Tyson was on another level compared to Wilder, Fury and Joshua

I was a huge Mike Tyson fan. The thing is, he was so active, his first 20 fights he boxed every 3 or 4 weeks, even thereafter he was no slouch ( apart from his time in prison ).
Boxers today are seen as cash cows, especially heavyweights, so their management teams don’t let them be as active as guys like Tyson. This is a different era. So there’s no way Fury/Joshua will be like a one off, like Iron Mike. They don’t fight enough & the opponent is ‘selected’ very carefully. It’s all about that massive pay day.

 

So sick of all the Tyson hype. You would think we are living in 1988 still. The fact is Tyson delivered some good knockouts against men who for some reason were scared of little Mike, even though they were bigger and stronger. Shows they were not great fighters. Then Douglas, Holyfield and others dominated him and after that he was only known for being an unstable nutcase who could go crazy at any moment.

The reason everyone is riding Tyson's dick today is because he does a dumb podcast where he smokes loads of weed and tells how doing psychedelic drugs has led him to be some quasi-philiosopher. Its utterly ridiculous. Read his book to see what a scumbag he was and how in the book he offers very little contrition about all his degenerate behavior.

 

Tyson and Cus D'amato were the team, if Cus had been around Tyson would have reigned supreme for longer, and likely not got derailed by the extremes of out of ring behaviours.

Tyson was a phenom and a wrecking ball, his skill set was damned good which it had to be to overcome his limited height and reach.
But once that aura of invincibilty was broken and we found that as soon as his ass hit the canvas then he virtually waved the white flag, that greatness for me was lost.

Tyson was quick and strong in the arm, but sadly his weakness was in his mind and the lacking of testicular fortitude, a winner on front foot but when it came to fighting in the trenches against a able and determined boxer he was found lacking.

That said Tyson was youngest Heavyweight Champ and defended title more than Marciano or Dempsey did, so i am not disrespecting his achievements as champ.

 

These HW’s today are very good fighters.

Mike was a special fighter, but he couldn’t hold it all together for a prolonged period of time.

When these current guys have retired, their careers will have to be analysed objectively.

Tyson Fury may end up as the greatest HW out of everyone mentioned, if he can keep things together.

We’ll have to see.

The problem with Fenech’s opinion, is that it disrespects today’s HW’s and it will just draw out the people who dislike Mike.

I do agree though, that despite Mike only having had a very short window where he was 100% focused, where he fought to his full capabilities, on a H2H basis, he beats all 3 of today’s guys. He’s just a terrible match up for them stylistically.

Wilder would have had no chance. He’d never have been able to have set himself to launch his right hand.

Joshua is far more skilled, but he has stamina issues and once he got hit, he wouldn’t be composed. It would be like the first Ruiz fight, but worse.

Tyson Fury wouldn’t be intimidated by Mike. He has incredible confidence and mental strength. He has great speed and movement for a man of his size. But eventually, I think Mike would have slipped inside and attacked the body.

I have Mike knocking all 3 of them out.

It doesn’t matter if I think those guys could have beaten the guys who Mike lost to. Again, It’s how they’d have matched up stylistically with a young, focused version of Mike.

 

Mike actually has a good resume.

It’s his longevity that lets him down.

It doesn’t matter if he went off the rails after only a few years. That’s only relevant if these guys are being ranked. But they’re not. We’re looking at how they’d have matched up stylistically in H2H fights.

Tyson Fury is one of my favourite fighters. I’m a huge fan. But looking at their styles, I don’t see him beating a young version Mike, even if he ends up having a better overall career.

I agree with you that Fury wouldn’t have been intimidated. I agree with you 100%. But despite that, he’d still have had to have stopped a much smaller and elusive target from getting inside of his guard and hurting him.

 

You’re exaggerating.

We all know that Mike wasn’t at his best for Douglas.

People try and convince themselves he was prime just due to his age. But being in your prime, means when you’re at you’re absolute best.

Mike didn’t even train for Douglas and just went through the motions.

Douglas wasn’t a step up in competition.

After the Douglas fight, if what you’re saying was true, Mike should have been easy pickings for any top 10 HW. But that wasn’t the case.

He went to war twice with Ruddock and took some hard shots and showed heart.

He also showed heart on the Douglas fight. Far more than what he’d showed in his preparation.

Evander deserves huge credit for beating Mike. But the truth is, the post prison version of Mike just wasn’t as sharp as the versions who fought in the 80’s. Now maybe Evander could have beaten any version of Mike, but it doesn’t alter that statement.

Lewis fought a version of Mike who was only in the sport because he had no choice. I give Lennox huge credit for his great discipline and great longevity, but that version of Mike was finished. And those versions of Mike who fought Evander and Lennox have no relevance to this thread.

 

Mike had plenty of heart.

He had no great longevity due to his unique style and his personal issues.

His style took tremendous fitness and dedication.

Once that was gone, he was a much lesser fighter.

 

Personally, I’d take even a very young version of Mike to stop the version of Wlad who fought AJ.

 

For some reason?

The reasons were there for all to see.

 

Mike’s heart was never lacking. It was his unique skill set that was lacking, due to ageing and a lack of focus.

 

Still reckon tyson was a one off. Probably never see anyone as good as he was coming through at heavyweight probably because theres no one quite as crazy as cus was. Had tyson training like an animal from young. I dont think guys would be that crazy nowadays.

Cus was a genius but he was a crazed genius. You cant really argue with his results tbf. You wont see that happening for a very long time if ever imo. Cus never really changed with the times like most ageing guys do. He kind of kept the old style ethic of hard times and introduced it to the 80,s. Luckily he had a guy that was desperate and had no where else to turn in a young tyson.

Just unfortunate tyson lived like an amatuer for years after cus....kind of testament to the job cus done that he was still able to remain competetive for as long as he was.

 

I think Mike Tyson could have been the best ever if he wanted it--but that guy literally only lasted until he was 23 years old.

Fury and Joshua would be competitive in any era, Wilder would not be competitive in this one if not for a promotional machine, fixed fights, and seeking out medically unfit opponents.

 

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/combat-...ike-tyson-would-ko-deontay-wilder-in-a-minute

Jeff Fenech thinks Tyson could literally come back now and knock Deontay out in the first. This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever read.

 

It's not hard to see why. There will never be another Mike Tyson. The combination of skills, ferocity, chin, power and speed is hard to match. He may not be the best fighter ever but he was the most entertaining. He had a very unique style. Popular boxers that are brawlers aren't usually as aggressive as Mike was. And when they are, they look worse, not as skilled.

He was able to maintain a high level of skill, including short, perfect punching technique, body punching, head movement, very accurate punching, all while being extremely aggressive. That's not hard to pull off. I think it's more impressive than top defensive skills. Waiting and counterpunching and moving away will never take the skill of what Mike did. It's always easier to wait and go second. It's effective, but it's more of a mindset that has to be instilled into a young fighter from the beginning.

I maintain that Mike is the most famous fighter ever purely for what he did in the ring. He was already insanely famous before he became infamous.