Inspired by the Ali thread by markclitheroe Who would you say was one of Tysons worst opponents? To make things easier, we'll do this from Berbick onwards, until he retired. I think Tyson from Berbick up until Prison, had a pretty solid resume. The only poor name pre prison that stands out is Tillman (but they had a bit of history i guess and Tyson was coming off a ko loss) Honourable Mentions: Peter Mcneely Orlin Norris Brian Nielson Julius Francis Danny Williams Kevin Mcbride Other than that, i think most of Tysons opponents were decently ranked fighters
I agree hes better than the rest, but look at Tysons post prison opponents Bruno, Holyfield, Botha, Golota.....Norris? I think he was schedule to fight Shannon Briggs, i think that would have looked better on his resume or even Ray Mercer, Michael Moorer.
A better question would be who cares? What great fighter didn't fight some awful opponents at some stage, and what could it ever mean?
One of the better Records, One of the Better Physique's, but nonetheless an appalling Non- effort, = Bruce Seldon. !
It's gotta be McNeeley. The guy ended up getting knocked out by Louis Monaco and Butterbean. McBride is pretty bad too. So I would say both the micks.
What a KO of Tilman, I thought he was dead the first time I saw that fight. Thought Seldon laid down, Tyson is top 3 easy most powerful punching power though. McBride. At least McNealy came in there trying to bomb Tyson out, suicide, but ballsy. Even Tyson remarked to Jim Grey, he was done looking for a payday and was shot losing to the caliber of fighter that McBride was.
Tillman was a huge letdown transitioning from amateurs to pro, but that doesn't mean he was a horrible pro. (he was an outstanding amateur, so the long fall still doesn't necessarily have to leave him too far down...) He did challenge Holyfield for the cruiser title. The fact that Mike detonated on him in a round doesn't mean he was ****; if you're going by that you have to include Savarese, Seldon, Stewart, Spinks, and Williams as contenders for his worst opponent.
Nielson. All of Mikes opponents after botha were crap. I am shocked he agreed to go into the Lewis fight which was going to be one of his career toughest with such crap preparations.
He wanted to fight Mercer in the January prior to fighting Lewis. But Lewis took him to court and got the fight stopped as it would of scupperd a potential payday for him if Tyson had lost.