At his BEST, could any heavyweight of the last 20 years have beaten Mike Tyson?

IMO, Tyson in his prime could've given anyone from ANY generation a good argument, and that includes legends like Louis, Marciano, Liston and Ali.

He was the complete fighting machine, totally ruthless, with great foot and head movement, with an almost impregnable defence.

Guys like Douglas, Lewis and Holyfield would have been destroyed before 'the wheels came off,' and I hope the history books reflect this.

It's easy to say he was overrated now, but pre- Robin Givens, Mike Tyson was a monster, and no mistake.

 

I agree 100% I feel Tyson is dismissed now days based on what his character faults, and the performances he had during his decline. I believe a prime Tyson to be the most complete fighting machine I have ever seen. Hand speed. Foot speed. Agility. Dexterity. Combination punching. One shot ko power in both hands. Head movement. Great defense. Good jab. Great punch variety. Killer instinct. Great finisher. Great chin. Tysons rep suffers because his prime was brief.
I often here people say Ali would have destroyed Tyson. WRONG. If Joe Frazier got to him and dropped him so would Tyson, but he would have done it faster. Tyson had everything Joe had x 10, and then some. As I said earlier... at his best Tyson was as close to a perfect fighting machine as I have ever seen.

 

Tony Tucker, James Smith and Mitch green lost only UD and all of them were were tall dudes.

 

ffs can we not just have one mike tyson thread that can be re-opened every time someone has a new view or angle on his career!!

 

And that means what? He beat them all by wide decisions. Nobody in boxing history has a perfect ko record.

 

lewis still beats him in his prime. i said this in another thread.

douglas doesnt.

holyfield maybe.

holmes at the top of his game and a few years before they actually fought couldve as well.

 

Tyson fought bums (Larry Holmes being the exception although he was out of his prime by that point) who were all so scared of him (for good reasons) that they ended up just wanting to survive the fight instead of boxing.
I agree that guys like Ali, Louis, etc would have probably lost to Tyson but only because all sports have gotten so much better than they use too be. Watch Ali skip and then watch Floyd skip and you'll see what I mean.
Now I do not think Tyson prime would have beaten Lewis prime, Vatali prime, or even Larry Holmes prime (questionable). All these fighters had been trained to use their size as their advantage. And believe it or not, size matters as long as you know how to use it.
I would like to note though the difference in age that Tyson and Lewis were when they hit their respective primes. Tyson was around 20 and lewis was almost 40. Why is boxing so different than all other sports (tennis they all peak around 23 and are considered dinasours by 30) in that respect?

 

Lewis could have beaten him.
If he kept his head on straight Bowe could have.
Vitali has the tools to do the job, maybe Wlad too.

Don't argue with me, I'm right.

 

yea, i suppose you can make a case for bowe too.

and i didnt want to say vitali, cuz i know everyones gonna flame me. vitali actually has all the tools necessary to beat tyson: height, reach, good jab, good chin, power. he knows how to use his height also.

 

Prime Lennox Lewis and Prime Riddick Bowe KO a prime Tyson.

 

lol co-sign.

 

in my opinion, no.
only lewis would be a maybe, by close decision.

 

Lewis and Riddick Bowe.

 

That means, fighters which are taller (even more) and skilled (even more), can be more serious threat to mike, than as mentioned before

 

It is foolish to expect a fighter to be at 100% in all fights. Tyson may not have had the perfect training camp leading up to Douglas, but that is irrelevant.

He was beaten by him.

The same goes for Lewis getting caught by Rahman and McCall. He could have avoided these shots, but he did not.

No fighter has a perfect career (or very few do, to be sure), so why should Tyson?