He mentions my 2 fave fighters Sugar and Dempsey as being exactly how they were in the ring, just constantly there to hurt you... good interview. Mike Tyson: Every fighter in the history of fighting. But none like me. And, believe me, I'm not being immodest. None like me. I studied every fighter in history, at my manager's house up in Catskill, 'cause he had all the greatest fights on film, he had every last one of them, and I watched them all, every night. They were all so vicious, man. Jake LaMotta, Henry Armstrong, Carmen Basilio. Sugar RayGod, he was vicious. But Jack Dempsey more than anyone. All these guys let you know they wanted to murder you, and they'd take shots from you, over and over and over, get beat senseless, just so they could get theirs in. Sugar Ray maybe most of all. But Jack Dempsey? He wanted to maim you. He didn't want you dead. He wanted you to suffer. He wanted to shatter your eye socket, destroy your cheeks, your chinbone. That's what I learned from Mr. Dempsey, and I believe I learned it well. Details: And what did you learn from Mr. Ali? Mike Tyson: Believe it or not, with all that poetry and the butterflies, what I learned from Ali was meanness. He was the meanest fighter of all time. He'd be in there with Foreman, hardest puncher of all time, he'd be in there with Frazier, another hardest puncher, and he'd be taking it, boom, getting pounded, and then he'd turn, when it was his time, and you'd look at that face, and he's screaming. [Does an Ali impression] "I'm not [Throws a punch] scared [Throws a punch] of you, you ****ing ******. [Throws two punches] You ****ing punk. I'm ****ing God, and worship me. I'm the greatest. [Throws two punches] You're a little ****ing boy, cocksucker." Nobody at ringside reported it, but nobody ****-talked like Ali. This content is protected
Heavy? Possibly. I have him at no.1 but I feel Louis pushes him very close. Be interesting to see what Tysons thoughts on Greb are; a well-read historian and encyclopedia of the game, I wonder what he feels Grebs style was and whether he himself is eagar to see him on film.
Once Tyson asked Angelo Dundee on a plane "was Greb any good?" Angelo looked and him and laughed, he said "Im old but not THAT old". Guess Tyson didnt know what to make of Greb...
Without seeing Greb and accepting that he was a human being, I have to say that Mike would smash him within a round. Unless Greb's style really was as incomprehensible as it sounds and Tyson can't fathom him. Longcount is currently chapperoning Mike around the UK; might ask him if he could ask Tyson his thoughts on the Windmill.
Within a round ? Dempsey sparred with Greb in 1920 and 1922 and could barely land a glove on him in 4-round sessions. And Dempsey was still very fast of hand and foot then, I'd say a bit quicker on his feet than Tyson, and had a longer reach than Tyson. From what I've heard about Greb, it might take Tyson a bit longer than a round ......
interesting point i found about Tyson, wonder if anyone here can verify it, heard a commentator say once before a tyson fight that he was a converted southpaw, is this true? Always thought he learned to fight orthodox cuz that was natural to him, did Cus really train him to be a converted southpaw?
I dont know about that, but Tyson was never 100% orthodox. He'd put his right side forward and throw right hooks off that quite often, and he'd often get his feet square-on which was great offensively but a fault defensively, esp. on the inside.
watch his early career fights(first3or 4)and he was fighting mainly as a southpaw.but switching,not like a naz or whatever,but for a specific combo etc.