Mike Tyson:Overhyped?

I think in the Thomas fight he wasn't too worried about what was coming back from Thomas and just wanted to exchange, his defence was still pretty sound though. I didn't see the issue with his foot placement, he's so well balanced he can effortlessly switch to southpaw and be just as comfortable

I did see an interview though where he was stating he became a more skilled fighter post Rooney, whether that's the case or not is another matter

 

In hindsight, Tyson WAS overated in an achievement sense as when he made berbick stumble around like a saturday night drunk and similarly had Spinks resting his head on the bottom rope, few people on the outside thought that his career would spiral downwards as dramatically as it did. So much so that when he went to prison and came out, people STILL saw him as the pre prison crisp punching body and head punching, head and hand feinting great that he used to be and put alot of hope and dreams into the Tyson bandwagon post prison........Hindsight being 20-20...he didn't obviously fullfill his potential....Overhyped?? Not a chance!! Pre-prison Tyson destroyed all in his midst....even the Smiths, Tuckers and greensof this world were soundly beaten by Tyson...it was a measure of the man that people expected Tyson to destroy 6' 4" contenders and fellow belt holders, that when he won CLEAR decisions against men who had reach and height advantage people questioned him thoroughly. When I think of the credit that Pacquiao rightly gets and then the criticism after the Marquez fights....well it further confirms Tyson's dominance pre-prison.....we all believed he could finish unbeaten and that was because he was that dominant...I never once expected, from pinklon to spinks, from bruno to carl the truth williams, from Tucker to tubbs...that he could be beaten. He was simply to much.

Top five arguably GOAT...and arguably top 3 BEST. Foreman? Hahahaha! Liston? Hahahaha...Frazier? Hahahahaha! Tyson over all of those...dempseys aggression matches Tysons but too small to put a dent in Tyson

 

Post Rooney, more skillful???

 

Merchant was part of the anti Tyson movement around this time. He gave Thomas rounds 4 and 5. Argueably you could give him one round fairly which was what the professional judges saw as well. Either way Tyson was never in any danger or trouble. Looked more to me like he was taking a rest as his activity slowed and then picked back up mid way through round 5.

If anything it showed he could take the momentum back from a savvy veteran who many retrospectively paint as a washed up old man drug addict.
Fact is he had never been knocked out and he was 29 years old and Tyson for the most part dominated the fight. It was a pretty impressive win for young Tyson.

 

Pretty sure the over under for the fight was 4.5 or 5.5..... There's also a guy yelling from the crowd it's the sixth round finish him off now and then Tyson goes out like a bull for that sixth round. He wasn't really trying to take Pinklons head off for those early rounds he was making it a jabbing contest.
Certainly possible he or someone close to him put a big bet on the over.

 

I think that was pure hyping his own cornermen who were amateur at best....he slipped straight away and abandoned his Jab and came straight in...much easier Target after leaving rooney....accepted clinches much more.

 

I've heard him say that on video... those Don King plebs filled his head with a lot of shite.

 

Pretty much spot on regards the Thomas fight....Rooney: "Mike! We gonna bull**** or we gonna fight?!"

Definitely taking a rest in rounds 4,5...making them closer but still Tyson pushing Thomas onto the back foot....

 

I don't see him as that well balanced, he is often pushed back and sometimes does a half-stumble to the side. His feet just sort of follow what his hands are doing, but when he gets very aggressive and unloads a load of shots, he struggles to keep his feet in a good position.
That's what he does.
But, yes, he's so squat and heavy that he's not hard to topple. I think it would also be an issue against a great boxer who knew how to use angles though.

Whatever the reason he was getting hit, he was getting hit. It just kind of makes a mockery of any claim that he was among the best 2 or 3 defensive fighters ever.
And really why should he be ?
He was probably the most devastating, fastest, most accurate, most aggressive and perhaps the most powerful of the short-armed HW fighters in history. He was extremely good defensively for that type of fighter. And he intimidated the **** out of many fighters or knocked them out quick - a brilliant way of not getting hit.
But there are better defensive boxer and stylist types who have fought at HW. Or guys with long reaches who just don't like getting hit.

But i'd much rather watch Tyson fight.

 

Looked like he was going all out to KO Thomas in the first. The doctor famously stuck his nose into the Thomas corner to check Thomas was okay.

There's a guy on the internet called Blogbaba (google "blogbaba tyson pinklon thomas") who has a similar theory, BUT his version is that Thomas took the money to get KO'd.
Conspiracy nut stuff probably, his theory is no worse than the one you offer up here though ...

 

who cares about the scoring. those rounds were quite uneventful and arguably they could go either way. It's really nothing to get upset about. Tyson won by brutal KO.
I don't know if there was an "anti-Tyson movement" ... just that Tyson had looked a bit **** in his last fight.

It was a very good win.
I don't think Thomas was on drugs at this time. He says he didn't go back to drugs until after the Holyfield fight.
He was considered a bit "washed-up" going in to the fight though. His loss to Berbick and 3 subsequent dreary fights against nobodies were the evidence cited.

 

Theres a reason Dundee pulled the glove deal. He knew his fighter was tired and needed a rest. Tyson noticed it too thats why he jumped on him in the sixth and told Rooney between rounds Pink was tired.

 

Whose getting upset your just making comments that dont really matchup with what happened in the fight. The rounds could be described more as competitive than swing rounds that could go either way. Tyson was landing the harder more effective shots and thats why he got those rounds.

I thought the fight overall was pretty exciting. Thomas was a pretty big guy and made a pretty good account for himself trying to win and not stink up the joint. Tyson was tagging him with some serious shots that Thomas for the most part was taking pretty well.

Nobody is going to say Tyson never got hit, he came forward full speed but at this point in his career he wasnt getting hit cleanly like he was later on. Thomas with the way he fought Tyson most likely would have given the 90's version a very difficult fight especially if he made it through the early rounds like he did in this fight.

Thomas was a good test for Tyson who was still a young fighter and would next face a better challenge in the undefeated Tucker.

 

well, that's why they say judging scoring is subjective.
All I said is that the rounds could go either way. I don't think you're wrong. I don't think Merchant is wrong.
no need to exile me from the thread. :good

.

I agree with all that.

 

Your always welcome around here Unforgiven.