Mike Tyson v Vitali Klitschko

I think you meant the '90's, not the "it's"?
Guys do not have to be very top if they are top contenders, & Foreman at nearly 49 is widely considered to have been robbed against Briggs.
But Cooney, Coetzer, Shultz, Stewart were not chopped liver, & if you think Foreman should have lost 1 or 2 of these decisions, still how well he did when older can be invoked to compare eras-assuming he lost a lot from his prime, which is inevitable.
Especially when near the end-like beating then 36-0 Grimley.
Even Holmes was very competitive with Evander before tiring at the end.

But again I do not know if the era is overrated, I have thought it very good, saying an argument can be made.
Generally I am sketical that besides gradual changes over time, eras on either side of each other vary much.
There would have to be some dramatic reason like many less boxers competing one decade to acount for it.

 

Tyson didn't have trouble taking on bigger men. He stopped Tyrell Biggs in 7, same guy who beat Lennox at Olympics and went on to win the Gold. He was an undefeated prospect at 6'5", 230 and an 80" reach. Tyson made it look easy and ruined him. Green was 6'5", BC Smith 6'4", Tucker is 6'5" and had a solid chin and good power. Vitali on the other hand had a great chin, so I don't see Mike stopping him. This fight goes the distance and each man would have his hands full. Overall Tyson had a better resume and defeated better fighters, so I'd have to give the edge to Mike by UD.

 

Stewart, Coetzee etc were journeyman though not ranked contenders

 

True, but like Qawi & Cooper, before or after they were major contenders.
These names were top fringe journeymen when they fought Foreman.

 

Biggs was only 218 for the fight with Tyson, at his height-& for boxers of a later era-skinny for a HW.

Maybe Tyson beats Vitali, but we have to consider the style match up too.
People say Tyson had trouble with height & length, & the truth is somewhere between their & your positions.
He beat most of them for sure-not Douglas though-but bigger height & reach discrepencies made it harder, & guys like Bonehugger & Green could stifle his offense since his biggest flaw was allowing constant clinches was an issue, & /not fighting well inside.

Don't know if Tyson could land more for the decision.
Mainly turns on whether he could avoid many shots of a very high volume puncher.

 

Most sources have Biggs at 229 for that fight. Skinny or not, he was a capable HW. Wilder was 215 and punched like a mule.

 

For me, v Biggs was Mike at his imperious, arrogant, terrifying best. That performance was the as surgical as anything Ali visited on his hapless foes, a sustained, vicious beating designed JUST to keep Biggs on the hook and on his feet. It was an exercise in controlled brutality like I have rarely seen...

 

Foreman was robbed against Briggs. But Briggs was nothing more than a fringe contender. Rooney and Coetzer were not even close to contenders when George fought them and the others you named, like Briggs, were fringe contenders.

I submit that the 90's version of Holmes and Foreman would have had wins in any era. Not against the very best, but they would find success. Not because an era is weak or overrated but because they were that great

 

Whoops, that was a typo.

 

It was a typo. I meant to put a zero.

 

You are (almost precisely) RIGHT about Biggs.
I see he weighed in at 228 3/4 lbs., my apologies for finding an apparently erroneous source!

However you are well off on Wilder-his average weight for his major fights was 227 lbs. https://www.google.com/search?q=wil...T9A&sourceid=chrome&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8

ALSO you are right-& I never said otherwise-that Biggs was more than capable before fighting Tyson, which seems to have precipitated a decline.

Wilder was relatively light for a modern HW for 6'7" because he had...no legs.
14" calves & especially 18" thighs, I have never seen a HW listed so low for the latter.
Photos seem to confirm they are very small.
It seems like it could be more for a very lean HW when they just needed to be 175 lbs., or more likely even FITZ at @ 165 lbs. with his disproportionately skinny legs.

I mean, Google the average high fashion supermodel thigh size, the largest range that you will get is 18"-20"!!

But WIlder got his great power from explosive hip rotation, kinetic chain efficiency, length/leverage, & overall speed.