Did Tyson Surprise You?

Yea! he looked decent. He looked faster than an old Roy and went 8 rounds easily.

Should fight some other old legends for fun too. They weren't trying to knock each other out.

 

He looked uncoordinated, couldnt gauage the distance as well and was often reaching for his punches (hooks to the body in particular) which he never did before.

looked decent but looked like a Tyson who is over 30 years past his prime, 15 years out the game and just getting the feel of it again.

a few training camps and he could actually be decent.

heck if his head is not damaged, give him a couple of tuneups, a couple more training camps and I’d see him in the ring against the likes of Haye, Bellew and even Usyk.

I think the big guys could be dangerous for him given his age and ability to take a punch.

 

For 15 years away he looked great. Was a fun exhibition.

 

Yes were impressed.

His last few fights he allways promised that he trained Hard would be using head movement, Tyson is BACK ect. And allways failed to deliver.

This time he delivered considering he is 54 he looked great. Much better then aginst Mcbride and Sanders

 

Early on in the first round he looked a bit uncoordinated but overall I was pleasantly surprised. He clearly whipped himself into fantastic shape for a man in his 50's and it showed.

But Tyson has always been a very technical fighter, there's a method to his style and that's never really going to leave him, while he's lost much of the speed and athleticism of youth the basic fundamentals he was taught remain. He can't obviously throw in combination like he used to but that left him even when he was an active fighter but he looked close enough to the fighter I remember in the 90's that you knew it was Tyson even if all you saw was the silhouette of his body movements.

Roy in contrast wasn't in good shape and while he utilised a few tricks of old he simply was in no way as prepared as Tyson was. His head movement is gone, his reflexes are shot and he never had the fundamentals like Tyson to fall back on and it showed. But he was smart enough to know to tie Tyson up at every opportunity, his body might not be what it was but he still thinks like a boxer.

 

Yeah, I was surprised how good his timing and reflexes were and also by his stamina.

A similar exhibition against Holy or Lewis could be interesting.

 

Yeah, the fight was a good advertisement for the importance of proper fundamentals if nothing else.

 

He obviously couldn't compete at any serious level, but all things considered he looked very good. I wouldn't mind seeing him in some more exhibitions

 

Considering how bad he looked in some of his final fights and he has been inactive for 15 years, he was far better than I expected.
Shouldn't get carried away though, he would get destroyed by any half decent active heavyweight in a legit fight.

 

Yeah definetely impressed for his age. Roy as well tbh. More because he held in their against a naturally heavier/stronger guy in tyson. Think you,d see a better roy with all things being even.

I like the idea of the old guys fighting each other as long as it stays just the old guys. They,ll never really compete with the high level younger guys but they could still teach them a thing or two with their skill etc. I still think mike should be coaching. As long as he had a team of sensible heads around him to keep him right...hes got a lot to pass on.

 

In round 1 He was what I expected him to be but my prefight thoughts were that he would quickly tire and it’d become a sloppy grab fest. He hugely exceeded my expectations across the full 8 rounds.

I loved his post fight interview with the press, he genuinely seems to be into this for the good it can do for many ex pros from every sport. I particularly liked the answer ‘that guy was a platform for the man I am now’ when he was asked about comparisons with his younger self.

If League of Legends can help get some ex pros physically fit but more importantly mentally healthy then it’s a worthy cause. If a few of them can make some money at a time of their life when they really need it then that’s good too.

I hope it takes off and does really well.

 

He’s clearly stated on a number of occasions that he’s not interested in getting a licence and fighting for a ranking, he wants to fight exhibitions and do some good for others while being his best self .

 

Yes, he looked really good for a mid-50s fighter who was out of the game for 15 years (with many of those years spent abusing his body with drugs and alcohol). Still has reasonably quick hands and good head movement, so you saw little glimpses of the moves and skills of his youth. He took this more seriously than a lot of current heavyweights take legitimately big, meaningful fights. And it showed.

Roy, on the other hand, looks rough. His body is wrecked, his movements are incredibly stiff, and his legs are completely gone.