ESPN first take on Tyson's HOF status.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, regardless of how delusional and agenda oriented it may be.

Mike Tyson simply will be remembered further into the future than any boxer from this decade, and along with Muhammed Ali, is clearly the most recognizable name EVER in boxing. Who is the best P4P now? Manny? Walk down the street, and ask 10 people if they know Manny. 4 might, might, might say yes. ALL 10 will know Tyson.

As far as the mystique argument...you can't develop a 'mystique' or a reputation without something concrete first. He was scary, tough, and a calculating maniac in the ring. I can't just start calling myself the baddest man on the planet and create a mystique that has endured almost 30 years. You need something to back it up, and he was a killer with loads of talent and skill.

Arguably Wlad may or may not have better wins, and he may be a better boxer, but his name, or the name of anyone else will never inspire such fear at the mere mention of it. Growing up, the question from everybody, and nobody cared about boxing, was would you get in the ring with him for a million dollars. Tony Mandrich wanted to fight him because he was so well known. Everybody was infatuated with Tyson, and rightfully so. His name transcended boxing, and probably sport itself. He was undoubtedly the most well known athlete of that time.

Tyson, in my opinion, is on par with Gretzky, Marino, and McGuire for pure popularity, skill in his chosen sport, and accomplishments. Sure, Tyson aged and lost, but when he was young, he was UNSTOPPABLE. How many Stanley Cups did Wayne win with St. Louis, LA, or NYR? ZERO. Is he not Hall of Fame material???

Tyson deserves to be in the Hall of Fame without a ballot. The whole semantics of voting is ludicrous, and almost an insult to him. He should automatically be inducted. End of Story.

 

His string of title wins were against heavyweights that could of been great had he not been around, he made them look average that's what people don't look at. And Spinks was a great fighter, people need to stop with the all he was, was a lightheavyweight, he wasn't a lightheavyweight when Tyson beat him, he was the heavyweight champion and he proved a very good one before Tyson fought him. By that logic than Holyfield was nothing but a cruiserweight, and Tyson lost to him. Had Tyson beat him when mike was past his prime, people would of been talking about how Evander was nothing but a blown up cruiserweight.

 

Exactly right. Haye falls into the same weight category as Spinks, but obviously does not carry the same credibility. Same with Adamek. Prime Tyson head and shoulders above them. Holyfield different animal, but you understand. Thing is, Tyson wasnt even that big of a heavyweight in his prime. 217? 220? 5'10"? Cruisers are 200? Manny is regularly fighting and beating guys that are naturally that much heavier than him.

 

Haye is a great fighter as well but Spinks is ATG, I mean you don't become heavyweight champion and beat Holmes twice if your not. Holyfield was a great fighter as well but he didn't fight the Mike that Spinks fought and Spinks lightheavyweight accomplishments is a step above Evander's Cruiserweight accomplishments. Spinks might be considered the greatest fighter in history if he would have beat Tyson in 1988.

 

I complain when ESPN doesn't cover boxing and I complain when they do.

...they can go **** themselves.

 

Just the fact that he is the youngest heavyweight champion of all time should be the reason he slips right into the hall of fame. These mother****ers are idiots.

 

WHo were the people commentating? Fat Dan was chomping at the bit to vote Tyson in so these guys probably don't really follow Boxing.

 

The main guy talking was the dumbest of them all, he's a ****in Idiot.

 

First Take is all about generating viewers/ratings/controversy in addition to none of the guys knowing boxing well -- so they're going to take a controversial stance (i.e., tyson don't belong in the hof). Even if they were correct that tyson never beat a great fighter or did much great (they're completely wrong), look at the fighters that are in the HOF (and Sly Stallone) and there is no way to even argue he doesn't belong there

 

when did they ever have any?

 

IIRC, Tyson, at some point during his prime, was considered the p4p #1 fighter in the world.

Can someone confirm this?

 

Can you guys name a fighter with a bigger name than Tyson since the 80's