Is Tyson's Top 10 HW Ranking Justifiable?

No problem my friend. You have made very good contributions throughout the entire thread and would like to complement you on all of them, but that would take pages, LOL..

 

I'm genuinely flattered.

 

Tyson would have been a damn sight better than 96-onwards than from '92-'96. Some of his skills were diminished but not as much as they would later be. Other factors such as power/strength would have been peaking too.

A Tyson still with his stamina, head movement would make a very interesting 1992 clash Vs a 205lb Holyfield. Tyson ran out of steam after 5rounds when they fought but a '92 version would have kept coming. We know Holyfield had problems brawling with Bowe at this stage too, was smaller and his chin probably wasn't as solid as when he slapped a further 10-15lbs of muscle to his frame, plus he probably wouldn't be as sneaky with his head butts at this stage in his career.

 

Tyson was very close to going back to Rooney. Kevin was in dire straights financially with legal problems, so he sued Tyson. Im sure it would have never happened anyway, because King hated Rooney.

 

Just to add, Buster Douglas was ranked in the Ring's year-ending Top Ten on four seperate occasions.

#7 1986
#9 1988
#7 1989
#4 1990

 

Agreed,

Although I might have favored Holyfield to win had they actually met on schedule in November of 1991, it would have been a very dangerous proposition for Evander. Remember, he was decked by Bert Cooper who had some similarities to a lesser degree to Tyson. He was also rocked by some shots by old George. I also think that after firing Jay Bright and Erin Snowel, then hiring Rich Giachetti, Tyson got back some of his abilities and briefly regained motivation. I don't think that the Tyson who fought Douglas would have beaten Razor Ruddock nor blasted Stewart out in less than two minutes either. He also knew that Holyfield was going to be by far the biggest fight of his career and the ultimate chance to redeam himself.

I don't know who would have taken it, but Holy would have had his hands ful no doubt.

ed

 

Douglas was a good fighter. I remember watching him and thinking this guy has some serious skills. He was big for the 80's had good movement and an excellent snappy jab when he used it. His style was really fun to watch. He was just lazy and unmotivated. When the going got tough, James would rather just go home. All the negativity in the Tyson fight with his mother, and Don King basically telling him, this is it, worked in his favor. Thats what it took to pull the best out of Douglas.

 

It's justifiable, in that he's a borderline top tenner, imo. I put him at #11

 

At the time when he should've been picking it up with his career and his opposition, this is what he did...

14th fight - 5-25
15th fight - 0-26
16th fight - 11-6-4
17th fight - 0-27
18th - 12-10-1
19th - 13-13
20th - 1-2
21st - 12-5-1 (Loss)
22nd - 3-7
25th - 11-0 (Jesse Ferguson - Loss)
26th - 24-4 (Greg Page)
28th - 8-5
29th - 34-0 (Tony Tucker - Loss)
30th - 16-9 (Donnie Long)
31st - 13-6
32nd - 58-6-1 (Jerry Halstead)
33rd - 16-1
34th - 35-6-1 (Trevor Berbick)
35th - 14-2 (Oliver McCall)
36th - Mike Tyson

Greg Page, Berbick and McCall are the only fights of note that he actually won, when he wasn't losing or fighting his fellow journeyman. He was ranked in 1986, SOLELY off the back of beating Greg Page (not the most reliable fighter) and a wide dec. loss to Ferguson. So, by 89', he's got a win over Page to his credit, nothing else and he's considered a Top 10 heavyweight - which further proves my ascertion that Tyson's competition wasn't that good, causing people to inflate his accomplishments more than deserved.

 

Fighting and beating ranked contenders makes you a ranked contender. Douglas had a couple runs at the title as you can see by his record. He had his shot after beating Page to compete in the tournament which produced the undisputed champion. He lost in the tournament to Tucker. His second shot came three fights prior to facing Tyson. Look at all fighters that fight in the top ten and their records will look very similar to Douglas'. Unless your a PPV fighter which Douglas wasnt, your fighting on undercards, and keeping busy to secure your ranking. Very typical.

 

Lefthook. How do you see a prime Holmes doing against Tyson?

 

Same thing happening in a later round. Holmes was never strong enough or fast enough to stop Tyson at his peak. It took Tyson roughly two rounds to make Holmes have to try and get Tyson back in range. Two rounds later Tyson was able to land a righthand that Holmes never recovered from. The shot was huge, you could see the lump in his head after the fight. Tyson was a force, and you can believe he spent many of days in the film room looking for his openings. Tyson rarely KO'd opponents with a shot like that.

 

His record and comp list are hardly stellar, but at the same time, I don't think anyone is calling the man " great ". Only that he wasn't a " journeyman" at the time Tyson met him. In February of 1990, Douglas had the claim to have won 9 of his last 10 fights with his only recent loss coming in a title bout to undefeated Tony Tucker - a match that Douglas was winning before he gassed late, and fell victim to a late stoppage. His wins included victories over declining, yet still rated versions of Page and Berbick, along with journeyman McCall, Halstead, and prospects in Mike Williams and Deon Simpson. Not a great list, but certainly not a bad one either. Not the type of streak that you'd see from a journeyman or tomato can. He was pretty well rated by all three of the sanctioning bodies as well, and was periodically rated by the ring to.

 

Left hook beat me to it but its quite clear that any ranked HW past present or future that wants to maintain relevance and of course secure their ranking, need to fight as often as possible, obviously to pay bills and to stay busy hoping for an opportunity to come their way.

By the way, who is in your top 10?