Which Of Tyson s Title Opponents Would Have Caused The Biggest Shock..?

I don't know about that. Spinks was picked by a very significant minority to win a decision or late stoppage over Mike Tyson. It was like 40/60 split. I don't think a Spinks win would have been shocking at the time. It only seems shocking now because of how easily Tyson dispatched him.

 

What makes this tricky is Tyson faced Berbick and Smith right away when no one would have been shocked to see him lose. Douglas was just about Tysons best contender but he fought Tyson after 9 title defenses.

 

Really good point, and I thank you for the insight. I wasn't around then so I only go off things in hindsight. It's always interesting to get a perspective from the actual time period in question.

That makes sense though. If Spinks was coming off the Holmes fights, then he probably wasn't seen as being so fragile back then right?

 

Bruno or Williams. Both were considered to have questionable chins going into the fights.

 

Every one of them would have shocked the world by beating Mike at this point in time.

 

Frank Bruno. Tyson was already well established as invincible when they first fought. Many people were shocked frank did as well as he did. If he actually beat Mike, it would’ve been only second to buster Douglas as an upset.

 

Many people were actually hyping up Biggs to win, super-heavyweight Olympic gold medalist and all that. Larry merchant called him the only man on this planet capable of beating Tyson. Since pundits actually had high expectations for him, it wouldn’t have been that big of an upset.