Mike Tyson rated No.19 best fighter in the last 50 years

You're dusting off magazine articles from 1996 to prove how great Tyson was ??

 

Tyson had an expiry date. I think Tysons sharpness was also caused by letting him fight every 2-3 weeks and after that at least every 3 months. He was a product of that intensity and his team probably knew it.
That said, I think he lost some sharpness after Berbick. Of course he was ATG-top after that too.

What Tyson missed was Holyfield climbing to HW earlier, and yes he could have very well beat the younger version of Holyfield. After that there were Foreman, Bowe and Lewis. His peak was 3-4 years too early, and from 89/90 onwards he could have been a top 3 ATG if he put the same dominance together in 89/90 to 93/94.

But there are too many ifs here to think about that any further.

 

All-time great post. Kudos!

 

Rooney had no magic. Mike was good then. He listened. He was interested in boxing.

 

Because Tyson allowed him to. He was undefeated heavyweight champion yet he fired his trainer. Mike was a follower at the end of the day.

 

Clearly not right. Hagler should be higher on the list than Tyson.

 

In terms of his impact on boxing and how he transcended the sport, Tyson was a more significant figure but Hagler was a greater champion overall.

 

In '96 Tyson was looked upon as one of the greatest fighters to lace em up. He just got back from prison and already took 1/3 of the belts back. "It's not what he's done, it's what he can still do!"

That's how good he was. Being one above Hagler wasn't looked upon in a negative light.

 

Good point. Given that he had started to look like his old self after crushing Bruno and Seldon and hadn't yet fought Holyfield, the ranking is probably superficially high. I was probably taking it more from how he is seen now without the potential to achieve more.

 

That's not really the point I'm making. In 1996, Tyson had only 1 loss to Douglas and brought excitement back to boxing after returning from prison. Yes it was pre-mature to have him at #19, but at that time Tyson was once again deemed the savior of boxing. Strange I know but that's what was happening at the time.