Bowe and Byrd question Tysons Legacy

So, I'll go back and look at some of those (the two Thomas fights).

The Lewis/Ruddock fight was afterwards it doesn't fall into the equation as anything post-Ruddock II wouldn't have been known or seen yet.

Without looking, I don't see how you could pick Holyfield/Douglas as impressive or more impressive than Tyson/Ruddock when only one man in the ring was fit and performing. Same thing with Tyson/Holmes which - and I'm assuming you were there to watch it as it happened as I was - was a joke. I don't find it impressive watching greats get beaten down because they are now old men. That could never rate anywhere near seeing prime Tyson and Ruddock trading heavy shots round after round.

Berbick was a rather short and uncompetitive fight to be picked as more impressive than watching Tyson and Ruddock battle for nineteen rounds.

Williams and Tubbs were also blow outs. Is the only impressive Tyson fight one in which he wins in a quick destruction?

Some might say those fights were dissatisfying as the opponent provided too little of a test on the night. Ruddock landed an incomparable amount of his own leather relative to these three. Tyson took it all with nary a pause.

 

Ruddock was vastly overrated and was a one trick pony. His workrate was very poor which kills the myth that he hammered Tyson constantly with punches. He only threw 246 punches in the fight and landed 124, that's far from impressive. Compare that to Mercer against Lewis who threw 381 and landed 223 you'll realise it is terrible.

 

Ruddock was vastly overrated and was a one trick pony. His workrate was very poor which kills the myth that he hammered Tyson constantly with punches. He only threw 246 punches in the fight and landed 124, that's far from impressive. Compare that to Mercer against Lewis who threw 381 and landed 223 you'll realise it is terrible.

 

Makes for a nice story but doesn't come close to describing the fights. In all cases of fighting Tyson in his prime, the yardstick can never be what others managed against their own opposition - only what others have managed against Tyson. Mercer wasn't facing Tyson in '91, '90, '89, '88, '87, etc. In that prime run through Ruddock II (pre-prison), no one hit Mike with as many full out heavy power shots as Razor did. Buster's work was predicated on a lot of jabs. Razor's jab wasn't a factor. So, his stats reflect the kind of punches he threw and landed - power shots.

"Razor fought a good fight," said Slim Jim Robinson, the Philadelphian who trains Ruddock. "He fought one helluva fighter in Mike Tyson. I can't be mad at either one. I think everyone enjoyed the fight." Ruddock, who exhibited a courage unusual in men who face the former champion, was busted up after the fight - his jaw broken, his left eye closed, his knees shaky. He had held onto the ropes between rounds, spitting blood onto the floor below. The boxer avoided the post-fight news conference and headed straight to Valley Hospital, where doctors discovered that the lower part of his jaw was broken.

"Immediately after the fight, Donovan felt he was hurt," said Murad Muhammad, who promotes Ruddock. "But, without my knowledge, he went to the hospital, and the doctors kept him to reset the jaw." A cornerman said the jaw was broken in the fourth round, when Ruddock took an overhand right to the head that sent his mouthpiece tumbling to the canvas.

"He fought the best fighter on the face of the planet," Muhammad said. ''It was two men going toe to toe, trying to hurt each other, and it wasn't even for a belt."

Tyson praised the punching power of his opponent. "He rocked me a little bit during the fight," Tyson said yesterday morning. "But I was fighting, and I was warmed up, and it didn't really hurt. Today, I feel like 20 guys beat me up."

The two men are likely to go at it again, although not at any time soon. Tyson walked up to Ruddock after the bout and whispered in his ear. Ruddock nodded. The subject of their quiet communication was a rematch. Tyson wants to meet Ruddock again because he respects his courage. Ruddock wants to meet Tyson again because his bank account tells him it is a good idea - Ruddock has earned more than $8 million from his two fights with the ex-titleholder.


"It was a very competitive fight, much more so than the first one," Tyson said. Tyson, who had been accused of abandoning his brilliant boxing skills in recent fights, did not recapture the bobbing-and-weaving, peek-a-boo style that led him to the title more than four years ago. Nevertheless, he fought a smart fight Friday night, his fury tempered by guile and patience. He relied on his jab more than he had in the first fight, and he went to the body more effectively, at one point landing crushing body blows that led ringside observers to wonder if Ruddock had suffered a broken rib.


According to the punch stats, Tyson connected on 206 of 449 punches - figures that were almost double those of Ruddock, who landed 124 of 246 punches. "We can't get knockouts all the time," Tyson said, although he was obviously disappointed that he could not get one Friday night.


The question now is, where does Tyson go from here. Dan Duva, who promotes undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, has offered Tyson $15 million to fight for the title. Neither Tyson nor his promoter, however, is jumping at that offer. "You can't offer Mike Tyson $15 million to fight for the championship," said promoter Don King, as if the figure represented petty cash. "I just don't think Tyson-Holyfield will come off this year."


King said Tyson might fight another former heavyweight champion, George Foreman, later this year, but do not be so sure. "We've gotten an offer to fight Holyfield again," said Roy Foreman, the brother and manager of the ex-titleholder, who lost a decision to Holyfield on April 19. "I'll be honest with you, George would rather get that title shot than fight Tyson."


So Tyson is left with the rest of the heavyweight division to decimate - and that might include yet another shot at Ruddock.

 

Who said it wasn't competitive?? I'm saying Ruddock was overrated and a one trick pony, Holyfield would have had a field day with Ruddock I have no doubt.

 

Not quite. You essentially said that Ruddock's punches were unimpressive and his activity terrible.

Holyfield was a great fighter. After getting Haney'd up he became quite a heavyweight. I'd be betting on him as well. But the timing of the fight would make a difference. Ruddock without the Tyson fights meeting Holyfield instead in '91 (rather than old Foreman and Cooper) would have been competitive. Ruddock during the Tyson fights proved his durability and power. Holyfield would have been tested.

 

Tyson and Vitali had plans to fight, but Danny Williams ruined it. I saw the photo's. Tyson looks like Vitali's 13 year old kid next to him.

The Klitschko's did not make their legacy on washed up has beens like Tyson and Holyfield.

 

I think that's an oversimplified statement. Tyson and Evander's legacies are not SOLEY based on wins over washed up men and the Klitschko's claim to fame isn't SOLEY based on wins over young studs in their primes. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

That is nonsense. By the time Ali fought Berbick his Parkinsons syndrome was a factor. Tyson had just lost the will to fight.

 

I wish we would have gotten tyson vs bowe

 

These two should be the last ones to riddicule Tyson

 

Neither one has a hair's worth of credibility..especially Byrd.