At the end of the day Tyson was a great fighter but like a lot of good champions Mike did not beat anybody who another great champion would have lost to. And I'm talking about the 0-1 against rated opponent versions of the guys he beat not the greatest edition of those guys.
Lots of things here. 1 ) Spinks could have been a top contender or even champion. I agree with this: " 200- 212 lbs version of Michael Spinks likely would have been a top 5 or 10 contender in any heavyweight era, especially in the era of 185 lbs heavyweights. " I think he could beat the best of the nonpower punching champions, such as Jim Corbett, or Jack Johnson, but would be up against the odds vs. the bigger hitters for the most part. He coudl however beat Patterson or Ingo, where were bigger hitters with short reaches and not a lot of weight or durability. 2 ) What do you think would happen if you took 6'3 210- 212 lbs Muhammad Ali from 64- 67 and put him against all of Tysons title opposition? Would he do better vs the same row of "bums"? Outside of Liston, who quit and took a dive, I think Tyson's competition in the 1980's was better than Ali in the mid 60's, so I think Ali would struggle a bit more than Tyson did, but still win though Ali vs. Tucker, Tubbs, Thomas or Bruno could be a hard for the 1964-1967 Ali, with Tubbs having the right type of abilities to out jab Ali. The thing is Tyson was an intimidating force and a huge puncher, so things were easier for him. Ali was neither.
I actually thought he beat Mercer, and far better than Holyfield and Lewis. That's saying something. Something about that "horrible" 80's class of heavies that toyed with Mercer in the 90's. Yes, I'm talking about Jesse Ferguson, Larry Holmes and Spoon. 2 of them, while far younger, got dismantled by Tyson.
Wrong again aren't we window licker, he said he believed he broke the hand in training 10 days before the fight. Must try harder SON......
"But" negates everything you say before it. How can you be so sure? Tyson fought in an era of true super heavyweights...with SKILLS. I don't quite understand this part.
they are all big hitters you mor.on, its the HW division. WHAT YOU MEAN is FAT PEOPLE. Because you think fat people are the best boxers.
the reality was 50% of those guys were too inactive to do themselves justice. They were too short on practice at that level to be regarded as live opponents. I'm talking about the recent record against rated fighters those guys had. For instance Tubbs lost to Witherspoon two years previously. Tony never met another world level opponent until meeting Tyson. So from that night of losing to Witherspoon he is 0-1 against rated men until he meets the next rated opponent. Tubbs had in fact only won one bout in his life that could be considered world level. That was against Greg Page some three whole years previous to the walloping he got from Tyson. Hence 0-1 in two years against rated opponents. much of Tysons challengers (Holmes, Thomas, Tubbs) Had records of 0-1 or 0-2 for the last three years going into world title fights with Tyson against world rated opponents. Biggs had never faced a current rated fighter. That sets him at 0-0 going into the Tyson fight. Bruno had beaten one rated contender but it was way back before his previous title challenge. Going into the Tyson fight Frank was 0-1 over the last two years against rated fighters. That's what I am talking about. On paper these guys were taking a mission impossible. A good fighter Cannot walk into a world level fight and hope to have a chance of doing well without having competed at that level for two or more years.
Exactly. Kinda like Choklab...most people bash Tyson because he didn't face a prime great. But then Coke Lab dismisses Tyson when he dismantles a very good Tony Tubbs, who this time was too inexperienced!? If it's not one thing it's another. Tyson never got off the floor to win, if people fought back he folded fast, his prime was only 3 years, etc.