Could anyone else do that to berbick?

It really was an incredible run. He turned pro in March of 1985 at age 18 and by November of 1986 when he beat Berbick just 20 months later had already accrued a record of 27-0. This included wins over Berbick, M. Frazier, Ribalta, Tillis, and Green. Only Joe Louis can claim to have had such a grand early start and he wasn't even quite as young as Mike was.

 

That doesn't mean he cant beat Berbick , Shavers had the power to put any man to sleep .

 

LOL... Even though he didn't start his amateur career until age 22 he was supposed to beat a world champion at 20?? Okay..

 

Joe Louis could probably destroy Berbick in similar fashion at age 20. Especially if Berbick came with the same strategy. Berbick just stood in front on Tyson. I got the impression that Berbick was hoping to intimidate the 'kid' by showing how he wasn't intimidated. He probably could have done better if he wasn't so stupid, but Tyson was devastating that night and it wouldn't have been much different whatever Berbick did.
As Tyson said himself he was throwing "hydrogen bombs" in there.

I can't say what Cassius Clay at 20 would have done to Berbick. He might have been able to do something special too. But it wouldn't have been as awesomely violent and scary as what Tyson did.

 

Berbick contributed to his own early downfall but it was a very impressive performance fromTyson,particularly given his age.

 

The 20-year-old Muhammad Ali who stopped Archie Moore probably could've done it. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between Moore's style and speed and Berbick's by that point.

Maybe Ali wouldn't have done it in two, but inside three or four wouldn't be too much trouble. Berbick wasn't exactly elusive.

I'd say Tyson, Louis and Ali were the three who could've done that at 20. Most guys didn't attack Berbick early. Mercado did and wasted him in one. Snipes flattened him in the first, as well. But once he got warmed up, Berbick seemed to take the punches better.

 

The nearest thing to what Tyson did to Berbick that I can think of, Is Sam McVea crushing Denver Ed Martin at a similar age.

Obviously Martin had already lost to Johnson at this point.

 

Louis, Dempsey, an some other hard hitters could do it.
Would I favor anyone to do it fast than Mike? No.
Tyson is the best early fight finisher in HW history imo.

 

I think Young George Foreman would dispose of Berbick in similar fashion...

 

I doubt Berbick could have gone much beyond 4 or 5 rounds with that Tyson whatever he did.
Maybe 6 rounds, maximum.
Berbick could have boxed better and not tried to be so macho in there, but he wasn't ever going to be too hard for Tyson to find with punches, or smart enough to take the play away from Tyson.

 

Berbick was pretty durable but I dont think it would have gone more than about 7 rounds at most, Tyson was so explosive with his combinations at that stage.

 

Maybe G.Foreman, (prime ) Maybe a Frazier before Ali. But its not like the shot Tyson landed was that viscous of a shot, it was the speed and accuracy of the shot that made it spectacular. Berbick never saw it coming. Very few fighters in history could've did that to Berbick.