If Mike Tyson retired after the spinks fight?

Top three ... with Ali and Louis ....

 

If Mike Tyson retired after the spinks fight?


Result = unbeatable legend,a modern myth would be the result

 

Well, given that there were quite a few people who were already regarding him as " THEE " greatest of all time, I think he would have ranked highly in the decades that followed. He was the youngest champion in history, and one that was viewed as arguably the most feared. He became an over night sensation in no time. His easy destructions of Michael Spinks, Tony Tubbs, Pinklon Thomas and Trevor Berbick left fans and experts thinking that he was invincible. It was only after the Douglas fight, that people went from thinking that he was the G.O.A.T to being the CHOKE. I don't think I ever saw nor heard of a champion's standing dropping so quickley, nor drastically.

 

1988 Mike Tyson was a throw back

 

Mike Tyson is growing in Legend everyday


I think Mike could spark Jack Demspey and i do rate Dempsey

 

Mike could spark most fighters if he landed right.

 

Agreed


But when you are talking about Jack Johnson ,Greats like that

Mike has to land,its more tricky,different boxing rules,holding and hitting ect

Jack Johnson was a HARD case

 

He would have been automatic top 3, with many arguing him 1. Many noted writers and authorities were already freely picking him over most everyone except Ali, and sometimes Holmes.

 

top 4, behind ALI Louis And Marcino.

 

Tyson is underrated. I would say the view of him if he retired after Spinks is more accurate than the current view of him.

Very impressive at his peak. Similar to Liston in that his greatest performances, when he cleaned out the division, came before he was champion. I should note that since I am a believer in the concepts of a linear champion, Spinks was the champion in their fight and Tyson was the challenger.

 

People would rate him very high and probably pick him to dust any heavyweight champ to follow with ease.

He would be seen as invincible, but also a sort of "what could have been" case.

 

Hm, don´t know. On one hand he would surely be seen as invincible but when you look at his record it wasn´t all that special. If you go by resume, accomplishments and longevity - which are my main criterias to rank fighters - he wouldn´t be top3,5 or even top10. But he would be seen as such that´s for sure.

 

This is definitely a valid argument. On the one hand he wouldn't have had any sort of longevity, but as far as accomplishments, he defeated just about every ranked heavyweight at the time without much in the way of difficulty. He'd only been taken the distance by Tillis, who he dropped and who circled and ran the entire fight, and fellow undefeated KO machine Tony Tucker, who had amusingly KO'd Buster Douglas right before the fight with Tyson. He'd be rated highly, sure, but I think a lot of the same arguments that some use against Marciano as far as a lack of perceived quality of opposition would be applied to Tyson. He wasn't matched against any prime HOFers or ATGs (I'd count Spinks as a LHW, but not as a HW, given the controversial decisions with Holmes as his only real HW accomplishments), because nobody could possibly say that Holmes was anywhere near his prime when he copped that beating from Tyson.

 

Well, Marciano beat Charles and Walcott both HoFer and Top20 hws and an old Joe Louis. If he get´s critizised for his opponents than Tyson would be even more. His accomplishments are up there but his resume and longevity not. I suppose he would be ranked very highly for the first few years of his retirement but his stock would drop when time goes by and people rank him more objectivly. He would be a myth though and seen as unbeatable even more so than he is now by some.