What I mean by “clean” is having perfect technique, always landing accurately on ko spots, and just taking your opponents out in devastating fashion.
I would say Holyfield had the best offense, mike couldn’t really be offensive on the outside while holy could, plus Holyfield used a variety of punches when throwing combinations while mike would mainly stick to hooks and uppercuts
In terms of KOing tomato cans and C level fighters he was spectacular. When he stepped up in class his KO's weren't looking as remarkable. Berbick, Spinks, and Holmes were beautiful, highlight reels. Bruno, Williams, and thomas were good stoppages too. The Tubbs ko looked extremely suspect but I'll overlook it. However, Green, Tillis, Tucker and Smith went the distance with him. He stopped Ruddock in the 1st fight but it was controversial and he was clear headed. The 2nd fight was extremely sloppy and full of fouls. He couldn't finish the job against Douglas despite dropping him (Ruddock and Tillis too). He did well to drop Stewart 3x for the win. When he came back to boxing he stopped Bruno again but he was on his feet and this was an opponent he had beaten before. The Seldon "ko" was a complete joke and the guy took a dive (not Tyson's fault). He couldn't KO Holyfield in either fight, the Golota fight was a NC, and he couldn't ko Lewis. So out of 21 of his best fights, he scored 10 KO's. Which is a 47% KO ratio. That isn't even a D- so I'm not sure how that makes him the "greatest KO artist at HW". If boxers like Shavers, Williams, Wilder, and Tua are docked points for having "inflated" numbers and not scoring KO's against their best opponents, the same logic should apply to Tyson.
Great points. I do see Mike as having been a great knockout machine though. And though guys like Shavers, Wilder, Liston, and Foreman hit harder, Mike made great use of his superior hand speed. Being able to club guys out like Foreman and Liston, or nuke them like Shavers and Wilder, is impressive as hell...but when you combine it with such hand speed (and at times a very underrated defense) you do see what I think the topic meant in regard to "clean kos". Foreman and Shavers hit so hard, they were knocking guys out with relatively glancing blows. Mike usually landed flush, at least in the 80s. I'm especially in agreement with Glass City in regard to his comments on post-80s Mike. I don't know if it was drugs, violent sex, prison, whatever. Mike in my eyes just wasn't the same. And it's unfortunate, because in the 80s he could be nearly as terrifying a presence and potent a fighting power as the abovementioned prime Foreman and Liston (and perhaps even better as an overall fighter than either...though I hesitate when I add both the 70s and 90s Foreman together).
Yep. But all the Cayton heavyweights slaughtered the B and C grade guys. So did Wilder. And I think his right hand is better than any single punch of Tyson's. Trick is continue fighting the face first stationary targets with a toolchest on the bare side. Another guy with a ton of blowouts against inferior opposition is Shannon Briggs. highlight reel ko's. But always with the C graders and not even many B grade guys. The ability to get the late ko's in brutal fashion is a whole different issue. And a different fighter, in most cases.
Tyson stopped a helluva better array of fighters then Wilder and Briggs tho. He pummeled the majority of the top 10 Ring rated heavyweights.
I'm basically asking for schooling: didn't Wilder beat the top 10 guys during his reign? I realize they weren't the quality of guys like prime Tucker, Spinks.
Yes he had the most spectacular KO's. He's easily #1 in that department as far as looking explosive and cool. The problem is the "spectacular KO's" are sorely lacking when he stepped up in class. They aren't lacking for other fighters.
No!! Wilders opponents have been pretty abysmal. Ortiz and Fury are his two best opponents. Let’s look back. Won the title over Stiverne. Eric Molina - not a good defense. Molina already had lost twice and was knocked out in 1 round by Chris Arreola, but fine this was his first defense. Johann Duhaupas - another laughable defense. Artur Szpilka - again, nope Szpilka had already been beaten by Brian Jennings. Arreola - totally shot to pieces at this point. I think he was a late substitute. Gerald Washington - this was an ok defense but Washington was by no means considered a highly ranked contender. Stiverne - rematch, again no. Luis Ortiz - Yes a very good defense. Tyson Fury - Yes absolutely. Dominic Breazeale - May have been rated highly by the alphabet boys but had already been throughly thrashed by Joshua. Ortiz - rematch, fine. Fury - rematch. So no his defenses are pretty awful in my mind. He’s fought two good fighters as WBC Champ in my opinion Ortiz and Fury.
