Tyson's prime was 86-88. I still give Douglas LOTS of credit for the win but that wasn't the peak Mike who was just an animal in the ring. In a good way.
Yep, thanks to mainly espn classic I have seen all of his fights, it is so obvious, painful to watch his last few fights ( definitely not on espn classic)
This. Mike was always weak minded and dependant; for a man like that to not have a solid, trusted corner must've been hell on that night.
I'm guessing that the pivotal moment that people will always point to (aside from the Douglas fight) was when Bruno hurt Tyson in their first fight. Come to think of it, I think Frank was knighted that very moment.
Everyone goes on about tysons great psychological edge but when you look at it he was so easy to wind up outside the ring I doubt it would be much different in the ring. Fighters like Ali and Lewis would talk some **** to him in the ring and make mike make mistakes
Once three people were out of Tyson's life, he was done: Cus D'Amato Jim Jacobs Kevin Rooney After that, it was all downhill. Tyson wasn't remotely close to "prime" when he fought Holyfield.
Prime tyson was with cus. Tyson's motivation to box was at 40% when he lost cus. He lost his 39% when he lost rooney. The last 1% of his motivation was money and that's all he boxed for after rooney.
Cus died in '85, Mike's first year as a pro and I'm not even sure he even got to see 1 of Mike's pro fights. When Rooney left Tyson's prime left with him.
Great analysis. I think factors outside affected Tyson ALOT. Stuff which wouldnt affect others had such a big impact on Tyson mentally and that in turn affected him physically along with the switching of trainers, lack of passion for the sport and fadings skills, these were all accountable for the demise of Mike.
Tyson's biggest edge over his bigger opponents was his speed and technique. Once the technique was gone, his only real edge was speed since his power was matched at the elite level. Steward himself said he couldn't see Tyson being the same devastating force past 28.