noy saying any of this would or could have happen but imagine if tyson hadnt left rooney and hadnt lost to douglas and fought and beaten the next three great heavyweights who followed holyfield, bowe and lewis. what would tyson's place in history then be?
If he was good enough to have actually done any of that, it would mean he was one of the best HWs ever.
He would have been champion till 92/93. I think Bowe would have beaten him. He would have been top 10 till the mid 2000's. I think Bowe and Lewis would have wins over him. I think the Klitchikos might have as well. Holyfield mabey.
I think you're missing the point of the thread. This is a "what if tyson had kept it together." Tyson never lost when he was at his best. He was way over the hill when he fought Holy, and shot by the time Lewis got to him. So you don't think Tyson at his best could beat Lewis, Holy, or Bowe?
If he did all of that, Top 3 heavy with Louis and Ali in terms of accomplishment. Not sure about P4P all time.
One could go on and on bout this forever really. The truth is we'll just have to accept what was, rather than what if. Could he have beaten Holyfield had he beaten Douglas? That right there is a question mark and easy answers are not forthcoming. A fully focussed and hungry Tyson could well do it, but Tyson I suspect had lost a lot of his desire just after he beat Spinks, imo. We must also keep in mind that even when Cus and Jacobs where around, Tyson was burning the candles at both ends away from the ring. You can't live like that and expect not to fall off the wagon at some point. He had all the physical gifts one could ever ask for, but the way he lived suggests to me he was never going to reign supreme well into the 90's.
Sick of hearing it. My take is it wouldn't have happened. The guy wasn't mentally balanced enough for the ring, he didn't have the discipline to keep it Marciano whilst at the very top. There are loads of guys like that - Johnson, Frazier - he could have had ****ing Merlin in his corner, he would have blown it. Probably agains Holyfield.
In all honesty even though Marciano is my favourite fighter of all times his record is not that impressive at all. If Tyson faught aditional 13 more bums on his way up (as was in fact the plan - he was supposed to turn pro in 84 but hurt his finger or something) and then retire just before the Douglas fight with a 50-0 his record would look better then Marcianos. Marciano only deffended his tittle 6 times and 4 times againts two opponents, one of them over the hill. His win over Joe Louis bears as much significance as Berbicks win over Ali and if you look at the records of the 3 fighters who took him the distance you will see they were complete bums as well.
I'm not talking about Marciano's record. I'm talking about his intensity in training and the fact that he always brought complete focus to the ring. Marciano would NEVER lose to an underdog as huge as Buster because he brings 100% of himself to the ring for every oppponent. He was all he could be. That's what Tyson could never have done.
Marciano's win over Louis is far more better accomplishment that Berbick's win over Ali. Louis was still great puncher and had some good run with solid rivals. Ali was shot dead against Trevor. I also don't belive that Tyson would beat Lennox, Holy and Bowe - even in his prime. Actually I don't rate Tyson as top 10 HW but IF he would beat those guys after beating Douglas...that surpases Ali in my opinion.