Tyson’s jab is like his head movement. There’s scant evidence of him using either with any consistency but there’s some mythical version of him in some peoples’ minds where he used both all the time.
I’m going to assume you meant “inconsistent”. Going off that assumption the answer is a little more complex than a simple yes or no. There are three versions of Tyson who fought... 1985-1988 Mike Tyson with Kevin Rooney. 1988-1991 Mike Tyson Post Prison Tyson. If you look at Tyson fights with Rooney in his corner the game plan was basically for Mike to go out and try and knock his opponent out in the first round or two. For examples of this see any Tyson fight from 1985 through 1988. If that couldn’t or didn’t happen (The Pinklon Thomas fight is a great example) Tyson would go back to his corner and when Rooney told him to throw sevens (the jab) Tyson would usually follow his advice and launch power shots either before the jab or after. This was his most consistent use of the jab, usually from round two or three on. From 1988 on Tyson would fall back on the jab occasionally when he couldn’t figure out his opponent but it was never his staple style to begin with. As a shorter fighter he was never going to out jab most of his opponents. The Peek A Boo style can loosely be described as slipping into mid range or inside while attacking. Tyson used his head and body movement to accomplish this, rather than the jab. After Rooney and Tyson split his head movement fell and he became hittable... see Frank Bruno 1. Post prison Tyson basically was a head hunter with diminished skills from where they once were. Use of a consistent jab or head movement was rare.
Tyson didn't use his jab in the classic sense but at his best it was utilised very well within his style. I thought he used it quite well against Holmes.
I've always felt his jab was underrated tbh, because all his other excellent qualities overshadowed it. But on the other side of the coin, as another poster mentioned above, he didn't exactly use it with consistency, especially in '89 and after.
He used it pretty well in the Rooney days. He find his preferred distance by coming in low with a jab to the body and he could also use it to find a home for his right hand. At times he slipped the jab on the outside and countered with his own which at times left him primed to land his big right hand.
I think Tyson's jab is good in the way I think Ingo's jab is good. It isn't used to build up points, it's used to set other things up. He splayed it well, and I think it was really well used in terms of getting people out of position. In the Thomas and Biggs fights, Tyson was really good at getting those guys to overextend and he was very quick on counter. He was also prettu good at using to to bait punches, like he did Holmes. Excellent precursor to the overhand. He also used well when crowding Tucker. But Pat's right. It's nowhere near as good as it's often said to be, and he uses it quite sparingly. There's few examples of him using to win. Nowhere near a Harada, Salidvar or other ATG offensive jabs.
I’m sorry- but Tyson had an excellent jab in the sense it was implicated perfectly for his style, his slip and jab combo was also easily one of the best at HW ever.
Perfectly sums it up. There were signs of him using the jab against Tillis, Thomas and Tucker but after Douglas then jail, very rarely used.
Tyson had a good jab when he chose to use it, obviously his style wasn't based off a good jab but it landed often as it was fast and accurate.
