Tyson 1996 [Holyfield 1] vs Best* pre-prison opponents

This has been done before. Your campaign to continually smear Tyson is getting boring.
We get it, you hate Tyson, Ken Norton Foremans Hook whatever the hell your name is this week. Go to the general, these type of threads do really well over there. :hi::dead

 

I say he beats all of them still with the exception of Razor Ruddock and Tyrell Biggs.

Tyson wins a Decision vs Tillis, Tucker, Ribalta and Holmes..

Holmes gives a tougher go this time though..

Tyson KO7 Thomas. Pretty much the same fight here..
Tyson KO4 Tubbs. Tubbs makes it a bit longer but still gets caught.
Tyson TKO8 Berbick. Berbick grapples and holds and rough houses Mike and lasts longer in an ugly fight..
Tyson KO1 Spinks.. Spinks just does not match up well with mike in my eyes.

Now to the fights I think he "COULD" lose, that doesn't mean he would..

Ruddock I think could possibly stop the 96' version of Mike, this Tyson had major stamina issues as we saw against Holyfield, maybe something to do with that whole prison thing and not fighting any live opponents since his release, yes he won 2 titles but Bruno and Seldon nuff said!! So Ruddock hurts him this time a maybe finishes him off...

Biggs... I just have a feeling that I am going to get grilled here but let me go.. The Biggs that fought the Prime Tyson in my eyes was a very solid contender.. He was 15-0 at the time and very polished, he had a long strong stiff jab.. He had a great corner in Benton and Duva and he had great heart and guts.. I remember in the David Bey fight where he was busted open and came back to score a nice tko win while a bloody mess!!
Biggs was a very game guy, remember the Simms fight where Biggs fought from the 2nd round on with a broken collarbone.. Even a well past it Biggs pushed a young in shape Bowe. Biggs had Bowe hurt and was in the fight before it was stopped..

The 96 version of Tyson didn't have alot of Moxie in my eyes.. If you take the Holyfield fight for example when Tyson was butted and cut he wanted to quit he wanted out! Now factor that in with the kind of guts that this version of Biggs had and I think we have the recipe for a Biggs come back tko victory or a points win..

The one good thing about my whole Tyson-Biggs debate for me is that there is no question as to who the better fighter was in his respected prime since that is when they met and Mike blew his doors off!!

 

You had Tililis beating Tyson

 

u a dumb man:-(,,,,,,,,,,.................troll

 

MIKE TYSON OF 96 WAS HORRID NOT CLOSE TO 91.........BUT HEAR WE GO
1.TILLIS WINS 10 RD DEC
2.RUDDOCK KNOCKS PUT TYSON IN 2 OR 3 RDS
3.TYSON DEC OVER RIBALTA
4.TYSON TKO BIGGS IN 10 RDS
5.PINKLON THOMAS TKO OVER TYSON IN 9 RDS
6.TYSON TKO SPINKS IN 6 RDS
7.TYSON 10 RD DEC OVER VERBICK
8.T TUBBS 10 RD DEC OVER TYSON
9.HOLMES 10 RD DEC OVER TYSON.....

TYSON WAS 60 PERCENT OF HIMSELF AND IT SHOWED.......:goodAFTER PRISON

 

Post prison Tyson maybe has a better shot against Douglas than the theoretically 'peak' version who lost. Great, great performance from Buster but the stars were aligned that night.

 

a better thread would be Tyson of 1986-88 vs all his opponents that he fought after 1989....what would the results be? Golota, Both, Ruddock, Bruno, Mathis etc etc

 

The problem with Biggs - in his prime he just had a habit of being drawn into fighting his opponent's fight.
The Jeff Simms fight was his best, not only because of his courage but because he was forced to box behind the left jab and move for the entire fight. His right arm didn't work so he didn't have the option of standing his ground and any time and letting both hands go and forgetting about his boxing.

Against Bey, and Snipes, he just got pulled into the trenches far too easily. He was superb when he jabbed and moved but those rugged guys could draw him into slugging matches and he responded too easily.

Against Tyson, who was a master at imposing his will, a truly intense fighter, Biggs came undone in the same manner before the first round was even over. And it's sad because Biggs had the tools and style to box Tyson's socks off for a few rounds. But "ifs" and "could'ves" dont count for much. He just let the other guy dictate the terms of the fight.

The 1996 Tyson would have got a 1987 Biggs fighting on his terms too. It might have taken 2 or 3 rounds to get to him, but he would have got to him.

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said.. I was trying to find a few guys from the list that might have had the best shot.. Mike just looks so beatable in that Holyfield fight, but I need to stop and remember that Holyfield is a far superior fighter to anyone on the above list, since all the fighters on the list are in the states of there careers when Tyson beat them... Whats your thought on the prospect of Ruddock beating the 96' version of Tyson?

 

I'm glad you brought up Biggs though. I've been watching a lot of him lately and wondering. It took me a while to figure out what was wrong with him !

I think Ruddock might have the beating of a '96 Tyson, not that Tyson looked any worse technically or physically - he was already a bit sloppy in '91 - but that mentally he might not have endured the punishment he could take when they fought. I'm not sure.

Tucker had a broken hand when they fought in '87, and fought a bit sparingly, so I'd still say '96 Tyson beats him, somehow.

And Thomas, who was good enough to hit Tyson quite an amount, looked more washed-up in '87 than Tyson was in '96, and seemed to lack any real punching power. Thomas was 29 going on 40.

Tillis would be my wild card choice. Tyson always figured he got caught on an off-night with Tillis. Others have used the fact that he was "green".
I just think Tillis fought the fight of his life and was in much better shape than usual. He nicked 3 or 4 rounds of 10, in 1986.
Perhaps that version of Tillis could nick a close 12-round decision over '96 Tyson.

 

I know, Thomas went down hill so fast!! I remember being younger but watching him on HBO and he was really impressive against Weaver and Witherspoon which were in I think 84 or 85.. And then when he fought Tyson in 87 he looked 100 years old, he took some good bombs early but he just had nothing!! He was finding Mike with the Jab some but his punches had nothing on them and if you have seen some of his earlier fights like the one vs Weaver or the Tillis fight he had some snap on that jab and decent power, but against Mike just nothing.