Mike Tyson's absence from the ring during the 1st half of 1990s was beneficial for his legacy

We’ll never know. But speaking strictly as a fan of the sport, it was a travesty. We were absolutely robbed.

I don’t think that Bowe would have fought him. He looked upto Mike a lot and was from the same neighbourhood. And we know that Newman didn’t want him to fight Lennox. So would the same have applied to Mike?

Evander could always have beaten Mike, but I’d have given Mike a good chance against an early 90’s Evander.

Like Evander, Lennox could always have beaten Mike too. But he wasn’t with Steward then, and he lost to Mcall and even struggled with Bruno for a while.

A Mercer fight would have been very intriguing for sure. I can’t even call that one.

 

Tyson would've won a rematch against Douglas. (He nearly won the first fight in the eighth.) Douglas never looked that good again.

Considering how Evander looked the night he was supposed to fight Tyson (when Holyfield fought Cooper) ... I don't know if Evander wins a fight in 1991.

Lewis didn't have Steward in the early 90s.

The interesting fight would've been Tyson-Bowe. Two Brownsville classmates fighting for everything.

That should've been the rivalry of the 90s.

 

I honestly don’t believe that Bowe would have fought Mike.

 

Interesting first post.

91 Tyson was clearly better than rusty post prison Tyson

- Holyfield almost got KOd by Bert Cooper. Yes, Bert Cooper
- Lewis was not as good in 92-94 as he was later when he became safety first after getting KTFO by McCall

It's by no means a given that he loses to Holyfield, Lewis and especially Mercer.

Bowe at his peak I'd favor over that vesion of Mike.

 

The fans definitely got screwed. I remember the announcement, it came on the same day Mercer and Morrison fight. I always questioned the rib injury and just figured Mike wasn’t mentally ready because of the trial. Holyfield-Tyson and Mayweather-Pacquiao were both five years too late.

There was another thread recently discussing a 91’ matchup between Holyfield and Tyson. I have Holyfield as a slight favorite. Tyson winning a 91’ matchup over Evander and then going downhill after that would do more for his all-time standing than what ended up transpiring.

I think a Tyson-Bowe fight materializing would depend on the situation. Bowe had just signed a record breaking deal with Time Warner in late 92’. He made lots of money for facing soft touches (Ferguson, Dokes), or perceived soft touches (Holyfield). I think Bowe/Newman figured they would make a ton of money by facing easier opponents before eventually taking a bigger risk in Lennox. If Tyson was on top, then Bowe would have to face him if he wanted the title. If not, then Bowe and his team would weigh the options before facing Mike. I pick a late 80s Tyson over a peak Bowe. But as time went on, Bowe would have a much better chance. He was 100x more active on the inside/in the clinch than Mike and would have a field day with the uppercuts. Bowe’s defense was also leaky, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got stopped.

Mercer was pretty inconsistent, so he’s kind of tough to gauge. I’m not sure about Lewis either. He was sloppier before his Steward days, but still had the height, size and monster right hand.

 

Bowe and Newman visited Tyson in prison hoping to get Mike to agree to fight Bowe when he was sprung.

But, by the time Tyson got out, Bowe was only the WBO champion, and nobody much cared for that. Bowe even dumped the belt before the third Holyfield fight because Evander didn't want to "win" it if he beat Bowe.

So, I think Bowe/Newman would've been interested.

 

Great post.

Yes, I could envisage scenarios where both Mike and Bowe could have won.

It was such a shame how Bowe’s career ended too.

 

Really?

I wasn’t aware that that had happened at all.

I didn’t know that they’d been to see him.

My opinion is based on various comments that Bowe has made over the years.

In the comments that I’ve read, he really looked upto Mike etc.

So it gave me the impression that he’d never have pursued a fight.

 

You seem to have an emotionally charged tone. “His fans would have less room for excuses” and all that - why? Seems senselessly antagonistic. Relax friend.

It’s unlikely that Lewis would’ve done similarly IMO and I think that’s sensible given when they fought… one going up continually till his last bout (IMO) the other having long hit the ground. Evander was smaller, most likely less intelligent and equip with his time at HW he’d just been nearly upset by Cooper.

I do think stylistically Bowe would’ve matched up to lose against Mike, he wasn’t defensively responsible and I think it’s not weird to suggest that if he’d been hit as often as he was against Evander, Mike might’ve KO’d him.

 

I disagree I think he beats all 3 and it would've done wonders for his resume.

Lewis was still very green and not ready for the likes of Tyson.

Holyfield was still growing into a Heavyweight, plus he was very gung ho in the early part of his career. This isn't the same Holyfield who was filled to the brim with PEDs, looking like incredible hulk in 1996 with a wiser head on his shoulders. This is the version of Holyfield who was almost KO'ed by Bert Cooper and getting into wars with the likes of a past it Michael Dokes and Alex Stewart.

Riddick Bowe never fought any real punchers and he didn't use his height or reach and liked to mix it up on the inside. That would be his downfall vs Tyson especially with Bowe's leaky defense.

 

I would have loved to have seen Tyson-Mercer.

 

Immediate pre-prison 1991 Mike still looked very dangerous in his two wars with Razor Ruddock. Not '88 Mike but enough to possibly take out a less bulked up '91 Holyfield had they fought that year and beat a guy like Tommy Morrison. He could have beat 90s George Foreman too, but it's debatable Foreman would have taken that fight.

 

Yeah, there was an article in one of the magazines (maybe Boxing Illustrated) that talked about them visiting Tyson in Indiana.

If I can find it I'll post some clips.

 

I don’t put too much stock in the Holyfield-Cooper fight as a prism through which we can see how Holy-Tyson would have gone.

Evander had gone from the focused high of an agreed-upon fight with Tyson to changing his preparation to get ready for Francesco Damiani and then just days before the fight to Cooper when Damiani pulled out with a training injury.

That’s a rollercoaster mentally, emotionally and physically (as far as preparing specific strategies for a specific opponent). Plus he undoubtedly would take a late-sub fringe guy like Cooper pretty lightly.

Remember, when Holyfield did fight Tyson the first time, he did so coming off a terrible outing vs. Bobby Czyz while Tyson had mowed through Bruce Seldon and Bruno II. Yet we see how it played out when they faced each other.

I can’t imagine that the Evander we would have seen against Tyson wouldn’t have been more focused and better prepared than what we saw vs. Cooper.