As long as you stand up to Mike Tyson you can beat him

It's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard people say about Tyson. Like Holyfield isn't also an ATG fighter with other attributes? You can see a few guys like Bruno and Spinks who were intimidated and it clearly affected their performance, but to suggest if you just stood up to Mike he would fold is ridiculous.

 

Duran kept on fighting after that. After losing to Holyfield Tyson didn't have any memorable redemption fights.

 

I agree, after learning about Tyson I realized he was cultivating an image with the help of Cus Damato to be a Liston type personality, something he was not . And any phoniness will be exposed eventually .He was a powerful puncher with quick hands but his fight with Holyfield was flatly revealing. Evander knew where Tyson came from and more importantly who he really was, a basically shy street kid who engaged in petty crime and raised pigeons, a far cry from the Liston or Dempsey type fighters he was trying to emulate . Tyson's exposure was complete in the second Holy fight when after a clash of heads Tyson buckled then whined to the ref to help. At that point he knew the beating would commence and looked for a way out. Mike is one of the greatest heavys of all time but to imagine he'd beat fighters like Ali ,Foreman or Liston is nonsense.

 

Exactly! Plus, how about those lead rights by Douglas!

 

You have shifted the goalposts. I agree that Douglas did not have a *great* record. And he was a bit of an underachiever.
Tyson was such a favorite in part because Buster was not the absolute best challenger around.
But also he would have easily been a favorite against anyone at that point, given his undefeated dominance & against better opposition that the majority of HWs during a title run & reign. And fighting them much more often than nowadays.

But the debate was never anyone claiming he had a "jaw dropping" or remarkable resume.
But it was far from mediocre; & he was still a World Class fighter.

 

What a fighter does when he's way past his prime is ****ing irrelevant. In his latter years, Tyson only went into that ring in order to get a paycheck, he didn't give a **** whether he won or lost. So judging him on that is not fair.

Tyson took his beating too, against Douglas and against Lewis. He was beaten up round after round in both fights, yet he hanged in there. It wasn't a question of mental toughness, it was simply a case of him being inferior to his opponents (due to many causes) at those moments in time.

Wrong. Tyson has said that he was always afraid before of a fight, and it wasn't fear of getting hurt, but the fear of getting embarrassed if he lost, the fear of letting his mentor (Cus) down by not performing well. Yet at the same time, he said Cus taught him how to control his fear, and how to use it in his advantage.
A good example of when Tyson was afraid/nervous was before the Spinks fight, when he punched a hole through the wall. Yet he managed to control that fear, and we all saw how the fight panned out.
Prime Tyson was focused on the task at hand. Past prime/old Tyson was just there for a paycheck and didn't have his heart into boxing anymore.

I have him in the second half of the top 10. Had he fulfilled his potential, he'd have been a lock for top 3, IMO no. 1 all time.

 

Bull****. I'd be willing to bet my house on him beating Ali and Foreman.

 

He spent about 3 & a 1/2 years in prison-coincidentally about exactly the same as Ali's unjust exile, & near how long Louis lost to WW2.

 

Never grabbed people's attention.

 

He had fights where he showed that he wasn't a quitter and would fold as soon as someone stood up to him. In that sense he had redemption fights.

And also, what he did against Holy might have been a quit job or it might just have been him losing it, but Duran's was a quit job without a shadow of a doubt.

 

He couldn't back up Evander Holyfield and you think he'd back up George Foreman? Ali would do to him what Buster did times 2.. Better buy a tent first if you bet your house.

 

Ali? Huh. 60s Ali was what Buster Douglas...shoot, Mike Tyson himself dreamed of being.

 

First of all, why would he ever try to back up Foreman ?!? This is just a speculation of yours on how Tyson would fight, he doesn't have to do that at all. He can just let Foreman come to him, make him miss and counter.
But even if we assume he tried to do that, why couldn't he ?! A young Foreman is roughly the same weight. He weighed 220 lbs vs Ali in Zaire.
Foreman definitely had brute strength, but he was too slow and sloppy to beat Tyson.

Again, assumptions that have no foundation.
Tyson was not properly prepared for that fight, and he was in a bad place mentally. On the other hand, Buster trained harder than ever and was more motivated then ever. He was in the best shape of his life.
So using that fight as an example in not really relevant.
Second of all, Ali didn't have Buster's power, so his punches won't quite have the same effect on Tyson.
Also, Buster had solid fundamentals, which Ali lacks.
Tyson is Ali's kriptonite, he's a vastly improved version of Frazier: stronger, faster, with way better offense and defense, and with a better chin as well. Frazier only beats Tyson in one department, stamina, but that won't ever come into play, Tyson KO's Ali in 5 rounds tops.