I am sick of the tyson won on fear myth

Most people credit Ali for employing psychological warfare on his opponents and psyching them out before a fight, but discredit Tyson for his alleged intimidation tactics.

Later on in his career when his skills were diminishing he did rely on intimidation. But pre prision whether or not you feared him, he was one way or another going to beat you.

 

Exactly. The "intimidation" came from his no-frills beatdown approach, impeccable defense (you couldn't even tag him clean when he was prime, hardly), iron jaw, and outstanding training ethic. When you were signed for a fight with Tyson, you knew that there was no way for you to out-train him.

 

I can think of a man that did more training than Tyson radianttwighlight, Rocky Marciano. He used to hit the heavybag for 60 rounds. He would train for a 10 round fight like you would for a 45 round fight.

 

I agree with most of what you're saying, except Boncrusher Smith didn't exactly face Tyson by showing a ton of heart or skill. He clinched for most of the fight and rarely took a chance on opening himself up to throw a punch. I tend to think that Smith was a bit intimidated by Tyson. The same could be said for a number of other guys Tyson fought as well. Still, Tyson had a lot of heart, skill, handspeed and power, which are the things that people should focus on the most. That said, I think that your points are valid ones. :good

 

The way he bobbed and weaved mayed him very hard to hit.

 

Wow. Just...wow.

 

Razor Ruddock tried to decapitate Tyson in both fights. I remember the first seconds of the first round in the first Tyson/Ruddock fight when Ruddock threw a huge uppercut at Tyson's head that missed. I knew Ruddock came to fight!

 

Tyson wasn't born with that menacing aura. He earned it. That in itself says a lot.

 

I think some forget, the power prime Tyson had was merely an added bonus, he would at his best been brilliant if he hit like Byrd.

As for the fear thing:

Every fighter has to have some fear steeping into the ring other wise you will be too confident and not give your best. The secret is to control your fear and use it to your advantage. There can be no doubt a few failed that test against prime Tyson.

 

And really, there's nothing wrong in Mike being viewed as having that 'fear factor' on his side. If you can, with a combination of your look, attitude and body language, create that kinda of monster aura around yourself then well bloody done, and it's a great and perfectly valid weapon to use.

Nothing wrong with putting fear into your opponent. It's not a worthy excuse for a loss, or a denigration for a win.

Fair play to Mike, is what I'm getting at.

As for the 'stand up to him and you win' theory, I just don't buy it. I do think it's a part of what you need, maybe a large part, but that alone doesn't guarantee you a win. Guys like Ruddock and Botha weren't terrified of Tyson but they still didn't win.

 

I don't agree. Why enter a ring being afraid of the other guy? That's a recipe for your own defeat if I've heard/read one.

Give your best knowing that is enough to knock the other guy's head off.

 

I actually think Tyson was better at mind games then Ali. So good, in fact, that most people still think Tyson is the mad man he portrayed himself as.

I think Ali entertained the audience with his verbal jabs, but really didn't affect his opponents. Keep in mind, Bonavena with his limited English managed to fluster Ali when it came to trash talk.

 

Tyson isn't in Ali's class when it comes to stuff like this. Tyson's did have great intimidation based on his enormous power, scary record and plain and simple ability to knock a guy out, damn fast. Ali did good jobs on Liston and Foreman, too damn scary pricks who had most everyone running scared. Tyson never had the opportunity to intimidate such an opponent or prove himself vs such a guy. Regarding Boneva, Ali still won of course.