Mike Tyson vs Bob Fitzsimmons

True.
But prime Tyson wasn't comfortable with his own homosexuality. He got away with it against 80s opposition, men like gheri-curl and sequin wearing Tony Tucker and men with names like Pinky and Marvis ......
But against an 1890s blacksmith when-men-were-men type man of Bob Fitz' ilk, Tyson would be exposed as the effeminate fairy boy that he was. He'd lose all confidence, and Fitz would put him out of his misery.

Fitz KO1

 

I don't think that Tyson was better than Louis head to head, but he might well have been a worse stylistic match for Fitzsimmons.

 

BLOWOUT! Tyson of 1986-1988 smoke 1897 Fitz in 2 rds......:bbb

 

I don't think Fitz would cope with a late 20th Century brute like prime Tyson. He'd be overwhelmed by the sheer ferocity. Most boxers would, from any era.

For me you can only go back as far as Louis for fighters who have a chance of taming Tyson in his prime. Anyone before Louis gets a right proper hiding.

 

Tyson is capable of blowing out any fighter in history, if he lands clean. Fitz is no different. (Neither is Ali, Jeffries, McCall or anyone else).

Stylistically, Fitz would appear to be a smaller version of Tyson. It is unclear who was the quickest, but you would assume Tyson or a draw in this regard. You also have to assume that tyson had much more power because of his weight, although it should be noted that Fitz does probably have more consistent (or at least equal consistent) one punch KO power. Both also have equally proven chins, although you have to give Tyson the edge based mostly on his size (which is not really that good a guide). Stamina, is again very close, although perhaps Fitz has an edge, but given that we are talking prime tyson, this may be a little unfair to Tyson. I dont think that this advantage is as great towards Fitz as you would think at first glance. Fitz also has a big advantage in Ring Smarts and Recovery from Knock downs.

I do tend to agree and think that Tyson would steam roll Fitz early, but if he doesnt catch him and tends to slow down after 4 or 5 rounds, or if he gets careless and Fitz nails him with a couple of good shots (similar to the how Bruno caught him) then Fitz makes things very, very interesting. Still, i lean towards Tyson, although because i lived through the Tyson age, i am obviously biased!

 

Both were absolutely lethal with less than world class opponents. Both were lethal stepping through Fringe top 10 contenders (although Tyson was pushed a little by Tillis and Green in the sense that he couldnt produce the one punch KO) but other than that both pretty much KOd every opponent they faced at this level. Against No 1 or 2 fighters in the world or champions, both were again lethal, almost always scoring the brutal 1 punch KO. Tyson brutally finished everyone but his one punch ko didnt come against Tucker, Smith, Ruddock II and of course Douglas and Holyfield. Fitzsimmons had the two failures with Jeffries, but other than that Maher, Sharkey and Ruhlin who were all the highest caliber (for the time) available all fell to brutal KOs.

As i said, this shows a little more consistency (or equal consistency) in regards to KOs. Not really arguable, i would have thought.

 

Some might argue, heaven forbid, that the professional heavyweight pugilists of the 80's and early 90's were a bit better than those of the 1890's and early 1900's, generally bigger and stronger and with more coaching, more recruitment among the population and more of a career-ist approach starting at a young age. Thus the heavies that Tyson cut a swathe through might be more impressive, head to head, than those that Fitz met.

Silly line of argumentation, I know.

 

Boilermaker, I don't think you're giving Fitzsimmons enough credit here. He was definitely faster than Tyson. Without a doubt.

 

It isnt really that silly. It is based on the evolution theory. We are bigger, stronger etc. The problem is though, that if you believe in this theory, the same goes for the periods after the 1900s.

In fact, you can pretty much say that no fighter prior to the 80s at least had to compete with guys the caliber of Tyson. Meaning that the likes of Ali, Frazier and even Foreman and Holmes simply couldnt compete with the 10 best fighters around since then. guys like Tyson, Klitchsko, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis, Morrison, McCall, Rahman, Haye etc. If that is what you believe then fair enough.

Personally, I think that performance is related to training attitudes and whilst there are small differences between eras, there is largely a parity between all eras and to discuss figthers in fantasy fights can only be done by comparing abilities of all fighters with how they actually performed in their own era. ie a fast boxer was a fast boxer, a big hitter was a big hitter and a World no 1 is a world no 1. In fact i think any other type of comparison is ridiculous, since there is in fact no way of doing real comparisons or knowing who would really win. IN fact, the only guarantee in any pick is that no result is 100% certain to be correct! If you arent comparing each fighter relative to their own time, it comes down to a simple case of who ever was born first loses, pretty much.

Silly line of argumentation?

 

You would think so, with him being a fast middleweight and all, and it is possible because Tyson's opponents were so big and slow (like todays heavys) that he only looked lightning because they were so slow, but i think Tyson might surprise

 

tyson by tko by round 3 or earlier.

theres no way tysons going to knock fitz out before before he knocks him down 3 times in a round and the tko is called.

assuming fitz will need to be down for the 10 and there is no knockdown rule, id still give it to tyson by late ko, but it would be an impressive showing from fitz with tyson down atleast once.

 

Tyson by ko. Don forget Fitzsimmons was knocking out guys a lot bigger then him. He stopped 1 guy 300+ lbs with 2 punches!! He was p4p 1 of the hardest punchers in boxing history.

 

Fitz might manage to fiddle his way through a couple of rounds but no more - Tyson is in my top 10 heavyweights ever - I just can't imagine any supermiddleweight or lightheavyweight having any chance - not against Tyson at his best 1986-1988 - he may very well get Tyson's attention if he gave it everything he had with a home run shot or maybe even a body shot he or there - but I think even that would be done in semi desperation - Tyson too fast too explosive too much combos

 

When will SuzieQ get banned? If I kept making dump post like this people would say something.

Like If I made a thread called washed up Kevin Kelly vs Prime Rocky Marciano. We all know Kelly would knockout Marciano in the first round so why even make a thread about it.