Evander Holyfields brain in Mike Tysons body.

Well, I do know that putting Tyson's brain in Holyfield's body would cause Evander's arms to be chewed off first.:think:-((

 

Prime Tyson is a little overrated in my opinion. I seem him as another Sonny Liston with even less willpower and certainly less mental stability. His prime coincided with a very weak heavyweight division as well.

He was fast and powerful as people say, but I see him getting destroyed by Foreman the same way Frazier did. It is my belief that Foreman was the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time. Ali would have gotten to his head REAL fast and he didn't have the gifts (as well as the willpower) to pressure and pound Ali the way Frazier did.

I also see Frazier beating Tyson. He probably only had slightly less power than Tyson and was a much better all-around fighter. I see him slipping the right and landing crushing left-hooks with ease. Maybe a a lucky uppercut here or there gets Tyson a knockdown, but I don't see him putting Joe away before Joe ends his night. We all know how Tyson handles getting hit. I don't know that he would have been able to handle being hit by a great puncher, something he never really faced.

Now, as to the original question: I love 'what if?' discussions, but this one is way too theoretical for my taste. I mean, what if you could give a prime Foreman Ali's chin, hand-speed, and agility? The possibilities are endless.

Yes, Tyson had great punching power and a lot of people still get off watching him knockout the bum heavyweights of the late 1980's and early 90's. The only great fighter he ever beat was Michael Spinks who was less of a natural heavyweight than Holyfield or Moorer.

Tyson's physical tools were exceptional, but no more so than Sonny Liston or Jack Dempsey. His style was pure pressure fighting, which means he would decline sharply by his mid 30's no matter what is mental constitution could be.

 

IN THE END Tysons career went as good as it ever could. He would ALWAYS lose to Holyfield and Lewis. No one holds the Douglas, Williams or McBride loss against him.

I've never seen a fighter face get away with such a dominating loss. If that was Ali, Louis, Marciano or anyone else, they would be flamed for all time. It doesn't even come into play for Tyson.

So that leaves Holy and Lewis as the real losses. He never beats either of them.

 

If Tyson had Holyfields guts and discipline he could have remained undefeated, beaten Marcianos record and most likely never went to jail or left Cayton....But it wasnt meant to be Tyson was his own worst enemy and in large part it was because of his own ignorant thoughts and gullability....

 

Yeah, but he'd probably have a real chance at it, though.

 

Completely agreed. Tyson was someone, if the fight doesn´t went like usually and like he prefers it (quick and fast massacre in his favour), than he didn´t have the fighter mentality an usual ATG had. But Tyson, with his great power, his phenomenal handspeed for a HW, chin, stamina, and skills, compared with Holyfield´s head, hell, he would be favoured over everyone IMO, but we can make this with every ATG´s, can you immagine Patterson with an iron chin? Marciano 6´5 big? Ali with Lewis power?

 

A lot of these guys had weaknesses that made them overcompensate and became extra strong because of it....the driving force the will to win, some have it over others,,,,,,Tyson has the wrong birds talking in his ear and he took the low road, became the lower man

 

Some of you have the same opinion that I do.....
.....Tyson was indeed spectacular at what he did, but his overall talents and abilities imo get overrated by many.....its easy to do that because he was such a devestating puncher and finisher.

Its already been mentioned by some, and I agree, for a short Heavyweight with a reach disadvantage, he did'nt consistently attack the body, and very often let himself get tied up on the inside without attempting on his part to unleach fury.

Tyson did most of his damage to an opponent from the outside on a quick pounce to get in and land while on the way in.......but once in, he did very little from the inside. He let himself get tied up, and the pounce from the outside in started all over again.

Good solid skilled Heavyweights who are on the top of their game start to time and neutalize these over and over again pounces that Tyson was famous for, until they're rendered virtually useless.
.....and like someone already said, there is'nt much of a plan B for a fighter of Tyson's size and reach to turn to. If he cant overpower a fighter, his size does'nt lend itself to dish out a boxing lesson in another way.

So to answer the question about Evander Holyfield's brain in Tyson's body....not much difference imo.
Tyson did'nt lose to Buster Douglas and Evander Holyfield for a lack of Warrior mentality.
He took his beating like a Warrior and kept trying in both his loss to Douglas and first fight with Holyfield.

Dont blame Tyson's brain or mentality for his losses to Douglas and Holyfield.
Went Tyson went to pieces and lost it, is when he realized he was'nt going to be able to beat Evander Holyfield in their rematch, and his mental approach to fighting was never the same again.

 

Im not a huge Tyson fan ,but he did meet punchers like Smith,Bruno,Lewis and Ruddock,all of them could hit,probably as hard or harder than Frazier.

 

This is kind of a dump topic. People don't understand that it's Tyson brain that made him what he was. If he had Holyfields brain then he wouldn't have been the fighter he was. I think the proper question is, what if Tyson had Holyfeild's heart or work ethic maybe. Tyson just got lazy, plain an simple. He lost that determination and hunger he had in his early days. He could have been the best ever, and he was meant to be, but the flame died out too quickly. It happens.

 

I don't think Holy had such an incredible boxing brain, heart yes.

 

I never see it really effect his legacy. Every other fighter rightfully gets slated for not avenging such a loss.

Foreman is another one who gets let off for the Young loss.

Look at people like Louis and Lewis, they get slated for their losses and they avenged them!

It doesn't affect Tyson in hypothetical match ups either.

 

Of the HWs you mentioned only Ali and Louis possesed equal or more raw Talent.

Physically aside from height Tyson had everything

 

A guy who is 5,11 at best in an era of fighters 6,3 6,4 6,5 does not have ane recourse then a come forward style.

Tyson does not have the reach or size for an outside game.

 

If you put them all in front of a stationary dummy that measures punching power then you might be right that they could hit as hard as Frazier.

Frazier was a much better fighter and much more capable of consistently landing clean power punches. His left hook would have been a very effective weapon against Tyson in my opinion. His comparable height and good defense would have been a good asset as well.