Does Mike Tyson belong in the top ten greatest heavyweights of all time

What the hell did Lennox Lewis do to put him over Wladimir Klitschko? I would love to know. Was it that he barely beat an over the hill Holyfield, or beating the corpse of Tyson? Was it the fact that he failed to fight ANY of the other top 4 heavyweight during their prime in his own era? (Holy, Tyson, Bowe, Moorer) Was it his amazing title reign with such epic wins as Grant, Botha and splitting wins with Rahman? Wlad has had a MUCH, MUCH more dominant reign than Lennox Lewis ever even dreamed of having.

Lennox couldn't become the recognized Champ until all of the other stars of his own era burnt out. Then, once he did become the recongized Champ by beating Holyfield... his title reign wasn't impressive at all.

 

Holyfield > Lewis

But Lewis>Holmes

i may receive **** for this, but Holmes's title reign was in an era which could be described as one of the weakest in HW boxing, parallel to what we see today. Holmes was a GREAT fighter but Lewis took on and beat better opposition

 

Before he retired i wouldn't have ranked him but since his comeback i feel he has earned his spot above Tyson. I'm not a Tyson hater but he never lived up to his full potential. As for liston he's one of my favorite fighters that's why i rank him so high.

 

Jack johnson below tyson!!! I think you need to see a doctor tyson is top 20 max

 

Maybe my list is

Ali
Louis (the 1 and 2 inter changeable based on opinion)
Holmes at 3rd long reign
Marciano undefeated KO'd several HOF's
Foreman longevity goes a long way many KO's great prime and comeback
Lewis long reign cleaned an era
Frazier beat a few HOF's
Dempsey long reign beat plenty of HOF's
Johnson long reign
Evander Holyfield 4X champ plenty of HOF's
Wlad K long reign dominant performances head to head nightmare

for the rest you have a web of possibilities

I tend to leave out the ultra early pioneers like Sullivan Corbett Fitsimmons Jeffries all greats

Then others like Patterson, Baer, Willard, Johanson, Liston

Tyson was great and scary and in his prime had a good reign in the 80's dont know about top 10 but he can be argued into being put there

 

Johnson fought before airplanes were invented.

Prime Tyson would have KO'ed that scrub in half a minute.

You guys are nuts thinking these "put em up, put em up" 14th century fighters are in the same class as Iron Mike.

 

interesting points

Bowe avoided i dont fault him there
Tyson had a web of problems and some suspensions
Holy he could have fought sooner
Moorer I wonder why they never fought?

and he gave up belts rather than face younger and fresher Ruiz and Byrd

 

I personally wouldnt put Vitali so high, his comeback hasnt even been so impressive, but each to their own.

Liston ability wise was a true great, i would put him in my top ten if he had a more impressive title reign. On his way up he beat some handy fighters, but perhaps age (who knows how old he really was) or lack of dedication made him perform so shitly against Ali.
I believe he dived against Ali, he quit IMO, i dont like quitters like that

 

1) Muhammad Ali - clearly correct

Jack Johnson
John L. Sullivan
Joe Louis
Larry Holmes
Jack Dempsey
Rocky Marciano
Sonny Liston

It hard for me to rank the above because i don't know enough about the eras.

You have to look at the level of competition they faced - did they face any other possible ATG's?

Are they eras directly comparable or are you making allowances because fighters were Physically different (smaller/weaker) and rules and gloves etc were also different

Did they dominate the division for a long period and unify the belts?

A good place to start is who did each one lose too if at all and was there any mitigation for the loss?
What was the nature of the loss (Was it a one punch KO, were they ground down and KO'ed, were they outclassed to a UD points loss or was it a close/controversial decision?
Was the loss during or long outside of their prime?
Could the loss be due to things outside of there direct control? - for example injury (other than injury caused by the opponent fairly) or a long enforced lay off
Was the loss down to foul play?

Did they directly contribute to a loss? - by not being focused or fit

Did they reach outside of boxing? - through charisma, achievement or excitement?

Did they know when to quit?

Its all debatable but considering those things today I'd rank the rest as follows:

Muhammad Ali
George Foreman
Lennox Lewis
Mike Tyson
Joe Frazier
Evander Holyfield

Wlad does not belong on the list.

 

No, certainly not.

 

Mike Tyson is borderline top 10 and it some cases should be in the top ten. I think prime for prime he would beat 90% of the Hw's that ever lived.

 

I would say you could make an argument for squeezing him in that #10 spot.

Youngest heavyweight champion in history.
In hindsight his competition didn't seem good enough but the guys he was KOing would likely be belt holders today.
Very skilled offensively and defensively in his prime.
Great chin, great power.
Impetuous.
Impregnable.
Lover of pigeons.

 

Lewis beat a faded Tyson but Tyson did dodge an earlier opportunity to fight him
Bowe ducked Lewis
Lewis beat a prime Holyfield having been cheated to a draw the first time they met -

 

Me to! Personally I cant see a 13 stone Marciano lasting 3 rounds with a prime Tyson...no way would that fight go the distance someone is getting KO'd and prime Tyson is FASTER and more powerful and was a decent boxer in his prime years.

Tyson defo top 10!

 

12, by the way you're currently posting. :deal