Love louis but tyson doesn't come in a staigt line adn tyson had the speed and the power to put louis lights out style wise i have to favour tyson.
Exactly. Joe louis could box Mike's ears off like Holyfield did and Joe had a lot more power than Holy.
If that wasn't prime Tyson then Iron MIke had almost as short of a "prime" as Riddick Bowe. I don't believe that. Mike was fine after prison, the competition just got better and he didn't have the fire.
Tyson wasn't the same fighter after prison, his fans just wanted to believe he was. He was on the slide mentally and in his commitment to boxing before he got sent down and the 3 years in prison just made matters worse for him.
Tyson was less than stellar against Ruddock, Douglas and was taken out of his gameplan when frustrated by Smith. I agree with you in broad terms that he wasn't the same after prison, but that bi-section has always been a wee bit neat for my liking.
That's why I said he didn't hve the "fire" anymore. Physically he was still in his prime, but he didn't have the will, desire, fire whatever you want to call it.
I think a boxer is a world champ at 21, reigns until he's 26 and then from that age goes to prision until he's 29 is not going to be the same fighter when he gets out, especially as he was clearly losing interest in boxing even before he went to jail.
I agree, and thats why I said using the Holyfield fight as a yardstick to gauge how a prime Tyson would do against a prime Louis is unfair.
I agree. But it's hard to say Tyson wasn't in his physical prime when he was only 29 years of age. He peaked early? I think the competition get better and he wasn't so invincible as we all thought.
I rank Joe Louis considerably higher all time than Holyfield. Holy had the better chin but as far as skills go, Louis was the better boxer and with more power. That's not really a rap on Holy either as I have him in my top 10 all time.
But (i think!) we are talking prime for prime and head to head. Thats why I have Tyson over Louis and don't class Holyfield as having beaten prime Tyson (thats not to say he couldn't have).