1988 Tyson vs 1960 Liston

Yes

 

Excellent post. I'd just like to add two things.

1. Foreman definitely seemed to borrow a page from Liston's playbook against Frazier and it paid dividends.

2. As you stated, Liston was actually quite active in the clinch and upon close inspection he does things, rarely seen in the clinch. He puts his head down, to give his opponent less of a hold, and starts going to the body before his opponent is forced to let go.

 

Before his prime and during his prime Tyson looked up to fighters like Liston and Dempsey

 

In other words Tyson grew his whole persona off of fighters like Liston.

 

I think the main takeaway here is: Mike felt that Liston already had much bigger cookies than Mike did so Sonny obviously wouldn’t be interested in buying anything Mike was trying to sell. Scout’s honour.

 

"I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey. There's no one like me. I'm from their cloth. "

 

Tyson's the one that can't fight backing up - he's woeful once he's off the front foot, bloody ordinary. No plan B whatsoever. Also it's no given Liston has to back up. Liston showed against Williams he can cool his heels and box effectively. Liston doesn't stop punching and become a punching bag because you slip his jab. I literally showed him throwing a jab so Peek a Boo Patterson would slip it and duck into a massive right hand.

Tyson on the inside? Liston is a far better fighter than Tyson inside. Tyson's thrives at midrange not close range. Long arms don't make you lesser on the inside vs a T Rex.

 

.... Have you ever watched Liston fight? Besides the aforementioned Williams fight, Even against Scrap Iron when he was very likely in his 40s, he showed the ability to bomb away from distance.

He's not the one-dimensional puncher everyone makes him out to be.

 

No, that would be Tyson.

It's a helluva dimension he has but it's still just one.

 

Tyson wouldn't be walking thru that right hand like it was nothing rest assured. He was stunned by much lesser punchers early. Tyson didn't tie much of anyone up and he's certainly not going to tie Liston up. He was one of the most passive guys when clinched you'd ever see.