Is Tyson deserving of being called a trully great fighter?

People say how he never beat an ATG but did Holmes or Dempsey beat any legitimate ATGs.

 

And who did the bitchko ****s beat?

 

As it was said early it seems the cool thing to do these days by hating Mike Tyson. Much like it seems cool to hate the band Metallica if you are into true metal.

Its also insulting to Larry Holmes and the others he beat. Maybe they weren't the greatest most exciting fighters of all time but if they were as terrible as some of the people on this forum claim why did they win world titles and why were some unbeaten?

 

He'll '**** you till you love him, ******'

 

Yes.

 

Tysons prime lasted only 3 years, and it was ended by a not so great James "buster" Douglas. I don't even want to hear about the titles he won when he got out of prison, those were paper titles. Bruce Seldon and Frank Bruno were fed titles so Tyson could get some world titles back easily. So Tyson was a GOOD fighter, but not a GREAT.

 

Tyson was a phenom because a heavyweight seldom matures at such young age as Mike did.
So you get the technique plus the speed, endurance and stamina.

The reason his prime didn't last is he quickly realised how much money he could make for so little effort.
Once he went with Don King his lifestyle assured him to be perpetually broke, so he fought more for the money than the greatness.

He probably faked an injury for the 1992 projected Holyfield match, vacated his title and paid 4 millions rather than face his mandatory Lennox, and got brave in 1996 thinking Evander was a corpse.

The paradox is he probably could have outpointed any great HW in history ( to the possible exception of Foreman and Liston) during his 3 year peak, but since greatness is defined by longevity and continued excellence to the top, he falls in this respect.

I personnally never cared for him, he seemed to be a headcase from the start.

 

atsch Not sure if serious.....Tyson was not a great point fighter, he was a knock out artist. In fact he was getting out pointed by Francois Botha of all people before he knocked him out.

 

When Tyson Ko'd Berbick, his legacy was made.

 

Tyson is the greatest entertainer ever. Respect him. He put boxing on the map.

 

Pretty much sums it up.

 

No he did not, Ali did it before him and few other before Ali.

To answer thread starter YES Tyson was trully great fighter!

 

for those who still don't know who's mike tyson: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImxUpS1UseA&feature=related[/ame]

 

lol berbick was a BUM. And who has a prime only lasting 3 years? HAHAHAHAHA more like his competition stepped up and he got exposed as the fraud he is.

You can't feast on guys like donny long and tony "TNT" tubbs forever before you have to fight a contender, in which another bum named buster douglass brutally K.O'd a "prime" tyson. Then magically his prime left him at the late age of 23 and he started getting his ass kicked.

 

How anyone can question Tyson's greatness is beyond me. The man absolutely dominated until his outside the ring life overtook his dedication to boxing. Even after that point his physical tools made him still very effective and extremely dangerous. When he was young and worked the jab, the body, the bobbing and weaving, and combinations he would have given anyone in history a tough night. He used to go out there and plan to break them down, but a lot of times his ATG power made it a short night. If you can't tell the difference between his game early career versus the headhunter he became post prison you really DKSAB.