Let's Talk About Tyson's Best I Faced

Tyson fought Holmes in his prime he was all ovder te place when he fought Mathis.

 

Bruno had more power than Tucker.

 

Tucker`s jab looked pretty limp v Tyson and he countered the jabs easily then landed combo`s.

 

Well yes Mark i wasn't implying anything other.

Both wobbled Tyson somewhat. I'd say Bruno more so going by Tyson's reactions and tactics immediately after.

 

To be fair, Lewis was 37 years old when Tyson fought him. So he's comparing a 37 year old Lewis to relatively prime versions of Rudduck, Bruno, Ribalta, Tubbs, and a post prime but still very good Holyfield.

 

37 year old Lewis was better than all tose fighters.

 

I'm not sure where Lennox would fit. He wasn't the best fighter he faced, nor hardest puncher (though he certainly deserves mention). It could be argued he had the best jab...but I'm not entirely sure on that, either.

Lennox might have just been more of an all-rounder. Excellent jab, crushing shot when he could land it, really good ring smarts, defense was very good...

 

I'll respond to each with my take

BEST JAB
Tony Tucker: I had to be certain to slip well to keep from getting tagged.

Not an unreasonable response. Holmes was rusty and old. No way the timing, accuracy and sharpness of his classic jab would be present in the Tyson fight on short notice after a long layoff. Spinks lost before the bell rung and was terrified. Ruddock basically abandoned his jab to slug it out. Williams was stopped before the 1st round even ended and didn't land much. The only other great jabbing opponent Tyson faced was Thomas and it isn't blasphemous to say Tucker displayed better jabbing skills in their respective fights with Tyson. After all, Tucker managed to go the distance with a broken hand. If he didn't have a great jab, he would have been run over pretty quickly.

BEST DEFENSE
Larry Holmes: I have to say Larry Holmes even though I did win inside the distance. He was very tough to hit cleanly.

Yeah, this response is bogus. Holmes troubled him for like 1 round and then got dismantled. Holmes was nowhere near the best defensive fighter he faced.

FASTEST HANDS
Tony Tubbs: Tony Tubbs had the fastest hands. I was surprised how quick he let go with those combinations. And he was not afraid to throw them.

If he just means raw talent and raw hand speed, that's a fairly reasonable answer. Tubbs had, if nothing else, quick hands. I think Douglas' hand speed bothered him more to be honest though, he was consistently tagging Mike all night and beating him to the punch. I think Tyson is still very salty about that fight and hasn't really given Douglas credit.

FASTEST FEET
Mitch Green: I think Mitch Green had the fastest feet. It was very tough to set up near him and throw big shots.

Green was pretty cagey for a fringe guy.

BEST CHIN
Jose Ribalta: I hit Jose Ribalta with everything, and he took everything and kept coming back for more.

Not a bad response. Ribalta took some monstrous bombs in that fight.

SMARTEST
Holmes: Larry Holmes was the smartest of all. It comes with being a champion for seven years.

If he means out of all the guys he fought, Holmes fought the smartest in general, I can't disagree. The only one who had comparable ring smarts would be Holyfield. But in terms of how the actual fight played out...no. Holmes wasn't displaying amazing ring smarts in the Tyson fight lol.

STRONGEST
Ribalta: Jose Ribalta stood toe to toe with me. He was very strong in the clinches.

Physical strength is subjective and hard to measure looking from the outside into the ring, but based on what other boxers have said I'm fairly certain Frank Bruno was physically stronger. Lennox Lewis is also mentioned frequently for his monstrous strength. Who knows.

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He threw terrific shots with both hands and with bad intentions.

If he means "effective" puncher rather than just who hit with the most raw power, this is a good response. Holyfield had super punch placement, timing, and got good leverage. Plus he threw combinations with either hand, upstairs and downstairs. Many Tyson opponents just go for one big hit then back off because they're scared of retaliation. But there is no way in hell Holyfield was even top 5 in terms of raw power. Too many of Tyson's opponents are above him in that regard and it's not even debatable.

BEST BOXER
Tucker: He had an excellent jab, moved well and was very tough to hit clean.

Not a bad response.

BEST OVERALL
Holyfield: Great champion: chin, heart, determination, work ethic, demeanor.

Hard for anyone to disagree with this.

 

Lennox had a good jab, but many times he got lazy and just pawed with it. He didn't throw a consistently good jab.

In terms of overall ability, Holyfield is definitely better than Lennox. If they were the same size there'd be no comparison. Lennox's height, reach, and power, make up for any short comings of skill he had compared to guys like Holyfield. He was smart, but his overall ring IQ is a little overrated and he didn't always make the best adjustments.

 

Tyson was financially broke, physically broken (back was gone) and pretty much unmotivated and shot to sh*t when he fought Lewis. Must be hard for him to be objective when rating Lewis attributes

 

Tubbs was the only heavyweight at that time that could match Tyson`s handspeed, beating Mike to the punch in Tokyo wasn`t that hard, his hand speed was slower than it was in the Tubbs fight.

 

I don't want to hear it.

Tyson was an undefeated 23 year old world champion for ****'s sake. Your hand speed is not going to drop at that age. In fact many people get even faster as their body and skill continue to develop.

Douglas just kicked his ass. He certainly looked more impressive than Tony big tits Tubbs who showed up out of shape on purpose and got destroyed in 2 rounds.

 

That's one of the best 'Best I faced' I've read. Tyson is respectful and humble. Gives a reason for every answer and it's always about the opponent not himself.

The original poster seems to have a beef with Tyson and starts a lot of threads aimed at picking at him but I don't see anything in this to take issue with. Larry Holmes may well have been the smartest even though he lasted only four rounds. He did better than younger active fighters of the time - Tubbs, Spinks - despite having a lot of ring rust. Going four with Tyson in 88 was no mean feat and given his inactivity, Larry may have only had smarts to offer.

Tyson faced these guys and always gives me the impression he knows his stuff which for me gives him two advantages over the original poster. I'm happy to go with what Mike says.

 

If you don't understand why Tyson rated Larry Holmes so highly for intelligence and defense, you should sit down and watch that fight. As respectfully as it is possible to say so, you can learn a lot from it if you know how to watch a fight. Not as a fan but as a boxing guy.
Holmes was doing a number of things that troubled Tyson, and you have to keep in mind that he was older, slower, and rusty as hell.
It is pretty common on this forum to ridicule old timers like Corbett for that extended arms defense, even though it was a staple of the Ali game for years. Holmes used it pretty effectively in this fight, extending his arms to thwart the wide right hands and hooks that Tyson tried to use coming in, then holding him up and sliding the right uppercut underneath to the body.
He alternated that with laying his jab out, not trying to land it but to make Mike slip it because Larry wanted to time him with a right hand. He landed a few and then tied up as soon as Tyson got close. Maybe Tyson respected the intelligence of Holmes so much because he is astute enough to realize that Larry, while he wasn't able to do it himself, wrote the book on how to beat Mike Tyson?
Something else that Larry did that troubled Tyson was something that most of you probably discount because he looked awkward doing it; he kept stepping to his right, around Mike's left shoulder. Larry was like Ali in that he always fought behind his jab, that is, moving to his left. In this fight he moved right often because it troubled Tyson.
He presented a young fighter a number of problems to work through and, to his credit, Mike came through it. I would bet that if you were to sit down and talk to Tyson, and knew the questions to ask, that he would tell you that he never did figure out the riddles and that he was pretty grateful when he landed the right hand that basically ended the fight. In my estimation, he never did figure it out, but being younger and faster helped him out.