VERY GOOD POST. BUT LEWIS WOULD BEAT TYSON ANY TIME . THIS IS COMING FROM EVEN A DIE HARD TYSON FAN:good
50/50 for me. A key scenario to analyze IMO is this: Tyson's aggression forces Lennox to dish out some serious thunder. When doing so - he is also open for a counter by Tyson. When Lennox lands his overhand right - can Tyson take that shot and come right back with his own counter? That's the key question. Lewis was incomparably superior to Ruddock as a fighter and even with punch technique - but on pure power alone - both were similar so one can imagine if Tyson could take Ruddock's best shots - he could do something similar with Lewis that he didn't do in 2002. Then there's the case where Tyson has the speed to dodge Lennox's overhand right all together and counter his own. Incidentally, before Lewis' final KO punch, the one before was an uppercut that dodged. 50/50. You can't go wrong with either choice - but don't put money on it.
a 1991 one version of ruddock would have knocked tyson of 2002 out quiker than lennox did......im not kidding....:smoke:smoke:smoke:smoke.......it would be over in 3 or 4 rds in ruddocks favor:good:good:good:good
One that Tyson would lose. I think that Ruddock in the face of a less agressive Mike Tyson would fight a little more brave and dare I say look even more impressive than Lennox did in his fight against Tyson. Barneyrub, Ruddock had no confidence in his jab and therefore didnt use it much against Tyson. When a fight lacks confidence in a certain punch you will see them sparingly use it when facing a top opponent. example: Rahman had no confidence in his left hook and therefore barely used in the Lewis fights Tyson in recent times against top level opposition felt that he can get his left hook off alot quicker than his right hand and therefore threw it sparingly. Perhaps it was because he acknowledge his own decline in speed and reflexes.
It does not say much for Ruddock though that he beats a 2002 Tyson. I would back a 1994 Ray Mercer to beat a 2002 Tyson. Everyone saw the pathetic mess that Lewis left Ruddock in.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Lewis couldn't beat a prime Tyson (50/50). In 2002, the biggest reason for Lewis beating Tyson was not the jab but Tyson being shot. #2 was Lewis' awesome power and Tyson no longer being conditioned to recover quickly from hard punches. If Lewis beat Tyson prime for prime - biggest reason, by far, would be his punching power. I used to be skeptical when Tyson said Ruddock was the hardest hitter he faced since Lewis was much more successful in hurting Tyson. We all know how a fighter tends to highly rate the guy he himself beat. At the same time, Tyson is always bluntly honest (to the point of stupidity) and speaks his mind and doesn't really care about the consequence. Now, I can believe Tyson. Ruddock hit Tyson with very powerful uppercuts and Tyson came right back. Lewis being more successful in hurting Tyson had less to do with Lewis having more power than Ruddock but more with Tyson not being able to recover from a punch in 2002 nearly as well as he could in 1991.
