Many rightly point out that the effectiveness of Tyson's peek-a-boo after the split with Rooney was never the same. What I ask you is: why? Did Tyson need to review the peekaboo movements with Rooney continuously because he was unable to memorize them permanently? Or after Rooney Tyson became a lazy and too self confident fighter who thought he could win fights without the use of peekaboo therefore saving a lot of energies?
I'm not so sure he specifically needed Rooney but D'mato's peekaboo system was very technical & needed diligent practice to maintain. When he moved away from Rooney he gradually morphed into a more conventional fighter. Whether that was laziness or intentional we'll never know.
Because it's true. Anyone who tries to claim that King and Givens were not part of the reason Tyson lost his way and his title are simply wrong. They were an integral part of it.
He needed Rooney’s eyes. The peak a boo system was complex but Rooney knew it inside and out. When Tyson did practice it and train with it no one could see the minor errors he was making without Rooney because no one else knew the system or Mike Tyson as well as Rooney. Without a trainers eyes telling you where you made incremental mistakes, those mistakes get larger and the system breaks down.
Good post mate and i would agree. His style was unique in itself and he probably developed it further than Patterson and co in part due to his immense power. That constant repitition and fine tuning was extremely important. The other thing about Rooney that no-one ever takes into account is that between rounds tactical advice he used to dish out to Tyson. He was a real calming influence during battle for Tyson and always came up with the right advice for that particular fighter. It need not even be rocket science either - one fight (can't remember which) Tyson was flatlining and Rooney had him concentrate on the body and things picked up from there. I'm not in the camp that he was unbeatable with Rooney etc but he really did lose a lot with their split and at the same time he was going off the rails outside the ring as well. As such we will never have an answer as to how far may or may not have gone under different circumstances. This content is protected https://brawlbros.com/mike-tyson-workout/
I would also say that style takes a lot of energy and when the fighter starts to age he cannot maintain that level of energy and stamina required to sustain that kind of style throughout a tough fight. I also think when he separated from Rooney, he was surrounded by a lot of yes men and kind of ran the show as for as training was concerned. Another thing I noticed, especially after he was released from prison he was more heavily muscled and heavier in weight which may have led to stamina issues that affected his peek-a-poo style as well. He became more reliant on one or two punches at a time whereas as in his prime it was his elusiveness on his way in and his combinations that really led to his sensational knockouts.
The style ceases to exist when you don't practice it religiously daily. The style was heavily dependent on fitness, youth and conditioning. There is no way he could have kept fighting effectively with the style from age 30 onwards inspite of the best intentions around him
I think that he just became lazy in his approach. The peek a boo style requires a lot of effort and concentration, and he decided that he could manage without it.
