Larry Holmes: Mike Tyson wouldn't thrive in the classic era.

Tyson KO's Foreman and Frazier. Ali might survive if he runs, but he still loses on points.
Holmes will be the toughest match, but Tyson will outpoint him.

 

Ali loses by KO if he tries to fight Tyson and loses on points if he runs.
Tyson KO's Frazier in a few rounds. He won't have to chase him, Frazier comes to him, which Mike will love. He has KO power in both hands, Frazier doesn't. He's faster, stronger, and more skilled. It will be a slaughter.
Tyson will face more adversity and scary moments from Foreman, but he still wins by KO cause for every good punch Foreman throws, Tyson hits back 3 fold. Also, Tyson is way more accurate.
Shavers has the same fate as Frazier.
Holmes will be the toughest fight, and Tyson probably wins on points.

 

Until he met Douglas and got destroyed. As an undefeated, active, p4p rated, 23 year old. Pretty brief peak and rapid decline wouldn’t you say. I’m interested what his window would have been to “obliterate” all the 70’s opposition when he never did it in real time.

I haven’t seen Holyfield and his trainers IQ scores. I’ve seen yours on display with every grasping, Tyson worshipping post. It’s hilarious how you pretended to be an impartial observer at first but have revealed yourself to be the stereotypical Tyson fanboy, nuthugger.

Just maybe Evander was smart enough to build into the division to give himself the best opportunity to beat Tyson. Not his fault Tyson got the **** beaten out of him by Douglas beforehand or that fatty Tyson pulled out with a rib injury in 1991 before becoming a sex offender and scuppering the most anticipated heavyweight clash since the FOTC. That’s all on Tyson. Probably for the best for you and White Bomber seeing how much a battle worn Holyfield owned your boy lol

 

It's funny when you can't admit your mistakes. George Foreman fought 19 fights in the weak Tyson era, only weighing more than he did against Holyfield once, but you're not going to admit you're talking nonsense, are you? Couldn't Douglas have reigned supreme in the weak Tyson era if he started fighting four years before Tyson? Who stopped him? Jesse Ferguson? Tony Tucker? Of Tyson's 37 fights in the 1980s, you cite two that he clearly won in his second year of career, completely green. Meanwhile, Ali was fighting Doug Jones and Sonny Banks, Henry Cooper, and probably lost one of those fights despite being older and more experienced than Tyson in early 1986. This is pathetic hate from a man who can't accept that Tyson is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. It's scary to think what would have happened if he had beaten Foreman or Holmes on points. The wave of hate would have continued to this day.

 

Who did Ali arguably lose to out of Jones, Banks and Cooper? Jones lasted the distance and foiled Ali’s predicted round stoppage but he sure as hell didnt win it if you’ve bothered to watch it.
Tyson is a top 10-20 guy easily. That’s pretty good going. He falls short of the very best. Too many bad losses, quit jobs and the ear bite was an actual disgrace to the sport. Somehow this all gets glossed over because he beat Michael Spinks ffs.
You’re talking absolute shite expecting a guy coming off a ****ing 10 year (yes 10 years) layoff to jump straight into a title fight. Absolutely ridiculous notion. Foreman wanted Tyson. It’s why he came back. Again not his fault that about the time it was becoming viable Tyson was getting absolutely hammered by Douglas.
These other arguments are nonsense. Douglas and Tucker didn’t reign supreme because they weren’t good enough (although Buster sure reigned supreme over Tyson’s arse). Tyson reigned supreme for 3 years roughly. That’s not a pimple on the arse of what Louis anf Ali did. The true heavyweight steel.

 

Foreman fought 19 times in the Tyson era. Ngannou fought the leader in his weight class as a rookie, and at the exact same age as Foreman when he returned to the ring.
Are you still checking George's weight in those fights?
Spinks emerged as the dominant force in his weight class during the powerful Holmes era, straight from the lightweight heavyweight division. Holyfield, after his second heavyweight fight, now the absolute cruiserweight champion, stated that he had no business fighting Tyson. But I'll still hear that he once raised a pool cue at him.

 

Really interesting post, thank you.

I too am more than familiar with the pool cue story; Holyfield (mysteriously) never really seemed worried about Iron Mike. To me this video says something on a broad level about Holy's general view of Mike:

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Mike tries his biggest talk and dour glowering. Holy just looks like he can't wait to fight him, rubbing his hands and looking the opposite of concerned.

I think Mike might have always been a little afraid of Holy, and I think he was aware Holy knew it, too.

Sure, there were fighters who also weren't afraid. Douglas, Tucker, etc. But none of those fighters were as elite in terms of accomplishments (even just up to that time) as Holy. I suspect a similar interchange of regard existed between Lewis and Mike.

I could be wrong, but those are just observations I've made watching and loving all of those fighters for quite awhile.

 

Salty holmes!

 

Prime Tyson smokes any version of Holmes

Prime Liston, Ali, Frazier, and Foreman beat both Tyson and Holmes

 

Being around at the time, the revison of Holy-Tyson never ceases to amaze me. As you say, Holy was definitely seen as an easy payday for Tyson.

 

Give Mike Tyson his best three years and he does just fine in any era.

 

As I've alreay explained in detail in this thread, he had many turmoils in his personal life and wasn't properly prepared for that fight.

I never claimed he had the best career or longevity, it is quite clear he did not fulfill his potential. But as brief as his prime was, nobody has achieved a higher level. And he didn't even reach his full potential, his peak would have been even higher.

The 70s opposition is vastly ovverrated. A one-armed inferior version of Tyson in Frazier, a slugger with looping telegraphed armed punches in Foreman and a lower Ali that needed to resort to cheating in order to get decisions. 87-88 Tyson gets through them like a hot knife through butter.

 

Only Liston might beat Tyson and Holmes. They beat the rest.

 

If Tyson had won the Holyfield fight Holyfields career at the top flight was done and it would be seen as a Mayweather type of win where Tyson fought a big name at the right time. Holyfield never destroys Moorer or has the Lennox fights because he would not have gotten those shots if he had lost to Tyson. So the value of the Holyfield win is a mirage because if Tyson had won it wouldn't be there.

 

Bingo...........the Holyfield mirage.

1-2 some say 0-3 vs Bowe, 0-2 vs Lewis, 1-1 vs glass cannon Moorer, 1-1-1 vs Huggy bear Ruiz., 1-0 vs obese Douglas.............I am not even including the subpar Stewart/Cooper/ Bean fights or the 24 round Grandpa tour vs two fossils.

Excluding Tyson PEDfield won 4 out of his 11 signature fights.....................let that sink in.

According to the Forum experts Tyson was always a Bum you only had to stand up too in order to win yet this said Bum is the ONLY career enhancer PEDfield has...............even his diehard fans shouting Tyson from the roof tops on command.

The question is, why is a bum like Tyson such a big scalp on PEDfields record, he only beat a bum ............so PEDfield beating bums making him the Dragon slayer yet all other Dragons beat/drew him 7 times out of 11 fights.................maybe said other Dragons did not fight 8 rounds in 5 years while rotting in jail....