definitely overrated, people who think he is greatest of all time need to look at ali joe louis and George forman but obviously still very good personally wouldn't put him in my top 10 best heavyweights people love to talk about "his prime" but he lost to buster douglas in his prime! and he only beaten 2nd rate fighters in his so called prime hard to judge him on those fights because of that i believe holyfield would of beaten him back then like buster did and he is by far the biggest fighter with the most excuses butblook everyone theres a saying boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical and even with these excuses he didn't have the mental game under his belt, buster did he lost hes mum in the build up and still beat Mike Tyson on the excuses part you can say that any fighter for example kevin michell who i liked watching and followed his career and people say if he didn't drink and took hes career seriously he would of been world champion but that's ultimately his fault, hes decision but Mike for some reason gets a pass like no fighter before or after him
He was rated about right in his prime a monster puncher great boxer with great defense not using his legs but his size small stocky frame and great chin and head movement. Underrated stamina and super speed. So him being an unbeatle force of a fighter at that time was all legit . But he fell into his own hype and got lazy and full of himself and lost and went to jail and after that was never the same. At his prime he was invincible cause we had no super-talented heavy weight fighters at that time the only one was Evander and he was not a Heavy weight at that time he was still trying it out but i always thought he beats Tyson 8 out of 10 times they fight, Evander just to wrong for Mike his Chin heart will, just to much for Mike. And against the past Heavy weight fighters, he beats some loses to some . Ali schools him to smart to skilled, Buster Douglas always gives him trouble long reach great jabbers with speed great legs give Mike hell and tough as nails fighters with heart and chins give him hell. He puts smoking Joe to sleep he beats Big George forman. Tysons chin head movement, stamina hand speed beats him George is just to slow to land those hay-makers on Mike Tyson and young George had terrible stamina. The Tyson after jail loses to prime George no real trainer and his head heart was not in the sport. He never looked for someone to bring the best out of him like Custamato did . When we had some all time great trainers still alive at that time. He beats the Klitcko brothers and they both beat him, maybe he wins 1 fight, they win 2 fights, or he wins 2 they win 1. Those are toss ups cause they have skill and size but can't fight on the inside but can keep Mike at bey on the outside . He beats the Heavyweights before Ali, in his prime. Hes in the top 10 of the best heavyweights of all time or my top 10. and we don't have alot of heavyweights that are that great. He beats Joe Lewis to fast skilled for him Tyson said he feels he'd beat Joe Louis but would lose to Muhammad Ali, while a bout with George Foreman would "be close. http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mike-tyson-nightly-show-20150313-story.html I agree with him Other than that he was no hype job and it's fair to say tha.t Cause in his prime everyone was saying how great he is even trainers where saying this and everyone, everyone says if Mike didn't mess up and went to jail those fights he loses would of been a different outcome and if you study him and his skill and style, hes no joke for anybody to take lightly in anytime in any ERA of boxing. Mike Tyson was terrifying in his prime This content is protected Bringing the best out of Mike. Mike Tyson - Adjustments & Improvements (W/ Kevin Rooney & Co) This content is protected
Honestly out of all the years i ve watched boxing i wouldn,t be confident backing against the best version of tyson against anyone. Maybe prime ali. But thats about it. We,ve seen fast handed heavyweights. We,ve seen heavy hitting heavyweights. But rarely have we seen guys in the division with the combination of them both like that. That type of power could short circuit anyone. Compare any heavyweight thats ever lived with that type of speed and power combined i say you,ll struggle to get a match. He pretty much destroyed that whole division at 20/21 years old. Thats something special in itself. I actually suspect he might have done that in any era. People talk about holyfield and lewis great fighters...but if they we,re that good all the hype would have went there way. Instead in comparison...they didnt have anywhere near the level of hype tyson did. They improved as time went by...and tyson regressed. Theres no question they had better careers but they would have both lost to the very best version of tyson for me at any point in their careers. The whole thing took a very special set of circumstances to come together. A genius trainer. A kid locked up with an obsessive personality that moved into the obsessive trainers home...both concentrated on one goal....they trained him...trained him...then trained him again. His whole existence was about becoming the heavyweight champion. I also have cus d,mato down as a genius. A flawed genuis but still a genius all the same. We talk about the great trainers of the past...i say he belongs in that list. His flaws held him back if anything. But they built a fighter ahead of his time with tyson. People think lewis and klitchko would have just kept him at range with the height advantage etc. But loads tried and it always ended the same way when he was at his best. Tyson always caught up with guys fighting on the back foot. Tyson was at his best when he put guys on the back foot. Back foot boxing works on guys that are hard punchers but slower. But when you add speed to the mix it becomes a different ball game. If they went toe to toe...he,d have got their chins first. He blew it in the end...but it was probably always going south at some point anyway. Not only because tyson lost the plot but it was a young mans style. He would have slipped regardless as he aged...then the height disadvantage would have killed him. But for that 3 or 4 year period i m not sure who would have beat him.
If you can't see the skill and the angles defense and say he wasn't great and the real deal then your entitled to your opinion. But you don't know shiit about boxing and Cu's is a legend in boxing. This content is protected
Tyson in his early years I've always seen as one of the highest skilled individuals in the ring. His offence mixed with defence was insane. Then yeah. Like a lot of fighters that have come and gone he fell in love with his power, got sloppy, started to believe his own hype too much, bad trainers, Don King blah blah same old story. Like most people I'll probably always believe Tyson was one of the GOAT heavyweights in sheer skill who never lived up to his potential
he wiped out the best of the mid 1980s,all for Witherspoon. He just was a smaller heavyweight who started to get relaxed on defense, and a guy that small if he gets hit eventually he will lose.
Tyson was for real when he was with Cus, after Cus died, Tyson continued with Kevin Rooney as was Cus' wishe, but Jimmy Jacobs died, then along came Don King, King got rid of Bill Cayton, stole Tyson's money, Tyson had not trainer anymore, he then lost to Dougles..........
I have not seen a heavy weight yet like ALI, And I have never seen a heavy weight like tyson, the speed, the power, a true lion killer instinct, and one of the best finishers ever. The Decline Cus Damato dies (only real family and father figure this guy had) trainers depart rooney robbin givens married to a parasite attaches (givens interview with barbara walters on national prime time television, makes tyson look insane and violent, gold digger (immediately uses this as grounds for divorce to steal half his wealth) Don King parasite attaches infecting tyson with mind poison and robbing him blind Tyson imprisoned 3:am booty call turns into **** death spiral continues Buster Douglas: Tyson shows up in Japan, with no trainer, no cutman, and no training camp. Goes on celebrity tour with selfies and groupies the whole nine. The end, Iron Mike never returned from Japan. I dont think anything positive comes out of that much back stabbing and negativity. when your only sane support system dies.
Tyson actually tends to be either overrated or underrated by most people, one way or another. So it depends on who you're asking.
Under-rated in the last 5 years. Apparently, anyone over 6ft4 and 230lb who ever put on a set of boxing gloves could have beaten him.....(!)
He was an enigma, with that came a lot of overhype - so I'd say he was a bit overated when he was active. Although nowadays it's one extreme or the other, he's either the best ever, or David Price would knock him out.
Well you can over rate him,, fact: he lost to the best fighters he fought, Lewis was a blow out and Holyfield was on the down side and Tyson was 29 and showed he really had nothing for Evander.His best win? 38 year old Holmes? Bruno? A clumsy Razor?
I don't know if Tyson would have done much better if he hadn't met Don King or was mentally stronger. Fighters like Tyson tend to have a short shelf life.