did tyson lose power with age?

This was probably the slowest and sloppiest Tyson looked in the ring prior to the Lewis fight, and yet that overhand right was one of the most powerful shots of his career.

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I dont know Botha walked right into it. It wasnt any kind of snappy concussive shot like the Spinks fight for example.

 

I just watched the Danny Williams fight, which I think was maybe his 2nd to last fight, and I'll tell you what, the first round or two Tyson looked good, fast combos, lots of left hooks to the body very fast hands. Really looked sharp. Then it looked like he twisted his knee or something like that. Anyway, once Williams took all of his punches I think Mike kind of lost interest and just looked for a place to fall. First time I had seen the fight and it was a good brawl and Williams was very impressive. I think it may have been Mikes first fight with Freddie Roach, but for the first round or two he looked good

 

not power just lost huge amounts of speed

 

Early in Tyson's career he was so exciting to watch. He used a lot of head movement and used his legs for crouching as he bobbed and weaved in on taller opponents and then he exploded with quick and devastating combinations to the body and head.

Later in his career, he seemed to use less movement and tried to rely on big shots and less combinations. I think he always had a very good punch with both hands but not in the class on Liston or Foreman.

I think shorter guys who had styles like Tyson and Frazier need lots of movement in order to get inside, make great young fighters, but that style takes a lot of energy and is hard to maintain as they age which leads them to take more shots.

 

What I noticed when he came out of prison was that his body was totally different from before he went in, say like in the fights against Ruddock. This wasn't just age but he must have spent all his time in prison doing weights. He did have huge ****ing muscles but it made him look like a bodybuilder rather than a boxer. Like a squat version of Frank Bruno. I'm sure that physically all the weight training made him just as strong, if not stronger than he was before but it did seem to slow his punches down at the same time and his speed was always essential to the force of his punches.

 

He didn't want to remain in the ring for more than two rounds. His one punch power shots were only effective on the chin but not for body attacks.

 

No.

I think his power remained the same, and possibly even increased.

Power on its own, is not worth two buckets of warm spit.

What Tyson had was speed, delivery, and form.

 

Quote which may help...from someone who faced him..." his power didnt surprise me,i knew he could hit,but i've been hit harder,what i didn't realise was he was so damned fast,his power is in his speed"
Quote Tyrell Biggs , after their 1987 fight.

 

Did he say who had hit him harder? Up to then, I think he had only had about 15 pro fights.

 

To the original question: No.

 

Tyson lost speed with age. And with the loss of speed he resorted more and more on single shots and big haymakers rather than quick combinations on the inside. So, while he probably didn't lose raw power, he lost the element of surprise and that in turn diminished Tyson's KO probability.