I have been reading for some time posts of some members on Tyson where it is said that he is one of the most overrated boxers in history and that his fans do nothing but feed a myth that does not stand. But I believe the truth is another that's to say Prime Tyson was the best HW in history together with Ali for the simple fact that already at 16 years old he knocked out much taller and very heavy boxers than him (he was tall only 5'865'') and that he was the youngest World Champion in history a record yet undefeated. Many Tyson's detractors claim that Holyfield and Lewis would never lose against Buster Douglas. It is true, but not even Tyson basically lost that fight .... if you rewatch it better you can see the total lack of athleticism and dynamism of Tyson who even if not having trained much for that match he KOed Douglas in the 8th round but the referee incredibly prolonged the count saving Buster. Furthermore, some say both Holy and Lewis would beat Prime Tyson but they forget what Holy admitted in an interview namely that when he faced him, Tyson wasnt as powerful and fast as in his Prime...for this I think Lewis and Holy would lose against Prime Tyson as happened to Holmes and Spinks who were not at the end of their career as someone says to discredit Tyson. However, it's also true that Second Tyson was a totally different fighter from that one seen in the 80s, a good boxer okey but not exceptional as in his prime. But that's a whole other story...
I don't think a lot of posters were born when he was fighting. Just going back and looking at resumes doesn't provide the narrative of the division at that particular time.
For 3, maybe 4 years Tyson was unbeatable. If it wasn’t for poor advice, hangers on and eventually poor lifestyle choices, he’d have smashed Marciano’s record.
I think Tyson was a great heavyweight and ruled his decade. I just dislike it when he’s mentioned as the greatest heavyweight of all time.
I'll say this Tyson was probably the best 16 year old boxer of all time The reason for that is he had the body of a 26 year old at that time As far as all time ratings go I can't rate him highly, he could only fight in one style and once people started to work that out his career was over. That's not that impressive to me.
He was definitely one of the most gifted atheletes the sport had ever seen up to that point and he had the ring iq and ferocity to completely dominate a division of men much larger than himself
Tyson was an amazing fighter, but he had too much success too fast and the success went to his head. I think sometimes taking an early loss or two can make a fighter appreciate their later success more.
He's neither over or underrated imo. I find he's one of the few fighters that are accurately rated. He wasn't the absolute best heavyweight but he's certainly up there amongst Ali and Louis. What brings him down is his degradation as a fighter post Rooney. Went from being a masterful body puncher and all around technical puncher to being more of a skilled slugger. I'd pick the prime 1987-'88 version of him with Rooney over every guy he lost to.
My observations on Tyson see two distinct groups. 1. Casual fans: A lot of people who grew up watching him fight, many of which became boxing fans because of him, see Tyson as this unstoppable juggernaut who beat everyone in a round while destroying the heavyweight division. Listen to them long enough and you’ll think he knocked out Godzilla, ate people’s souls and was the pinnacle of everything great. These people are wrong. 2. Boxing Purests. These people saw Tyson as a capable but limited fighter who was exposed the second anyone stood up to him. They will point to Tokyo Douglas and say he was still the same man who captured the title at twenty. He wasn’t. They point to Holyfield and say Tyson would always lose to this style or that type of boxer. These people are wrong. The truth lay somewhere in the middle. Simply put Mike Tyson was a machine. Tyson and Cus D’Amato talked about him becoming the youngest champion ever. That was the goal. When he did that, which was after Cus died, he and Jimmy Jacobs then created a new goal of holding all three major belts. When he did that Jimmy Jacobs died and he had no more goals. Nothing new and challenging to motivate him. Tyson was a machine. He fought often because the people who knew him knew it was the best way to keep him ring ready and out of trouble. If you keep the machine in use, Maintain it well and make sure nothing gets stuck in the gears it works well. If you don’t, the machine breaks down. Once the people who maintained the machine Tyson were gone or dead, it broke.
He always defended against number one contenders. Frank Bruno was the first title defense that wasn't really earned.
Well, the fact is his best win was over a 38 year old Larry Holmes who'd lost his last 2 fights and hadn't fought in 2 years. Spinks? he was beaten when they opened his dressing room door. If Tyson couldn't steamroll his opponent he had a problem, the fight I thought really exposed Tyson was Holyfield who was far more past it than Tyson was. He simply outmanned Mike on the inside and broke him down.
