Out of everyone who's been a world champ, the best two to listen to in my opinion are Eubank and Tyson, they just have a way of captivating you with their words. This is from a Ring Mag article with Tyson where he discusses 10 former HW champions. Jack Johnson Title Reign: 1908 – 1915 • Record: 54-11-7 (34 KOs) What made him special? “I loved Jack Johnson; he was amazing. You have to remember that he was born 15-16 years after slavery. How do you go from being a young kid in Texas at that time to becoming what he became? I admired him because he really stood his ground. Black people were being killed for looking at white women during that time, and he married three of them. He was different from Ali, years ahead of time, and he was a little more extreme than Ali.” Favorite moment? “He was riding in a car and a cop came over on a bike and gave him a ticket. This was around 1908, and the cop charged him $50. Do you know how much that was back then? Probably $1,000, right? Jack Johnson gave him $100 and said, ‘Keep the change, because I’ll be coming back the same way!’” Jack Dempsey Title Reign: 1919 – 1926 • Record: 54-6-8 (44 KOs) What made him special? “I loved Dempsey because he was exciting; he was very ferocious; he had that animal-like persona. I thought that was awesome, and I wanted to be just like that. He had that killer’s mentality, but he was embraced by the people during his time; he was loved. He started out like a hobo, and by the Roaring Twenties he’d become the first million-dollar fighter.” (The revenue from Dempsey’s title defense against Georges Carpentier totaled $1,789,238, the first time the one-million dollar mark was breached.) Favorite moment? “It’s got to be Jess Willard. He broke his ribs, his cheekbone, his eye socket. Those guys were animals back then.”
Joe Louis Title Reign: 1937 – 1949 •Record: 66-3 (52 KOs) What made him special? “Joe Louis was the first heavyweight to put combinations together with pinpoint accuracy. He would hit you, knock you out and hit you another three or four times before you hit the floor. The possibility of getting up from that kind of knockout is almost zero. He never celebrated a win; he just kicked your ass and walked back to the corner like nothing had even happened.” Favorite moment? “It’s between Billy Conn (fight one) and Jersey Joe Walcott (fight two). He was behind in both fights and knocked them cold. If Joe Louis ever sees that you’re hurt, he’ll throw everything at you. You saw the combination he [finished] Walcott with … God damn!” Rocky Marciano Title Reign: 1952 – 1956 • Record: 49-0 (43 KOs) What made him special? “His determination and his willpower made him special. He would just beat you to death in there. Marciano was an animal, and he would do anything it took to win a fight.” Favorite moment? “My favorite moment was the knockout of Jersey Joe Walcott (in fight one). That was a beautiful right hand. Marciano had been down in the first round, he was behind on points, and he came back in Round 13 and knocked him cold. That’s the way you want to win a championship.” Floyd Patterson Title Reign: 1956 – 1959, 1960 – 1962 • Record: 55-8-1 (40 KOs) What made him special? “He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, and a lot of that comes down to his personality. He was very introverted, he didn’t talk very much, and the people didn’t understand him or relate to him the same way they did other champions. He was just a very nice person. As a fighter, he was fast and punched very hard for his size.” Favorite moment? “The second (Ingemar) Johansson fight, when he knocked him out cold (with a single left hook). That was a really good punch.”
Sonny Liston Title Reign: 1962 – 1964 • Record: 50-4 (39 KOs) What made him special? “He was as mean as they come and as tough as they come. Apparently, Ali talked smack to him one time and Liston slapped him right across the face. Look at the guys Liston fought before winning the title. Cleveland Williams twice? God damn! Zora Folley? And he was killing these guys, too. He got his jaw broken (against Marty Marshall) once, lost (an eight-round decision) and came back to fight the guy again (Liston won the Marshall rematch by 10-round unanimous decision a year later).” Favorite moment? “All of them; all of his fights were great. Cleveland Williams shook him up and he still came back to knock him out.” Muhammad Ali Title Reign: 1964 – 1967, 1974 – 1978, 1978 – 1979 • Record: 56-5 (37 KOs) What made him special? “Ali, of course, was a hero of mine. His confidence and his belief in himself made him very special. Ali did everything wrong as a fighter – kept his hands down; he never threw a body punch in his career; he pulled his head back. All of that worked for him, but if anyone else tried it, they’d get killed. He would also fight you until he died; he would never give up.” Favorite moment? “The first Sonny Liston fight, the first Joe Frazier fight and the third Joe Frazier fight. He was at his very best against Cleveland Williams.” Joe Frazier Title Reign: 1970 – 1973 • Record: 32-4-1 (27 KOs) What made him special? “Like Marciano, it was his determination and his will to win. But he was more ferocious than Marciano and he was just a hard man. He had that same desperation to win at all costs. At the end of the third Ali fight, Joe Frazier couldn’t see and said to his trainer, ‘Tell me where he is, I’ll get him!’” Favorite moment? “For Joe Frazier it’s got to be the first Ali fight. The first fight is one of my favorite fights ever, but the third one is the best because they fought to the death. They fought until they couldn’t fight anymore, and you can’t beat that.”
George Foreman Title Reign: 1973 – 1974, 1994 – 1995 • Record: 76-5 (68 KOs) What made him special? “He had a lot of guts, he was mean in the ring and he threw hard punches. He always said that Sonny Liston was his idol, and you only have to watch George Foreman fight and you can see the resemblance. He was thought to be invincible at one time.” Favorite moment? “Joe Frazier (fight one) was the best moment for George Foreman. It’s not easy to watch Joe Frazier get beat up that easily, but styles make fights and that’s part of the game, baby. Joe Frazier had more than met his match with George Foreman.” Larry Holmes Title Reign: 1978 – 1985 • Record: 69-6 (44 KOs) What made him special? “He was in Ali’s shadow and wanted to prove that he was his own man. He fought some great fights in his prime and got off the canvas to win. Eventually he got the respect, and he deserved that 100 percent. Just look how special he was after his prime. He went the distance with Holyfield, he beat Ray Mercer and I think he was a point away from beating Oliver McCall. If Holmes had taken a couple of fights before he fought me, there’s no way I’d have knocked him out in the fourth round.” Favorite moment? “I liked the fights with Renaldo Snipes, Earnie Shavers and Mike Weaver. He had a lot of great fights.”
I doubt there's a living fighter who knows as much about the history of the sport as Mike does. The majority of fighters aren't into the sport in the general - they know **** all about the history.
He spent hours and hours learning the history of the sport. Probably knows more than most on this site tbh
And he loved and RESPECTED Dempsey. His favorite and would laugh at his nuthuggers who say Dempsey ain't ****.
Yeah you can tell his love of Dempsey is very genuine. The black trunks, no socks and when he was younger he even styled his hair like Dempsey. I remember watching an interview with a young Tyson and he lit up when asked about Jack Dempsey. Dempsey was clearly his hero.
