Mike Tyson: Top 10 Heavyweight?

Holmes was 38 at the time. At 42 he beat an undefeated Ray Mercer who years later would give Holyfield and Lewis the fight of their lives. Not to mention that he also gave Holyfield a decent scrap; one that revealed that a younger Evander would have been decision by a younger Holmes.

It wasn't a GREAT win. But it was a GOOD win over a great fighter who came to fight.

Incidentally Lewis was 37 when he beat Vitali. Fighters age differently, while it was widely expected for Tyson to win, it had more to do with the fact that Mike Tyson at that particular time was widely considered to be unbeatable.

How is Jack Dempsey obvious? Tyson had a far more impressive run to the title, Had more title defenses, more depth in his resume and actually did more after he lost the title than Dempsey did. Not to mention that Tyson fought anybody and everybody around during his reign.

What did Gene Tunney do AT Heavyweight that ranks him ahead of Mike Tyson? How many fights did Gene Tunney even have at Heavyweight?

And if having no "embarrassing KO losses" as part of your criteria then I suppose that Jack Dempsey who was stopped in 1 Round by Fireman Flynn should preclude him from the top 10. Lennox Lewis had 2 embarrassing KO losses from unheralded journeymen should also preclude him from the top 10. Frazier as well. Foreman quit against Ali.

There was heavyweight boxing before Mike Tyson. My recommendation is that you watch some of it.

The thing I don't get when people criticize Tyson with these blanket statements is that when Tyson, based on his highlight reel performances, intimidates another fighter; it's treated negatively. When Ali, with his mind ****, psychological warfare psyches out another fighter, he's a genius. What gives?

All fighters had mental issues going into fights. Tyson became characterized that way AFTER PRISON by a few disgruntled sportswriters who were upset with Tyson's short comings that they needed a reason to explain to the public why somebody so talented could let them down.

Tyson was his generation's Ali. Tyson's 80s >Ali's 60s. But Ali's 70s > Tyson's 90s. The 70s and 90s is where the legacies were cemented for each fighter. Ali based on his work in the 60s would have still been considered a great fighter but his work in the 70s elevated him to GOAT status (I actually rate Louis higher).

Tyson's 90s considering the level of expectation from the public were a failure. To be fair, it would have been difficult for anybody to fulfill the expectations that were set for Mike Tyson after such an incredible start, but that's getting off topic. The fact remains that "mental problems" were a thing of the POST PRISON Tyson narrative that seems to be liberally applied to Mike Tyson at ANY stage of his career.

He was 38. He claimed prior to the fight that the layoff did him some justice and the fight was planned when Mike was fighting Tyrell Biggs.

If you think his resume was weak, its likely because wouldn't know what a strong resume was. Tyson was a lot of depth in his resume. You'll have a difficult time finding 10 Heavyweights with a better overall resume.

No Argument.

I don't. I personally think that while Marciano was small, there are numerous examples in history in which smaller fighters from the LHW division coming up in weight and beating Heavyweights prove that skills will always overcome size.

The Holmes victory is as good as Lewis's win over Holyfield. Considering that 4 years later Holmes legitimately earned a title shot by beating Mercer who is better than anybody Holyfield beat after Lewis.

 

Damn... The Poster above just owned a mother****er like a tub of vaseline in a roomful of porn!

 

Rico Spacafora =

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So, the mental weakness was just made up by angry sportswriters according to you? :roflatsch

Atlas was having to literally push Mike out of the corner to fight in the Amateurs when a fight wasn't going his way. The mental issues were always there. Tyson was a very flawed fighter and he isn't a top 10 Heavyweight to anyone that is over 30 years old. Sure he was an exciting fighter but that does not equal being a top 10 heavyweight of all time. His era was atrocious and so was his opposition post prison other than Holyfield and Lewis both fights he got embarrassed and steamrolled in.

 

Someone is ****in' with the poll results.


Out with it I. Hands :bart

 

Falls just short. Depending on my mood, ends up somewhere between 11 and 15.

 

Can you name the people you have ahead of him?

 

Last list I did I had Tyson at 15

 

I think he barely makes it.

 

Its funny how many people try and invalidate the Larry Holmes win based on age and a two year lay off. Prior to that when was Larry Holmes knocked out and after that event when was Larry Holmes knocked out? The prime Mike Tyson trained by Kevin Rooney was an absolute beast only a ******** would deny he had the capability to beat almost anyone at that stage.

 

He's at 10 on my list. Soundly behind Frazier and Holyfield at 8 and 9, he wont be overtaking either of them any time soon and fairly comfortably ahead of Jeffries and Liston at 11 and 12. However, Wlad at 13/14 has been creeping up the list recently and if he where to beat Povetkin and a few other top contenders, he may take the number 10 spot from Tyson.

 

No way. Overrated.

 

i salute u, esb :good

:bowdown