Mike Tyson: Top 10 Heavyweight?

I honestly can't say because I wasn't around to see it like I was with Tyson.
Unlike some I don't pretend to have inside knowledge of what fighters where like in the 20's or similar eras.Sometimes books don't tell the whole story and I can only base my rating of these guys on what I've read.
You've got me there.Any answer I gave would be based on limited knowledge so I'll have to pass.

 

Hell yeh! Mike was the youngest Heavy weight champion also.

 

Holmes
Dempsey
Johnson
:deal


Holyfield is not iffy at all, he is a bonda fide top 10 guy IMO

 

I do agree with this also. Tucker is a very underrated win for Mike :good

 

Yes. Undisputed champion 10 championship defenses.

 

Holmes and Tyson were both part of the 'Lost Generation' of Heavyweights guys that had skills and big potential but be it for whatever reason drugs, alcohol, etc. did not fulfill all the potential. Can't fault either for that as they beat who Don King put in front of them.

They both lacked a bug time opponent though Holmes did get Cooney who was rightly or wrongly hyped. Tyson got Spinks who was a light Heavyweight and crushed him. Can't fault or penalize Larry or Mike for doing their job. :deal

 

Rico, this is off topic. But if you want to see a prime example of British Glass Jaws, go to this hilarious thread. :deal

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425276

 

If you fight at heavy then you ranked as one. It's that simple.

 

Lol, I was just using a little bit of hyperbole there. I do think that Frazier's win over Ali might have been the most amazing heavyweight win in history tho.

Of course Wlad has had a great career. He got ko'd a few times, but so did Lewis and he is held in VERY high regard these days. Wlad does lack that signature win that people define an all time great. How many all time greats have no career defining win?

At least Holmes had Cooney and Lewis has Vitali (DON'T START! :bbb). Tunney has Dempsey. Speaking of which, had Dempsey beaten Tunney I think he would be more comfortable in the top 10.

 

Now granted, Wlad has Haye which depending on how Haye's career turns out could be very good.

Tyson also doesn't have a great win. He has many VERY good wins in the 80s. But consider that from 91 till he stopped fighting in 04, he didn't really get alot done in a historical sense. That's a THIRTEEN year period and what was his best win in that nearly decade and a half? Golota or Bruno?

 

A lot of Dempsey his opponents were cruiserweight too.
Maybe a majority, so yes I can just rank him with cruisers.

 

I agree with that. From, say, Mitch Green in 86 to Rudduck in 91 was a phenomenal run. But that's 5 years out of a 20 year career.

How can people laugh Dempsey out of the top 10 but say Mike is a lock?

Career highlights

Mike impressively knocked out former champ holmes coming off a 2 year layoff.
Jack impressively knocked out former champ willard coming off a 3 year layoff.

Mike blew out Spinks early in dramatic fashion.
Jack blew out Firpo early in dramatic fashion.

Other qualities

Mike also had some good wins vs rudduck and berbick and such.
Jack also had some good wins vs Carpentier and sharkey and such.

Mike brought the sport to the height of popularity by ko'ing bums impressively.
Jack brought the sport to the height of popularity by ko'ing bums impressively.

Mike ended his career getting outboxed by a technician in Lewis.
Jack ended his career getting outboxed by a technician in Tunney.

Hell even Mike thought Dempsey was great. He even cut his hair like him. Can you imagine a young mike, going to a black barber shop in brooklyn, then with his high pitched lisp saying "Gimmie a Jack Dempsey!"

 

Barely inside the Top10. Mainly for what he did between late 1986 and late 1989.