Is Tyson deserving of being called a trully great fighter?

I couldn't have put it better myself...

 

Maybe later.

I'm focused on the 147 Kings atm. I wish somebody would start a Leonard bashing thread or reply to the SRR thread that fell to the 2nd or 3rd page.

 

Tyson was the goat talent and still is

 

glorified can crusher, nothing more.

 

Greatest combo of speed, power, and chin ... Potentially has the best power, speed, and chin of any fighter ever .... Combine that with impeccable technique and skill ... Not to mention how hard he was to hit in his prime

 

Have to stop short of calling Tyson's chin GREAT. It was very good.

SRR is the only fighter in history to be certified in all three categories (Speed-Power-Chin).

 

He was a midget and his power was way overrated, mitch "blood" green even said he didn't hit very hard at all for all the hype.

 

I'm sure Trevor Berbick said something similar about Tyson's power.

Then he invented the "Threefall"

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J51tf5myk0[/ame]

 

He was short, but for the time he was fighting in, he was far better built and more powerful than nearly anyone else.

 

All these Tyson threads are becoming a bore. Nothing that hasnt been said before.

 

you're a stupid mofo like green if you believe that

he had 1 punch KO power in both hands ... every shot he threw was dangerous

***** green had his teeth implanted into his mouth guard in the ring with Mike when all he did was hold for 10 rounds ... then later he had his eye shut closed and the bridge of his nose pushed in and fractured from a single punch from Mike in a street fight that he initiated ..

you believe a near ******ed drug addict whose brain was rearranged from Tyson's power shots lmao

 

The people who don't view Tyson as an ATG are either too young to have seen him fight live, or so old they remember the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup.

I'm 39, and as a teenager, ALL the talk was about Mike. Girls knew who he was. Boys knew everything about him. We would go watch on closed circuit or get our parents to buy the ppv. Infinite number of fantasy matches were talked about, Tyson/Mandrich, Tyson/Hogan, Tyson/Tyrannosaurus Rex etc etc etc. No one could fathom a mere boxer beating him. He was untouchable, a monster. Would you take a punch from Tyson for a million dollars, would you fight him for 10 million, etc. This just illustrates he was the best from my era in terms of popularity, and in the ring.

Post Rooney and after the conviction, he was no more. A different fighter. Before that, he was unbelievable. In a world dominated by hockey, baseball, football (back then, CFL was popular too with Flutie, McMahon, Ismail, etc), Tyson created a boxing buzz whenever he was fighting. Even without internet, we knew when and who he was fighting.
I realize this post seems as though I'm saying he's an alltime great based on his popularity, and in a sense, maybe I am. Tyson wasn't popular because of hype, he was so huge because of how he dominated EVERYBODY put in front of him. Big guys, little guys, fast guys, tough guys...it didn't matter. 19-20 year old Tyson arguably could have beaten any human being that has ever lived in a boxing match. Don't believe me? Watch his fights. Not just the highlights, but if you're too young to have lived through the Tyson era, watch his fights, then say if he was an all-time great or not. If you haven't at least seen the majority of the man's fights, you have no business judging him.

 

Tyson was one of those rare fighters who transcend the sport, his turbulent life outside the ring greatly affected his boxing. He was a troubled guy who struggled to cope with the huge external forces acting on him. But in his prime, under Cus, you wouldn't bet against him. He lost his direction when Cus died, and prison took something out him too.
He is the only fighter who scared the **** out of Larry Holmes

 

Doesn't say much for the full grown men, the best on the planet at the time, that he routinely dominated as a kid. Didn't hit very hard? HAHA, wow, are you 13?

 

This

no human that ever lived .. past, present or future could ever beat Mike Tyson in a boxing match from 86-88

Especially the night he fought Spinks