His first reign, from 1986 saw him look unbeatable till early 1990. Question is, could he have gotten to the very top, for that length of time, in the 1970 s?
Tyson could have ruled the division from 75 onward if he was at his peak starting in 75. No way a past prime Ali or Frazier would have beaten prime Tyson. Ali could go the distance maybe but no way he wins the fight. I think Tyson could pull a win over a post-Ali Foreman. Tyson has the chin to take Foreman's power and win a decision or stop Foreman due to exhaustion. Nobody else that comes around the rest of the decade stands a chance save for Larry Holmes but I favor Tyson over him too.
That's about the time period I was thinking, that Tyson could maybe have gotten the title. Old past it Ali and Frazier, Norton gets bombed in one and Foreman s head is cabbaged. He'd be ok till he faced a young Larry Holmes imo.
Depends on which part of the decade he took over. 1971-1974 would have been a rough period. 1975-1978 was a little more doable