At 37-0 who did you think was going to beat Tyson

Tyson was already fading right after Spinks fight when he fired Kevin Rooney. He was rocked by Bruno in their fight, something which has never happened before. People who were watching Mike Tyson very very closely could already see the signs that he was not the same.

 

I thought after the first fight with Frank Bruno, he wasn't the same as before. It was if I recall corectly his first without Kevin Rooney as his trainer. Despite winning in 5. Hes seemed to have less head movement. This being said at the time I didn't think Buster Douglas would be the guy to do it. Looking back, I think that Tyson and Douglas have a dynamic much like Ali and Fraizer in the ring. I think there styles would have played well off eachother. Regardless of Holyfield's standing as the #1 contender, or being promised the winner. A rematch should have been fought first. I think had Tyson not lost to Douglas. belive he would have beaten Holyfield and based on his two wins over Ruddock. He might have gone to prison as the undisputed and undefeated heavyweight champion of the world.

 

Old Age.

 

On the surface it didn't look like anyone in the immediate future was going to beat him. Sure, he'd regressed since Spinks, but not enough, it appeared, that any of his immediate challengers would beat him.

Scratch the surface however, & there were some very disturbing stories surfacing about his personal life & training habits. In hindsight, it's a miracle he didn't lose before Douglas.

 

Tyson himself has stated he hadnt actually trained particularly hard for the past 3-4 fights before Buster.

The Spinks fight was over quickly so we couldnt tell much, after that he fired Rooney and had 8-9 months inactivity before the Bruno fight (his longest at the time). In this time he went through divorce, mood altering drugs and there was the attempted suicide/car accident as well. Bruno really rocked Tyson and the fight became competitive for the first few rounds. Rooney said a better fighter would have got Tyson out of there. The Williams fight was over quickly as well so we couldnt tell much.

 

Holyfield was the obvious outstanding talent, what he was doing was pretty special but he'd still be a considerable outsider.

Douglas had skills but didn't seem to have the grit to put it together, so no one really gave him a shot.

I think everyone Tyson included took for granted that he'd rule the roost in dominant fashion for years to come.

 

I was in that boat that didn't foresee anyone beating him. I don't think Bowe was on my radar yet, and by the time he was, Buster had already shown a blueprint to beat Tyson at that stage (sure it's much easier sad than done). I'm not saying Bowe would have had a shot, just that he was a name I thought of, but, in hindsight, I bet I didn't know all that much about Bowe at that point in Tyson's career.

Before the Bruno fight I remember them interviewing Rooney. I recall Rooney stating that he thought it would be tougher than people expected. Do you think he saw something in Tyson that led him to make that statement (or was it more about Rooney taking some credit)?

 

Tyson was too mentally unstable to protect his own unbeaten record.

37-1 (Tyson being his own loss).

 

Nobody. I didn't see anyone around. Lewis brawled too much, Holyfield was a former cruiser, and he was Mike freaking Tyson.

 

In 1990 Lennox wasn't even known of in this country, I don't think.

On a casual/mainstream level.

(I was eight, so not yet a diehard :!

 

So was I !

 

i was 3 at the time but i remember my dad always saying during the ringwalks i pointed to buster and said "he's gonna be a champ, just like you daddy"

 

Holyfield beat some impressive HWs, he beat Thomas better than Tyson managed, he dominated Dokes, took the prospect Alex Stewart's zero. At this stage Holyfield was the accepted number 1 contender

Lewis was still at the prospect phase so wasn't brawling with anyone just yet. Those in the know may have tipped him for the future I guess, by '91 he was top10