Was Prime Mike Tyson Unbeatable?

OK tell me exactly what fights Tyson was prime for. Is that like a six-month period or more like 18 months.

And if he trained harder for Michael Spinks than he did for Tubbs, does that mean he wasn’t prime for Tony Tubbs? Or did he slip in and out of prime from fight to fight lol?

This is all just revisionist history because he lost. He was a 42-to-1 favorite for a reason. People weren’t saying, ‘well shucks, Tyson’s basically on a completely backslide and it’s pretty much over for him’ going into the Douglas fight.

 

Tyson was heavier for both Trevor Berbick and Tony Tucker than he was for Buster Douglas. But he won vs. Berbick and Tucker, so no one says he slacked off in training or wasn’t prime.

 

Tyson's prime lasted 2 years. Tyson was in his prime only when he won fights. Tyson wasn't in his prime when he didn't train properly.

Poor Mike, he should have retired at the age of 24. His stans could tell us that he's unbeatable without looking foolish.

 

Considering he was pummeled by a grieving Buster Douglas in his prime, I’m gonna give that a big fat NO!

 

no, Cus D' Amato himself said that Louis and Foreman would beat him

Tyson is definitely a top tier great, extraordinary and exceptional, but imo his extra dimension was Cus, there are little things about his technique that got lost after Cus' passing that Cus would have kept him sharp at, very early with Rooney he was all there but imo they got too comfortable with him blowing guys out with his speed and power

Tyson was the body that carried Cus' idea of a perfect fighter, he was Cus' swan song, that does not mean though that Cus' pinnacle fighter is unbeatable or that he is excused from reality, realities of a bad style match up aka Foreman, realities of someone having greater determination/will and more heart, Tyson always says that Ali was legitimately ready to die in the ring and that he never was

 

It heavily depends. If you're asking would Tyson be unbeatable against prime versions of George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, and Riddick Bowe, I would say no, no, no. But from the mid to late-80s, if he faces any and all of the best 80s fighters, each at their peak, then yeah, he's unbeatable.

 

No one is unbeatable. Tyson would beat a lot of great heavyweights. Ali included, the closest HW to unbeatable is Joe Louis.

 

WB - I would say definitely NO but no fighter ever was/is - but then it’s arguable that no fighter was so unrealistically afforded invincibility than Tyson.

Big punchers like Mike who end fights quickly are always knee jerked into being unbeatable - all other stylistic counterparts are much less likely to be deemed so.

The irony is that history has often proven that the big punchers (without sufficient all around boxing ability to fall back on) are often a big BUST - not just relative to material successes otherwise but relative to the unrealistic credit they are afforded for their successes. The solid history of this pattern is strangely ignored.

Tokyo Tyson was still very much within the bandwidth of his prime. His weight was fine and his ability to hang for as long as he did, even knocking Douglas down hard in the eight, defy the claims of his being badly out of shape.

If Mike had come out and cleaned up Douglas in 90 secs - which he might’ve done IF not for Douglas’ intestinal fortitude, resistance and proactive offence, it might’ve been viewed as “Same old, unbeatable Mike”. Small window for adequate observation but damn, he looks unbeatable.

What is often ignored is that the first 5-6 rounds were the most important for Mike - far more often than not, we didn’t see Mike have to fight beyond that point but when he had to - he was that much less effective.

Also, while it might not have been overt, you could see frustration build in Mike into the later rounds - later rounds which were never part of the plan. Mike likes his fights over and done with, ASAP.

As I saw it, Buster took Mike to places he had never been before, putting him under tests he was never subjected to previously. Therefore, it doesn’t wash to say it wasn’t the “real” Mike in there - rather, this was Mike fighting within a context he had never fought within before - a context essentially initialised and incrementally built upon by his opponent.

 

Tyson would never beat Lennox Lewis. Too much size, length, power and ring IQ

 

It is a disagreement on the definition.
I subtract credit from Tyson based upon his performance, not excusing him at all.
As for your objection regarding other fighters, it is untrue that other fighters have not (often) lost a fight in their prime when in top condition.
Many lost after they trained about as efficiently as possible, & their focus may be around maximal.
So if they trained harder it would be over-training.

If Tyson was not near his physical best at a prime age, I call that out of his prime-& it is his own fault.
You mean potential & should be prime-it is an open question what the actual

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should be.

If Tyson weighed 250 or more for the fight, even assuming he did everything else as wonderfully as possible, he would also be un-prime.
Unless he had a growth spurt & ended up with the skeleton/height of Lennox Lewis lol!

But thinking more about it, was Louis physically desiccated enough that I can say he was out of his prime fighting Schmelling for the first time?
I can see your argument...
Anyway we agree that Tyson must be dinged for the loss to Douglas.

 

Tyson with his original team is unbeatable. Cus D'Amato, Rooney

The real question is If Mike Tyson, Cus D'Amato, Kevin Rooney, Bill Clayton and Jim Jacobs beatable? The answer is No!
Is Mike Tyson and Don King ect...beatable then yes!

 

Nobody told Mike Tyson to fool around and play footsie with those Tokyo Street Walkers, strictly his own choice. He listened to his wife Robyn Given and her looney mother Ruth Roper, got rid of Kevin Rooney, again his own choice. I guess what Givens possessed underneath her clothing was made of gold, it has somehow in the past worked for other women, it ruled the world, corrupted politicians, and has started wars with other nations, so why not turn a fighter away from his prime too?

 

Buster took him underwater, then drowned him. A grown freaking man that is co dependent on one particular trainer. Tyson was a professional, if he did not know what to do, why is he in the ring? He sounds mentally fragile, your serial killers had a very high I Q. He needed someone to hold his hand and wipe his nose too? Sorry, but I don't buy it. Excuses are like everyone's behind, everyone has one. Mike Tyson lost to a better man that night in Tokyo, Japan. I make excuses for no one, not even myself.

 

No he wasn't, he lost in prime.
Even if Buster had lost, someone within the next few fights would have gotten him.
Always a dangerous fight tho, for anyone.