Mike Tyson's rebuild after Evander Holyfield

Anyone with eyes knew it was all smoke and mirrors for Mike at that point. The Golota fight was the only one where he did not look pretty terrible. The Lewis-Tyson fight was basically a farce when it happened. Tyson's heart (and skills) were no longer there at that point.

 

When you look past the fact its not Lennox/Bowe/Moorer/Foreman and consider Tyson was not the champion thats actually a great SOS.

 

There was still something of a mass psychosis regarding Tyson and even bigger media obsession .

 

That's the gist of it. A lot of people picked Tyson over Lewis because of that still ringing hype.

 

Anyone who knew or followed boxing knew Tyson was washed by Lewis and the only intrigue was that Mike might catch lightning in a bottle with one punch (which we know Lewis was susceptible to).

The general public, however, didn’t mostly realize Mike was fodder. He had like a year off due to suspension after the Holyfield II bite fight and John Q. Public wasn’t paying enough attention to those revival/comeback trail fights … they just knew Mike Tyson by reputation and figured he was still a beast.

 

He fought Bums. Botha was never world class. That was his best win. Golota was more unhinged than Tyson and that says a lot. Tyson never had a rebuild the Holyfield losses finished him off for good. That was after Douglas sunk his career. He was never the same fighter. Firing Rooney was the first nail in the coffin.

 

I've always thought it was the big hitters/punchers that never seem to respond well to their initial defeat. Actually they take > 1 step down the ladder. But most folks buy the hype that they improve after a setback!!!!!!!

Funny how every other style has a loss but the punchers have setbacks. And lots of excuses for the setbacks as well.

 

The Lewis, Tyson fight was huge. The casuals were heavily into it, with a lot picking Tyson. I think most hardcore fans knew Iron Mike was past his best. But remember that Lewis was just one fight after being KO 'd by Rahman. And a lot of the US media (in particular) were still not sold on him. so there was definitely a sizeable minority picking Tyson.
It was clear Tyson had not been operating at the same level as Lewis. But his spectre still loomed large over the division. The fight had a real 'end of an era ' feel to it to me. LL had slain the 'monster ' and a past it Tyson had gained some redemption in defeat.

 

Didn't Tyson and Lewis have a scuffle during pre-fight promotions? I think there was some curiosity about whether Tyson would flip out during the fight and bite Lewis' ear off, or something crazy like that. Long time ago.. quarter of a century ago.. yikes..

 

He trained in Phoenix for the Danny Williams fight. Freddie Roach brought him out there to hide him away. I was training fighters out of that gym at the time and they would lock down the gym, nobody allowed in while he was there. That gym would often be on 'lockdown' because the owner also owned a dozen strip joints in Phoenix and would film adult content there during the day. But with Tyson, they were trying to hide that he was shot as a fighter and had nothing left. Any press people seeing him train would have killed that fight.

 

I was one who picked Tyson to beat Lewis via his reputation

 

Same. I never knew had bad he truly was.

 

Anybody who knew boxing knew he wasn't the same after prison. And I'm sure those two Ruddock fights didn't help soften him up either.

 

Tyson was finished after the first Holyfield fight, he beat the fight out of him.