Tyson vs Mathis Jr- Jeez

I have said it many times.
People assume too much on how Tyson would deal with short, small, crouching inside fighters like Frazier or even Marciano. "But he's bigger and more muscles, duh" .... Awkward guys for him to fight. Tyson's whole style and stance, his explosiveness, was best demonstrated against men like Thomas, Berbick, Tubbs, Spinks, 6'2 types who either stood too straight or gave him space.

Yes, he was rusty against Mathis and he did KO him, and we shouldn't read much into it.
But there are legitimate questions of how his style, even in his absolute prime, would be suited to weaving, crouching, awkward little guys.

 

Little Buster Mathis really wasn't a bad fighter. As you say, with a bit more durability and a proper punch, he could have done a lot better in his career.
He made Tyson look awful. Unfortunately, he just wasn't going to win. He was bringing a slingshot to a gunfight. To be fair, this was hardly vintage Tyson, but still.

This fight does make you wonder if Frazier really does get blown out early by Tyson, as most would suggest.

I just watched this again to refresh the memory, and the minute Tyson finds some space, he looks a different animal. But right up close, he looked uncomfortable.

 

Frazier beats Tyson anyway, I never have doubted that.
The only person who blew away Frazier was Foreman.

 

No he doesn't, at least not the 88 version

 

Unpolished is a good word.
Tyson had one or two sneaky inside shots, but his office wasn't on the inside. You can see him initiating clinches on the inside, hoping for the ref to break them.

 

He'd probably clinch or shove Joe away, but Joe's chances of getting inside are slim

 

Yeah I quickly noticed Tyson was initiating at least 75% of the clinches even though he wasn't that hurt.

He was simply uncomfortable and out of his element. Mathis was actually trying to scrap and have a phone booth fight, Tyson was being impatient and just loading up big hooks and uppercuts. Mathis looked like a dollar store version of Duran burying his head in the opponents chest or on the shoulder and then slipping at the last second while digging in with body shots and landing crisp shots upstairs at the drop of a dime.

The irony being Tyson was only 5'11 but kept backing up, jabbing, and clinching to keep Mathis off. Then when he had nowhere to go just swung for the fences. He's honestly lucky Mathis wasn't a durable heavy hitter and it dragged on to the later rounds.

 

Tyson's footwork was the root of his problems inside. He squared his feet up far too often, made himself off-balance against any opponent, especially if it was one who came in low. He simply wasn't an inside fighter. He preferred to be rolling forward, working his combination punching out of his bob-and-weave, punching from a mid-range, that's where he was balanced to throw power punches, not fighting out of clinches or in the trenches. He had devastating short punches, but he had no real sense of positioning himself against someone who sticks their head on his chest. He often looked lost on the inside, waiting for ref to break, so he could get to work again.

But he only needed to step out and create space and get it right once though, such was his power, against someone like Mathis Jr.

Against someone like Smokin' Joe Frazier though, no ****ing chance.

 

People will say "he was rusty, he just got out of jail", and that has some merit ..... but like you say, HE LOOKED LOST, it wasn't just a matter of his timing being off or him neglected his old techniques. It was simply an area of boxing he'd never developed properly. Go back to all the prime fights and it's a hole in his game.
If an opponent was covered up on the ropes, Tyson would smash him with hooks and uppercuts at close range. But if a guy actually went on the offensive on the inside, in pure in-fighting style, crowd him close, bobbing low and underneath, getting his hands inside, Tyson would look confused.
But hey, he did have POWER to bail him out in such case.