What d F are people smoking nowadays? Mike T and Marciano overated? Mmmm where does that leave Klitschko Fury AJ and Wilder? Let’s chat Brexit it’s less bonkers than this post.
I don't think we will ever see a 20 year old WBC heavyweight world champion. Or a 21 year old undisputed lineal ring magazine heavyweight champion. When he beat Carl Williams he had only just turned 23 and was 37 and 0. Only Green, Bonecrusher, Tillis and Tucker didn't get knocked out. But they all lost heavily on points. And Bonecrusher and Tucker were world champions at that point. If Tyson had retired when he was 37-0 or beat Douglas and then Holyfield he would be regarded on the same level as Louis, Ali Alot of a fighters legacy is to do with retiring at the right time. If Roy Jones retired after the first Tarver fight he would be a top 5 ATG. If James Toney had not been caught juicing and retired as WBA heavweight champion of the world he would be another top 5 or at least top 10 ATG.
Disrespectful thread man, look at what Tyson did to boxing man, the excitement he brought to the sport. So many of these newer great fighters only became boxers because of Tyson. Not saying that means we can gloss over his shortcomings as a boxer, but speak with some respect man.
Mike had a short prime. Some fighter have short primes, some have longer ones. Its Its usually the more explosive athletic fighters that have the shorter primes but not always.... Anyway point is when saying who was the best at anything in any sport are we comparing there career as a whole or are we talking prime Vs prime? Because there's a lot of boxers with better resumes than Mike, a lot who had a longer window of succes who's career you could say was more successful. But I don't believe that any HW in history in their prime could get in a ring with a prime Mike at his very peak and be victorious. So does that make him overated for not having the longevity or record of other greats or underated because you are looking past his level at his peak because it was so short lived.
Was Mike's prime any shorter than Marciano's or Dempsey's or Frazier's? In terms not only of years but of number of fights. Hell, how long was Larry Holmes' true prime? Is going life and death with an aged Ken Norton a prime performance or merely an exciting and near equal match-up?
I can only cringe imagining what Swag does while reading this post. It would be like a monk reading the Bible.
He is overrated by some who think he could steamroll every other heavyweight who ever lived when he had Kevin Rooney in his corner (read youtube comments under any of his fights). He's underrated by those who think if you weren't frightened of him then you'd beat him. It took chin, skills, smarts as well as courage to beat a peak Tyson. He was a great fighter, with an aggressive and explosive style and sensational power and also well skilled. He was also a flawed character who had deficiencies as a fighter and a person that saw him found out and sees him ranked behind a number of other heavyweights who may not have possessed his natural talent.
Because Mike was never in his prime floored by a hothead middleweight like Ketchel or a complete amateur like Firpo or an octogenarian like Walcott, we hold this against him? We hold the A+ beard he had in his prime against him? Some of those shots Ruddock and Bruno hit him with would have destroyed our heroes of yesteryear. This sort of complaint is much in line with those who say he never displayed late power.... Which happened mostly because he KO'd most of his opponents so early.
Typical Tyson fanboy tripe.Gloss over his failings as a fighter and exaggerate his qualities. A+ beard? What was Douglas's KO ratio again? Past prime Evander Holyfield hadn't scored a legit stoppage in 5 years when he turned the trick on Mike. How many times did Bruno land on Tyson? One good shot in 5 rounds of a fight he was being dominated in. And what quality heavyweights did Ruddock ever beat to establish this reputation as a monster puncher? No one is the answer, he's the Cleveland Williams of his generation. His chin was very good but not elite and once he was hurt he usually succumbed. These are facts. And I don't care about those other guys black spots you mention because no one pretends they could walk through any fighter within 3 rounds like Tyson fanboys do. People generally acknowledge their shortcomings which Tyson fans won't do- Exhibit A your hagiographic post above. He was a great fighter but he had flaws which every other fighter has as well. He never came from behind to win, he never got off the floor to win and he didn't display late power. Those are some of his shortcomings which are as real as his attribute such as his speed, explosiveness, skills and power. Deal with it.
