Prime Tyson v Vitali

Well actually there is more to it than that, you see....ah forget it.

Did Tyson EVER beat a fighter that was greater than Vitali ?

 

An ancient lewis

But styles make fights, and it is a hard fight to call imo :huh

 

Yes Lewis was older but he came into his prime much later than Tysons. Plus Tyson wasnt looking after his body in the run up to the Lewis fight. Remember the pic of him smoking weed on the beach looking about 280lbs?

Holmes and Spinks where greater than Vitali. Yes Spinks probably wouldnt have beaten Vitali in a head to head but Holmes certainly would have.

Im not saying that Vitali would have no chance, because of course he would but and its a BIG but.....What had Vitali done to make himself elite?

 

Vitali could keep him outside to a boring UD or close UD with jabs and occasional right hand.

 

I cannot believe what i'm reading in this thread! Sure Vitali is a tough rugged fighter, decent chin and all, but he's not considered an all time great. Tyson is top 10 in most peoples books so I'm suprised few are saying Tyson would win this....IMO prime Tyson would KO Vitali - look how he was shaken a few times from the sniper - Sanders wobbled him and had him holding a good few times in that fight. Now a prime Tyson was fast and could get inside past Vitali's long jab - and he wasnt just a one handed puncher like Sanders - he was able to hurt with both hands! Tyson would get inside - big body shots would crease Vitali up and he'd drop his head down in a crouch reacting off the big hits to his body and Tyson would uppercut him right on the chin. Tyson IMO would have far less trouble than many of you think...but here we are talking prime Tyson - lets keep that in mind!!!

Tyson KO 5. Too hot for Vitali to handle in his prime IMO. The incredible speed and tenacity would be overwelming for him as it was for almost all of his other opponents. Maybe, just maybe Vitali can survive 12 long rounds but he'd be battered and worn and lose a UD if it went all the way. For me though, Tyson KO 5 or thereabouts is more likely.

 

I´d put everything on my bank account and a kidney on Vitali winning and probably by KO.
Theres just no way in hell Tyson could land good punches on him. Vitali uses his height extremely well, and his reflexes are top notch. His work rate in the ring is second to none(the guy hardly looses any rounds!), so there is no way Tyson could outpoint him.

Sanders is tall and has VERY fast hands. It´s not a coincidence that he´s KO´d so many guys in the 1st round. That´s the type of boxer you have to be to be able to land on Vitali. But Vitali is smart and after a single hit from Sanders he changed his gameplan and won every round after that.

I think Tyson is the hardest puncher of all time. But Vitali is just too big for him and uses his size too well, and he´s extremely tough and Tyson crumbles under pressure. Tyson beat many tall fighters, but none as tall as Vitali, and most important, Vitali uses that height EXTREMELY well, most tall fighters don´t use it at all.

p.s. Vitali is 3" taller than Lewis.

 

This one's easy...

A Prime "Iron" Mike Tyson Ko's Vitali "The Paper Champion" Klitschko... No Doubt...

As would Frazier, Marciano, Ken Norton and an entire list of fighters who were much shorter than Vitali, that imo are "real" Boxing Legends... Klitschko is by no means a Legend, he never defeated a Worlds Champion and therefore is merely a Paper Champion who ducked legit title defenses and then quit...
Vitali lost to an old, over the hill and underprepared Lewis, the same kinda Lewis that Rahman and McCall both wasted, and a lot closer to Lewis' prime at that...

This thread is funny though... Prime Tyson by decision??? lmmfao... In his prime, the only man to go the distance with Tyson was Tucker, who had ko'd James "Buster" Douglas the fight before he met Tyson, earning Tucker the IBF strap... Then as Lewis did with Vitali, Mike took his next fight (with James Douglas) way too lightly, came in under prepared, knocked Douglas down for a 13 count, and then was ko'd ending Mike Tyson's Prime as we all know what happened next... I mean Tyson rebounded in his fights with Tillman, Stewart and "Razor" Ruddock (who also went the distance with Mike in their 2nd fight, ironically just before Mike went off to prison, so go figure)... And to think Vitali Klitschko would beat a prime Tyson is some peoples minds??? Who are you kidding...? I don't know if Klitschko would beat a prime Michael Spinks let alone Kid Dynamite... lmao

 

Vitali UD

 

How the hell can you say Vitali is elite, look at his resume, he lost to every good fighter he ever faced (Bryd, Lewis) both of which were in his prime. The guy struggled to beat a journeyman in Corrie Sanders, a guy Nate Tubbs blew out in 2 rounds and Rahman and his glass chin found away to take his big punches and knock him out later in the fight. Vitali's best wins come against Journeyman contenders, and his best win is against Kirk Johnson, who fat and outshape for there match, and has accomplished nothing since losing to Vitali 4 or 5 years ago.

Tyson had a granite chin in his prime, taking everything Ruddick had to offer, as well against guys that had heavy hands like Bruno and Bone Crusher Smith. Vitali has the reach advantage, and a better jab, thats it. Both Tyson and Vitali are equal in the chin department, and in toughness, Tyson had better footmovement, better defense, more power, better combination puncher, and faster hands, better stamina. Tyson would stay on the inside and rip Vitali apart, Vitali would land some telling blows on Tyson throughout the fight as well, but I see Tyson stopping him late due to Vitali's stamina running dry and being amount damage he took throughout the fight. As a huge Tyson fan, I can honestly see this one being competitive, and Tyson would be in for the fight of his life.

Sir axeman, good post by the way, I agree with the majority of it.

 

Foreman destroyed Norton with raw power and size. Foreman is 4,5" shorter than Vitali and in his slim prime about 25lbs. lighter. Vitali would win Norton by death.

 

You guys have to be ****ing kidding me telling me Vitali beats Tyson. :-(

Too many youngsters on this board sometimes.

 

vitaly is tough, huge, and has a shot. However, prime Tyson on the way up (pre 1988 or so) was an excellent boxer and was relentless and tough as well. He would easily --with his superior speed and skill-- outpoint vitaly to a UD if he didn't make him go "timber" at some point. Now if Vitaly fought the 90's version of tyson, i'd favor vitaly.

 

Foreman or Tyson, you could argue that either was the hardest hitting boxer of all time... Vitali Klitschko .... NO WAY... Foreman Ko's Klitschko way easier than he beat Norton imo, and Klitschko would never break Ali's jaw unless Ali was at home is his bed fast alseep... And Klitschko has done what to deserve the comparison to these All Time Greats???

 

Vitali wasn't even close to elite. jesus what did he ever do? people on this site are crazy somtimes. i'm not even a huge tyson fan but prime for prime they are far apart.