Late 91-94 Tyson

Exactly and once softened up by Holyfield he more than likely would have lost to Bowe, Lewis and co...

 

There is a reason he was spoon fed Tillman and Stewart after the humiliation at the hands of Douglas. As someone stated he would have had the sh!t beaten out of him by Holy directly after Ruddock, then it would have been the McNeeley's, and Seldon's of the world for him, until the next big name, and he loses again.

 

91 Tyson/Holyfield would have been an all-time great fight

 

One of the more preposterous statements I've seen written on a boxing message board in quite some time.

 

I think his skill and dedication were on a decline anyway. His greatest strength was when he was dedicated and trained hard. When he was in shape he was quietly confident. As he slipped he became a punk bully and relied on intimidating his opponent more.

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no, it would have been a total missmatch in favor of evander...

 

Against Lenni he always just needed that one big shot to the face, if he utilized the combos that he did against Bruno 2, it would be game over for Lenni yet again.

Holyfield would always be a tough fight. Bowe would have been a war but Tyson loved guys who traded with him, Bowe was very sloppy with his defence and just got hit too much. Moorer easy fight. Foreman easy fight.

 

Good post.

The holy fight would of been a war. Tyson was too far gone when they fought he would of been better in 91 and Holyfield wouldn't have been as strong although his reflexes and speed would have been better.

Lewis was too sloppy until Steward fixed him. If McCall could turn the trick so could Tyson.

Foreman would of been great fight. Tyson wins but I think George could hurt him with some uppercuts. Just don't think George at that point would of been able to follow up enough to finish job. Tyson had good chin and heart. Youth wins.

In shape Bowe another good fight. But Bowe outside of Holyfield never fought anyone so I would favor Tyson.

I would make Tyson some measure of the favorite in everyone of these fights but given his mental state I would guess he's probably go 2-2. Or worse if he lost the first fight of the 4 above

 

You probably just haven't thought about it well enough.

Financially there's almost no question that prison enhanced Tyson. He made crazy money fighting Peter McNeeley in 1995.

Also, the titles were split and held by inferior fighters in 1995 and 1996.
In 1992 the titles were all held by Holyfield, then by Bowe, then split by Bowe and Lewis in 1993.

Tyson was absorbing punishment in 1991 against Ruddock, and would have absorbed plenty of punishment against Holyfield in 1991 or '92, even if you think he wins.
Then he's got guys like Bowe, Lewis, Foreman lining up. Gruelling fights.
Even if you think he manages to beat Holyfield and those others, he's not lasting long taking that much punishment.

It all makes sense if you want to be realistic.

 

I agree mostly. But I think rud**** was a tough fight for Tyson based on size and weight difference. He always had trouble with the bigger guys. Let's face it he was a small hw. Holyfield is not a big hw and beating Tyson added to his status too much. Speed and accuracy was Tyson's best weapon. I don't think a prime or close to prime holyfield could take it

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Yeah, well I am not going to argue against that.

Even if someone was to think a 1992 Tyson would have blasted Holyfield out like his name was Michael Spinks, he would then have to get past Bowe and Lewis and maybe Foreman, Mercer, Ruddock again, or whoever, over the next 2 or 3 years, WIN ALL THOSE FIGHTS .... realistically, even with the most generous predictions and the best possible scenario going unbeaten, he's going to be pretty used up by the time 1995 and '96 roll around and ready to be taken.
And his lifestyle was NEVER going to be perfect.
So the guy who thinks prison didn't preserve him and lengthen his time for career paydays is way off, imo. :good

 

At the end of the day he's a child prodigy with the most elite title in sports and all the access to things a kid would normally do to excess at his age. Unfortunately his background and upbringing dictated his future. He was doomed to a short career and ending up broke. I remember Larry Holmes saying that of him before his fight. Tyson will destroy himself. I think he knew things at the time that we didn't at that point

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I thought about it rather carefully, actually. The problem I had was with the comment that "prison helped him." You then went on to argue fairly cogently why prison may have prolonged his career. I have little issue with that basic premise. In fact, I tend to agree with it.

But, to put it succinctly, there isn't a chance in hell that Tyson's prison sentence served as an overall benefit to his boxing career. Before prison, Mike was 41-1. After prison, he was 9-5 with 2 no contests. His 3+ year hiatus from boxing irrefutably resulted in a deterioration of skills, reflexes, and motivation.

There is no reasonable doubt that Tyson's overall record and corresponding legacy would be better today if he had not lost 3+ prime years of his career rotting away in an Indiana jail cell.

 

Yes.

 

Mike Tyson KO 10 Evander Holyfield
Mike Tyson KO 3 Lennox Lewis
Rid**** Bowe W12 Mike Tyson