How did Mike Tyson defend against hooks?

Good reflexes and timing --> quick reaction. The trick isn´t to avoid getting hit, but come back (rapidly) in the position to punch as well.

 

Sometimes, but stylewise it was ment to be more lateral, not like Frazier used to bend. I think it gives a better pos. to punch, plus its versatile in two directions, not one like bending. In general, Tysons style seemed to avoid punches better than Faziers wobble bending.

 

It is funny. Cus Damato once said in a Sports Illustrated article that Hearns didn't have the type of punching he likes. He said Leonard has a ta ta ta ta pattern of punching and Hearns had a Ta ---- ta ta . something like that as thought he had pauses in his combinations. Yet Mike had a very robotic way of fighting himself. Bob and weave avoid punches coming inside and then go to the body and come upstairs, yet at times Mike would get inside and the fighter could start to tee off on him when he was not in his move to get inside. Bruno got Mike when Mike started to get sloppy after the Spinks fight and landed a nice left hook when Mike started to trade without working to get inside by avoiding punches. It was a matter of punching through the rhythm. Most guys early in Mike's career had a hard time hitting him. Bonecrusher hit him with a right at the end of the fight,, but that was Mike getting a little careless but not a hook. Tucker hit him with I think a left uppercut in round one but not a hook. Bruno hit him with a good hook. Douglas destroyed him with right hands. Mike was good at avoiding hooks by ducking under them. His weakness was straight rights and uppercuts.

 

I wouldn't call it a weakness. He hardly got hit solid for years.

 

It was more a weakness of the Peek a Boo style than necessarily Tyson himself, but I see what you mean.

 

Tyson has admitted himself that a back injury (prior to Bruno 1) seriously hampered him from effectively performing or continuing the defensive peek a boo style. Lots of people claim Tyson stopped moving his head on the way in but it’s his core and waist mobility that became compromised. When Tyson was physically able to Bob, weave and slip his way into range he barely took a clean shot.

 

He bent a bit at the waist but bent at the knees too. He had good form, but no one is picture perfect when their technique is applied in a fight.

The secret to Tyson's defense was both schooling and talent, as usually is the case. He was a natural but also had the fortune to train under the great D'Amato. It's very, very rare to be developed by such a great trainer from such a young age. Most of the legendary trainer-fighter relationships started when the fighter was already in the pros.

 

Yep. He was very good at slipping straight punches also. But if someone has a huge advantage in reach and height over you and manages to time you, you will eat a lot of straight punches. It was a weakness only in the sense that it is the punch fighters with a height and reach disadvantage generally will be most vulnerable to. Those and uppercuts when they try to get in under the straight punches.

 

Nah, Biggs or his trainers saw that Tucker in Tyson’s previous fight, rocked back Tyson with a left uppercut in the 1st round of their fight. The first time that anyone ever saw a punch have any visible effect on Tyson and they thought that Biggs might have the same success if he threw the same punch even though Biggs was basically a jab and move guy. Biggs did attempt a couple of left uppercuts early on but they either missed or had no effect on Tyson. So much for that theory.

 

I've never used or taught the D'amato style but from what I understand, the basics of the style are, the gloves are held at the sides of the head to block wider punches that the fighter doesn't see, or doesn't roll under. Since the gloves are at the sides of the head, the fighter has good vision straight ahead so that he can slip straight punches by moving the torso side to side like a pendulum. The feet are about parallel so that the fighter can have similar power with the left and right. Like all styles it has it's strengths and weaknesses.