spinks looked all out of sorts, off balance and out of position, the short time the fight lasted. As for Holmes, my guess is that he felt that Tyson just was too quick for him at that point and that he couldn't time him, and therefore went into survival mode.

 

Larry admitted later that he was planning to just hang in there until after the 4th round, and then get the jab and combinations working. He said his mistakes were underestimating Mike's hand speed as well as starting his plan too early (jabbing and dancing in the 4th).

However, I think we all already knew how much Larry's reflexes had slowed as far back as the Williams fight. I'm not even sure the Holmes who beat Witherspoon would have been able to last with Mike, it was several years too late for Larry.

Still Tyson is the only man to have ever stopped Holmes, can't take that away from him, and Mike is first to admit he didn't beat an Ali-era Holmes.

 

I'm a bit behind on Tapia tbh.

 

This is what has kept me from inputting on the subject. I plan on changing that.

 

Same here.

 

That wasn`t a comeback because Ali wasn`t coming out of retirement.