No offence but you were in school when a WAY past it Tyson fought Lewis so I guess you wouldn't remember or weren't even born when Tyson was at his peak. So how can you be a realist regarding Tyson as overrated apart from watching clips from old videos?
You have made some good points:thumbsup Tyson was over-rated in my opinion, and wasn't even close to being the best in his generation:-( that would be Holyfield or Lennox both who thrashed him, he was an ******* to boot, the ear biting, the **** deal, going to jail for beating up an old man on the side of the road, drugs, starting a near riot at the LEnnox press conference..i was elated when Tomato can Kevin Mcbride whipped his ass..
Lewis and Holy beat a way past his prime Tyson :deal. And this is a boxing forum, **** what he did outside the ring...
Mike Tyson is a handfull for any Heavyweight Past Present, or Future. His Speed, Combos + Body Punching & Finishing ability will always be a prob. Mike will even knock out some of those heavyweight's still swimming in their daddy's sack that haven't been born yet, Tyson's style is timeless.
Holyfield was past his prime when he beat Tyson also:deal i don't give a **** who's past their prime, they agreed and signed to take the fight so it is what it is, Tyson was the most over-rated heavy in history that's why he was waxed by Douglas.. A 42-1 DOG..
Tyson is one fighter who is really hard to peg as to how good he actually was or could have been. Almost all agree that the Cus and Rooney fighter was Tyson at his best. He pretty much destroyed most guys, but some Tillis & Tucker, were able to last the distance and win rounds in the process. The Bonehugger Smith fight was a bit of an eye opener for me. He was big, slow, and was just looking to survive, and he did. Tyson won decisively but he was just not powerful enough to immpresively deal with Bonehuggers tactics, and that left doubt with me as to how he could deal with a big strong man, with some skills. By the time Tyson fought Douglas, he was a shadow of his former self. We all know about his Tokyo night life, personal demons, etc. His corner was a freakin' joke too, trying to control his facial swelling with a blown up baloon with some water in it. This fight was the end of Tyson as a major force. So how do we compare Tyson to other great champs? The only way I can do that is to look @ his pre-Douglas fights. Again, his decisions against Smith, Tillis, and Tucker come to mind. These guys were hardly a murderers row, but they were somewhat competitive (not Smith though). Based on these fights, I can see many greats beating Tyson: Ali in his early prime 1967 IMO would TKO Tyson late. He just had too many skills, long range speed, intellegence, and underrated power for Tyson to deal with. Add the psychological warfare that he would use and I find it hard to go against Ali. Foreman would KO Tyson. The guy just hit too hard, had a very good chin (Holyfield threw the kitchen sink), was faster than given credit (see the Frazier #1 fight), and he would use his long arms and overall strength to push Tyson all around the ring. He'd be like Bonehugger Smith but with a great offense and more speed. I would not write off Lewis or Riddick Bowe either. They were big and strong and had the skills to beat Tyson Who would Tyson beat? Holmes in his prime got hurt too much and once Tyson smelled blood I think he would get him. That Holmes Norton fight shows me that Tyson could beat him. Norton. Tyson would bounce him around the ring like Foreman. Marciano, Louis, Dempsey are tough calls to make for me.
Care to name any other past heavys that were OVERRATED who unified all the belts were linear and ranked in the top 15 heavys of all time?
Correct me if I'm wrong, wasnt Tyson the last Heavyweight to be ranked P4P number 1 by ring magazine?
That is true, especially most recently with DLH in charge. I still believe physically, Tyson was probably the most gifted athlete we have ever seen in the Heavyweight division, as well as the most violent.