Tyson vs Witherspoon prime!

You aren't making sense.

I was pointing something out. You have to look at the variables around a given match, not just the outcome. Are you going to suggest that Spoon WAS at his best with Smith in their rematch? Why the three-KD rule if it was for the heayweight championship

Spoon had a fine chin, on par with Holyfield's. Not better, on par.

Keep your pass. I'll take the next bus.

 

Holyfield went into fights with hepatitis, a torn rotator cuff, a swollen heart, etc and he was never stopped in one round. Tyson won the title from Berbick with gonnereha.
My point is all fighters come into fights at certain points in their careers with mental or physical issues. Whether be an injury a contract dispute whatever, they all experience it. What separates the greats from the others is their ability to fight through adversity. Tyson supposedly was not prepared physically for Douglas yet he took a 10 round beat down by Douglas.
I agree you have to look at the background of a fight or fighters, but getting stopped in one round doesnt get a pass as just lack of preparation. Maybe Witherspoon wasnt ready to get bumrushed or didnt expect it and got caught. My point is Tyson would be bringing a lot more heat than Smith ever could. Witherspoon wasnt a dominating fighter, but more in line with the rest of the short term title holders of that era. Not much more in my opinion.

 

Tyson was in fine shape for Douglas. He was arrogant and complacent and had never had to actually fight back. They rumbled at a good pace for ten rounds and Tyson absorbed a lot of punishment along the way. He was in shape.

Holyfield had all sorts of complications with Moorer, plus he was **** at fighting southpaws....but mentally he was into fighting. Actually, that fight should have been a draw but somebody screwed up the scoring.

Different mindsets came into play. Spoon wasn't knocked out. He was dropped...like Archie Moore.

No, Holy's chin was what I would call "better" than Spoon's.

On par.

 

Complacency and arrogance are mental states, that are not good for championship caliber fighters. I dont believe Tyson was mentally or physically in shape for Douglas either. He was also trying to break away from Don King during the Ruddock fights. Every fighter that was ever married to Don King had contract problems with him.

 

I on the other hand know Tyson got down to 220 by training hard only Douglas lived up to his potential for once (he could be extraordinary when he was motivated) and he attacked Tyson - something Tyson wasn't used to, especially over rounds.

 

What about his amatuer corner who had no answers for him when he went back to the corner. They didnt even have an enswell or a cut man to help Tyson. Talk about complancency.
Lennox Lewis gets all the credit for hiring Emanuel Steward and improving ten fold under his guidance, but Tyson was still the same fighter that Kevin Rooney trained when he faced Douglas with Snowell and Bright in his corner.

 

As usual whenever a conversation on Tim Witherspoon comes up, someone is sure to mention the Smith fight, regardless of how many times it has been repeated that it wasn't on the level.

 

you mean the tyson that beat spinks that night? that was a prime tyson. forget witherspoon. he would beaten any hw champ that night. that is was like catching lighting in a bottle, and something you can put in a time capsul. no one would beat him that night.

 

Tyson via KO somewhere between the 2nd and 5th.

 

Mostly from Witherspoon himself though. The guy says "I didn't try to win, I wanted out from Don King" which might be some sort of explanation BUT it's also true that Bonecrusher Smith was a monster puncher and caught him with a beauty of a right hand in the opening seconds, and Tim looked like a fat jelly in that fight.

 

It is possible that a fit and motivated Witherspoon could've lasted the course with Tyson. He would drop a one-sided points decision,though.

 

With exception to Bruno and Smith, (he was stopped by one), I wouldnt say Witherspoon has a solid resume against big punchers, certainly not on the level of Holyfield's.
Do you think he could hang with a prime Tyson? Tyson was on a whole different level at that time. Spoon for the most part was fighting even with the majority of the guys that Tyson was tearing through. Spoon was winning some losing some, fighting close fights, etc. He didnt show me anything different that would pose a problem for Tyson. I wouldnt even pick Spoon at his best to beat the Tyson that Douglas beat, he just didnt have the right style in my opinion.

 

Did Witherspoon get hit like Tyson did? Cooper was not a big puncher??:huh I didnt say he had a bad chin, but I dont think he faced the fighters that Holy did to say his chin was on par with him, plus he was stopped in one round, thats telling, regardless of the circumstances. Tyson was not knocked out by Holyfield, and there is a little difference between a prime fit Tyson and the Tyson that was stopped on his feet after fighting a handful of rounds after a three year layoff in 1996 dont you think? If you think he gives Tyson a tough fight thats ok with me I respectfully disagree.