Was Mike Tyson a cherry picker in the 1990's?

This is why you are thoroughly disliked as a poster; you mix any kind of irrelevant argument to put down fighters you don't like. Which is most, except a handful of white ones.

Tyson challenged Seldon for his title. Seldon's conduct in the fight or how good a title holder he was has nothing to with this.

Tyson had collected two major titles within a year of his comeback. If that's a poor schedule, I don't know what a good one looks like.

 

2 titles in one year is cherrypickingly slow to Mendoza haha.

facing bruno is avoiding punchers haha.

 

Probably so. After 1995

 

You know there's a place called prison , right ? Most of those names you have listed were around to the early/mid 90's when relevant!

Tyson fought Holyfield the following year after a long layoff only getting about 7 rounds in combine during his comeback which did him no favors , he cherry picked after the second Holyfield fight bc he was done and was even lucky to actually train for Lewis which was a decent fight but let's not create fantasy and say he cherry picked his career bc it's dumb and does you no favors either .

Tyson was the only one agreed to fight Ruddock , Bowe, Holyfield and Foreman swayed away but Tyson is the cherry picker fighting weak punchers ?

 

Yeah, it's rare for me to find myself in the Tyson corner as much as I do in this thread. In fact, when thinking about it it rather feels like he faced a pretty high level of competition compared to other fighters who can make millions facing any old journeyman they'd choose to face.

Hasn't he been compared to Wilder in this thread? That's downright laughable.

 

There was lots of cherry picking going on that decade. We the fans of the sport are the one's that suffered

 

I think the consensus would be Tyson was not guilty of this charge!

 

True. But when thinking about how impossible it seems right now to get Joshua, Fury and Wilder in a ring against each other it still kind of feels like the good old days when thinking about Holy-Bowe, Tyson-Holy etc. Both Holy and Lewis at least got the chance to prove themselves as the undisputed top dog at different times during that decade.

 

Now this is cherry picking!

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Just proof that Ali would face anyone.

 

Direct result of exclusive contracts to networks. Promoters unwilling to work with a rival promoter. Not any more but decades ago it was guys signed to exclusives with the big casinos---remember the Steve Wynn?

But the biggest subtraction is the 4 sanctioning bodies. Their policies. So the WBC champ is deemed unranked by the IBF/WBA/WBO. How absurd is that? So we the fans get #1 against in essence, #5. If the other belts are held by 3 different titlists.

What other sport does this? Boxing has gone the way of wrestling and multiple champions at the same time with whatever promotional company or tv contract or any governing body decides their champion is. Kind of like where I used to live---10 different restaurants claimed guess what----the best steak in the universe. Not in the city even--Best hummanly possible to eat. And guess what? They weren't. And to me none of them top 50--which is admirable itself.

 

Wasn’t Bruno the WBC or WBA champion at the time? Even stevie Wonder could see that would have been a blatantly obvious reason to fight Bruno.

What’s wrong with you these days,Mendoza? Some of your posts recently are as bad as Mark Antman’s.

 

Tyson's last fight before he went to prison was in June 1991. Tyson returned in September 1995.

RAY MERCER

Mercer's peak was 1991. He beat Damiani (#7) in January and Morrison (unranked) in October. Mercer was outboxed by Damiani and Morrison before he KO'd them. He was down 3-1 against Morrison and 7-1/6-2 against Damiani. Why would Tyson fight Mercer in '91? He fought a much better contender in Razor Ruddock who was ranked #3.

When Tyson returned, Mercer was already washed up. He had lost to a 42 y/o Larry Holmes, journeyman Jesse Ferguson and Marion Wilson, and Evander Holyfield. Mercer fought Holyfield in May 1995. He didn't fight again until May 1996 (Lewis). Why would Tyson fight Mercer in '96? Mercer wasn't ranked top 10, he had no titles and he was considered washed up. Mercer put up a great performance against Lewis. He then fought Tim Witherspoon in December. Mercer couldn't beat a 39 year old Tim Witherspoon. Tim should've gotten the decision or at least a draw but Mercer somehow won via a wide margin. During 1996, Tyson fought Bruno, Seldon, and Holyfield. Honestly, does a Mercer fight even make sense in '96? And Mercer didn't fight for 14 months after the Lewis (edit: Witherspoon) fight. When was Tyson supposed to fight Mercer?

TOMMY MORRISON

Morrison was a nobody in '91. He first entered the heavyweight rankings in 1992 (#9). In 1993, he beat a washed up Carl Williams and George Foreman. This was Morrison's peak. In December 1993, Morrison was KO'd in the first round by Michael Bentt. Morrison was such a heavy favourite that Las Vegas oddsmakers didn't even post a betting line. In 1994, Morrison fought Ross Puritty who had an outstanding record of 8 wins and 8 losses. Morrison was dropped twice and fought to a draw. Puritty took the fight on 10 days notice. In June 1995, Morrison beat Razor Ruddock. Morrison fought Lewis in October and lost badly. 4 months later, he was diagnosed with HIV. Tyson returned a month before Morrison fought Lewis. When was Tyson supposed to fight Morrison?

GEORGE FOREMAN

George ducked a washed up Tony Tucker. You're going to ignore that but you're convinced that Tyson ducked Foreman. Foreman never fought a single ranked contender until Holyfield in April, 1991. That was for the undisputed heavyweight championship, hard one to turn down. You mentioned that Foreman did better than Tyson against Holyfield. He still lost pretty clearly. How about Foreman vs Stewart? Tyson stopped Stewart in the first round. Foreman barely beat Stewart, look at his face after the fight. You dismiss Tyson's fights against Ruddock, Bruno, Seldon but Foreman was somehow the real deal. Who had Foreman beaten before Tyson went to prison? Name one ranked contender Foreman knocked out. If you can name someone, I'll agree that Tyson ducked Foreman. Foreman in 95/96 would have never fought Tyson. He fought Schulz in '95 and Grimsley in '96. Foreman was ranked #8 in 95 and unranked in 96. Tyson could've fought Foreman in '91. Tyson fought Ruddock instead. Foreman was ranked #6, Ruddock was #3. I am so confused right now. Ruddock held a brutal KO over #3 HW Michael Dokes. He also beat former champions Mike Weaver and Bonecrusher Smith. How is Ruddock not a more qualified contender than Foreman? Explain to me how Tyson ducked Foreman.

RIDDICK BOWE

Riddick Bowe was ranked #8 at the end of 1990. He was an up and comer. At the end of 1995, Bowe was ranked #1 heavyweight in the world but he was also past his prime. In 1996, he fought an unranked heavyweight Andrew Golota twice and retired. Bowe's prime years were when Tyson was away. We saw how washed Bowe was in the Golota fights.The fight made no sense in '96. Tyson wanted the champions and Bowe wasn't one.

IKE & TUA

Tua turned pro in '92 and Ike turned pro in '94. The window for these fights would be September '95 - June '97 (for most fights actually). Tua beat Ruiz, Izon, Wilson in '96 and entered the rankings for the first time (#8). In June '97, he fought Ike and lost. That was Ike's first notable win. In June '97, Tyson lost to Evander and was suspended. When was Tyson supposed to fight Tua and Ike? At the end of 1997, Ike was ranked #8 and Tua was ranked #9. You can't expect Tyson to fight top contenders in the 2000s. He was totally washed up.

"And a few dangerous punchers Tyson did not meet- Sanders,V Klitschko, Briggs". This is hilarious. Briggs and Sanders lol. Vitali turned pro a week after the first Holyfield fight. You really know how to stretch ****.

You should honestly do some research because your arguments come off as ignorant and biased. Anyone can start listing names. Bowe was in his prime in the 90s and never fought Lewis, Tyson, Mercer, Morrison, Foreman, Moorer, Ike, Tua. You don't see anyone crapping on Bowe though. Tyson fought every top contender in his prime. He cleaned out the division. Tyson was there for a brief period in the 90s and wanted world titles. If you want to convince people that Tyson ducked certain fighters in the 90s, you should provide some evidence instead of talking pure ****.