Could an Iron Mike-like HW excel in todays era of giants?

I rate Iron above Tyson Fury but I think Fury would beat him in a fight.

 

Some of them defences were soft touches come on now James Smith pinklon Thomas aren't no better than someone like Jermain Franklin in this day and age

 

You what mate ? Pinklon Thomas beat a prime Tim Witherspoon and sparked out Mike Weaver with one punch.

He also went undefeated from 78-85 and had one of the best left jabs in Heavyweight history.

Comparing Franklin to Pinklon Thomas is absolute insanity.

 

Holmes Was coming of 2 loses to spinks and was done at world level by time he fought Tyson, Holmes didnt have another meaningful win after losing to spinks

And spinks was a light heavy who retired after his loss to Tyson he was only champ cos he beat the not so great cooney, Tyson was his cash out fight

 

Holmes didn't have another meaningful win after losing to Spinks ? Are we going to ignore the fact Larry Holmes schooled Ray Mercer ? And then had a very competitive fight vs a prime Evander Holyfield ?

Spinks was the champ because he beat Lineal Heavyweight champion 48-0 Larry Holmes....

Was Holmes stopped by anyone else apart from Tyson ?

 

10 loss Mike weaver that one? And he had already lost to berbick before he fought Tyson pinklon didn't beat anyone of note apart from weatherspoon who isn't even that great pinklon didn't win a single meaningful fight in his career

 

Wow he beat ray mercer another guy that didn't do anything with his career lived off beating over hype Morrison, like I said holmes was don't at world level by time Tyson came around can get credit beating someone coming off 2 loses

 

Yeah that Mike Weaver that was ranked top 2 Heavyweight for a 3 year period and had standout wins over John Tate, Gerrie Coetzee, Carl Williams. But nice cherry picking the losses at the start of his career when everyone knows Weaver had a rough start to his career, and then improved immensely as a fighter after he gave a prime Larry Holmes one of the toughest fights of his career.

Tim Witherspoon not that great ? Certainly better than the likes of Dillian Whyte, Joseph Parker, and Jermain Franklin who you compared Pinklon Thomas to.

Pinklon Thomas never won a meaningful fight in his career ? I just told you he beat a prime Tim Witherspoon easier than Larry Holmes did....

 

OK. So let me answer IMO what you asked.
I'm ONLY talking about 1988 Mike Tyson. Yes; such a Tyson would also win the heavyweight title in 2023. The only thing is that I don't think he would be as dominant as he was in 1988.

 

Ray Mercer arguably beat a prime Lennox Lewis.....and was ranked number 5 when Holmes beat him. Holmes also as I said gave a prime Holyfield a very competitive fight, and came within 1 point of winning Heavyweight title from McCall.

So no clearly Holmes was still fighting at world level competing with top 10 Heavyweights after the loss to Tyson.

As I said was Holmes ever stopped by anyone else apart from Tyson ?

 

Rough start or not imagine the abuse a heavyweight today would get for fighting someone with 10 losses

Tell me what did Tim Witherspoon do so great in his career got destroyed by a can in James Smith you naming fighter that didn't do anything major giving them credit for being in close fights but still lost

Parker, white, chisora, wallin,pulev would of probably done greater in that era than Tim Witherspoon,

 

He didn't WIN THOOOOOUGH no one remembers people for what they nearly done he didn't have a meaningful win close fights or not winning is all that matters

 

Well that depends if a fighter improves significantly as Weaver did, and beat some notable names and then was ranked highly becoming a Heavyweight champion i don't really see the issue. People love undefeated records but alot of undefeated fighters have cherry picked fights.

Looking at Weaver's record from the outside with no context yes it doesn't look that great, but when you delve deeper into his record you'll find he was a very capable fighter and beat some good names.

Well isn't that exactly what you did with Franklin comparing him to Thomas ? what exactly has Franklin done except lose a close decision to Dillian Whyte ? I think giving an ATG Larry Holmes a razor thin close fight is alot better than Franklin losing a close decision to a fringe contender like Dillian Whyte.

As for what Witherspoon did ? he become a 2 time Heavyweight champion and beat some solid names like Bruno, Page, Tillis, Snipes, Williams, Bonecrusher 1st time, Tubbs.

Why ? they certainly aren't more skilled than Witherspoon, and certainly haven't beaten as many recognizable names as Witherspoon. Neither of them would beat Tyson, Holmes, and they certainly aren't any better than any of the 80s alphabet champions.

 

Sure but they were still worthy opponents because they got themselves into those positions in the first place.

 

Don’t be silly.