*How close in Percentage-Terms was Tyson to PEAK/BEST when he KTFO by Bummy Douglas?*

I dont care what anyone else thinks. douglas beat a prety good tyson because for that night buster was a great fighter himself.

Tyson was great but against Douglas he came up against a great performance, he came up short because he had never been to the well before. His talent was such that Tyson had by-passed the seasoning required to overcome that moment.

The same thing happened to Joe Louis against schmeling the first time. It wasn’t that they lost to the better fighter, they had gaps that were exposed. Tyson ran out of ideas. Joe Louis and mike Tyson were not that mature at that time.

 

I think he was slightly past it already to be honest, Tyson started early and peaked early, but its not fair that people don't give Douglas credit because of Tysons problems.

Tysons team in that fight was a joke, using a condom full of ice water as an endswell. They had no advice for him at all, but Douglas fought like an all time great that night. Bad night for Tyson and probably Douglas's best night ever.

 

that has nothing to do with tyson losing that fight. you think if rory had an enswell and an ice pack tyson would have won? he couldnt tell him to dig deep because hed never been there.

 

I think he was probably almost 90%, but I voted 80%.

Frankly, I don't care if he was 50% or 60%. He should have still beat a fighter of Douglas' caliber at 50% if he was really as great as people claim he was.

 

Let's have it right. It wasn't the best version of tyson because he didn't train as hard, but it was clearly prime tyson. He hadn't declined any. Had he put the work in he'd still have been as fearsome as ever and maybe he'd have won, maybe not, who knows?

But tyson was clearly prime, just undertrained imo.

 

I'd rather have had Kevin Rooney there.

 

If Tyson under trained he would have been over weight and he would not have withstood the beating he took for as long as he did. he almost turned things around scoring his own knockdown, out of shape guys can not do this. Tyson ran out of ideas, Douglas second guessed everything Tyson had in store for him and had no answers. Tyson was no better against Bruno, tubbs, biggs and thomas but he largely had things his own way in those fights. douglas did his homework. for one fight he was a great fighter.

 

I'm not discrediting Douglas because I do agree he fought very well but I didn't see Tysons usual speed and explosiveness in that fight.

 

so he could whisper in Tyson’s ear the way he did? great fighters make great trainers look great when the fighter has it his own way. I don’t think Rooney would have made a blind bit of difference. Tyson was getting caught on the way in, he stood off and was still getting caught. He couldn’t draw douglas in and kept buying feints. he needed to dig deep and fire back during an exchange but he was only used to one way exchanges at that point in his career. Rooney could say it with or without a condom filled with ice and it would not register with Tyson. he was a young guy used to things all his own way.

its just how I see it.

 

The trainer and the cornerman has more to do with the fight than being in the corner on fight day. Tyson had no gameplan, you could see at times in the fight that he'd just stop and think. He just couldn't seem to figure out how to get in on Douglas and that was what Tyson was all about. Like I said, IMO it was a very good night for Douglas but also a terrible performance by Tyson.

 

It always looks a terrible performance for the loser.
Tyson relied on long jabs, he would slide inside of them and counter his ay into range, always waiting for the jab to get in range.
douglas feinted with the jab forcing Tyson to step into his range, meanwhile douglas pulled back and timed Tyson buying the feint. Douglas’s footwork was genius that night. he made Tyson pay. Tyson could not get in range and was made to pay each time he tried. mike ended up waiting and thinking, it got so he was a sitting duck but he took his lumps and kept trying.

usually a fighter used to competitive fights will instinctively fight in a situation like that but Tyson was dumbstruck because he wasn’t used to competitive two way situations. he was brave enough, i will give him that, just out of his depth.

 

Douglas was a skilled fighter. He definitely had more skills than anyone in the 90's besides the big three. It's mentally where this fight was decided. Tyson wasn't even prepared at all mentally and Douglas was. Tyson physically wasn't horrible even though he states he didn't train for Douglas but he was still a fairly active fighter but mentally and strategically as evidence proved in his corner he was a big goose egg.

 

I just think young tyson was so fast he was used to landing blind. half the guys were scared of him and he was so super quick he could glide into range get his shots off and hurt them. douglas took away his wheels. buster would catch tyson on the way in because strategically he did his homework.

Tyson wasnt used to trading with a fighter who was timing him. He couldnt "trade" so he ran out of ideas. he was a kid. A kid too used to things his own way.