Mike Tyson:Overhyped?

I would think because his descent was so rapid. You can really see the difference between the prepared and unprepared Tyson. And it was a big difference. Not so sure if any other fighter in the history of the sport had declined so suddenly, so fast, and right in front of our eyes. And it was documented. The cover of KO magazine with the title to the main story, "The Bruno fight reveals...Mike Tyson CAN BE BEATEN!!!"

 

Another headline which caught my attention was when Boxing Monthly had the front-cover headline: "Shot or not?" regarding Mike, after Tyson-Ruddock II.

 

Jesus Christ, that's harsh.

Then again, it was 4-5 years before they had anything else to compare it to other than his peak. Just goes to show the level he was operating at beforehand and what was expected from him.

 

There was another one after Tyson-Ruddock II, I think it was KO, that read: "Tyson ain't what he used to be, but it's not gonna matter!" Figuring he was on the decline but still good enough to regain the championship from Holyfield.

 

I remember that too, they were still very confident in a Tyson victory, despite highlighting his deterioration.

 

And The Ring issue "The $1 Million Fight" that you uploaded for me a while back. Hey, I wanted to tell you I have 2 copies of that issue. Let me know if you want me to send you one.

 

Yeah that would be badass. :good

We'll just need to check how much the postage is. Do you have PayPal?

 

I think Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali had their fair share of quite severe off-nights too, but managed to scrape through.
Lesser fighters like Greg Page could look like a million dollars one night according to the critics, and loook horrible and lose the next fight.
It's not just Tyson.

Of Tyson's contemporaries, I think Holyfield's state in the first fight with Moorer was a more shocking difference and case of "decline" than anything saw from Tyson. Holyfield went from a peak performance against Bowe to looking old as hell in one fight. At 31 years of age maybe it's not unusual.
And Riddick Bowe's own decline was just as severe as Tyson's, in my eyes anyway.

I think the only difference with Tyson is the expectations and the hype. Maybe unwittingly people are still defending the highest most outrageous rating of Tyson.
Let's be honest, the way Tyson was rated most people would have said he wouldn't have even needed to be fully prepared to beat a guy like Douglas.
That KO article you mention actually listed Douglas among the guys who had some of the tools to beat Tyson but stated categorically that Douglas would NOT beat Tyson, even a sub-par Tyson.

 

I do. I'll send it to your email.

 

I have a KO magazine from 1991, with four or five experts analysing and predicting Tyson v Holyfield.
I think at least half came out in favour of Holyfield, acknowledging Tyson's decline, Holyfield's technical potential, and Holyfield's ambition. Eddie Futch was among them. I'll have a look for the article.

I think it was the writer Jeff Ryan who was most in to Tyson's chances around this time.


And let's not forget that even more people figured it was Tyson all the way when they fought in 1996.

 

Can we sort this out at the weekend please? I won't have access to my PayPal until i'm home.

 

No problem bud. Let me know.

 

That's a great article. Futch was the analyst I respected the most and I was so surprised, almost shocked he picked Holyfield to win.

 

Trainers know whats going on with fighters. They see a guy like Tyson who abandoned everything he was doing that made him great and lacking discipline in the gym they know the deal. Compare that to Holyfield who was hungry disciplined and dam good and an expert is going to take that guy anyday.

It makes sense and part of the reason that Futch left Bowe. Bowe had all the tools, but he didnt have the discipline. As good as he was he couldnt stay focused.

Futch knew Holyfield wouldnt be facing the same Tyson that blew away his fighter Mike Spinks in one round but I think Tyson would have mentally and physically taken Holyfield more seriously than a guy like Douglas and still had enough in the tank to beat Holyfield who wasnt the best tactician in the earlier part of his heavyweight career.

 

There was a video on here the other day that Azzer uploaded for the original Tyson-Holyfield press conference in '91. Tyson was respectful towards Holyfield, a far cry from their '96 press conference. He also mentioned the "plans" he and Cus had, bringing up his storied past for the first time since leaving the original Team Tyson. You could tell Mike would have been ready and right. He wanted that fight badly, maybe even more than Holyfield. He knew how important it was to regain the titles and what it meant for his legacy. Holyfield, as he did in EVERY single fight before, would try to prove his manhood and go toe to toe with Tyson. All the talk about him borrowing the titles from Mike had to have some effect. And that is where I see him failing.