I'll pick a few from different decades and I'll also choose realistic match ups. Riddick Bowe for example their timelines just didn't fit. When Bowe was in his prime Tyson was in prison, and then when Tyson got out of prison Bowe was finished after the Golota fights. Tim Witherspoon = One of the few top notable 80s contenders Tyson didn't fight It would've been an interesting match up. Greg Page = For Tyson's comeback fight after losing to Douglas they could've hyped this up due to Page flooring Tyson in sparring previously. George Foreman = In the early 90s before Tyson went to prison what an absolute barnburner this would've been. David Tua = In the late 90s this would've been an absolute war. Oleg Maskaev = Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Tyson supposed to fight Maskaev at some point ? This would've been an interesting fight in the early 2000s.
I hear the new doc is going to reveal, for the first time, that Mike likes and breeds pigeons. How crazy is that? Looking forward to seeing/hearing the full details on that little anomaly.
A motivated Tim Witherspoon in 1987. Also, wish he'd stayed out of prison and fought Bowe and Moorer and Morrison
Yes, Tyson and Maskaev were supposed to meet in June of 2003, a fight which was supposed to be the co-main event of Lewis vs Kirk Johnson.
If anyone is familiar with it, these docs on Mike might be like the iconic UK 7 Up series. Like the participants of that social experiment series, maybe Mike needs to be checked up on and recorded at least every 7 years if not more frequently in order to see what has possibly changed/evolved in his life during the interim. For fans of the actual 7 Up series, they just released the final instalment - 70 Up - this month. Amazing that they’ve been following these now 70 year olds every 7 years since the age of 7. It will be another 10 years before Mike hits his own 70 years old milestone - so we might assume that he still has a few more documentaries left in him.
To this day, I'm sad that Tyson vs. Holyfield didn't happen in 1991 or 1992. If not for Tyson's rib injury and the result of the Desiree Washington trial, that would have been a phenomenal fight. Post-prison Tyson (1996/97) was nowhere near as good as pre-prison Tyson. And the Holyfield that Tyson eventually fought, who was 215-218 pounds, was not as physically big, thick, strong and imposing in 1991/1992, at 208-210 pounds (and even 205 for Bowe I). Totally different, more competitive fight.
Tyson v Witherspoon in the 1980s would have been interesting…a darn sight more exciting than Tyson v Bonecrusher Smith….
Lewis was himself asked how far off he was being able to compete against Tyson when Tyson was fighting Ruddock, and he himself said he was like a couple of years off (from memory) Lewis would have most likely beaten Tyson in 96. But from 90-92? Nah. I see that ending badly for Lewis. He was far too off balance, far too defensively open etc. to beat Tyson.