Prime Tyson one of the Greats

I think everyone will agree that '86-'88 Tyson was a one of a kind and would beat almost any HW in history except '66 Ali, '77 Holmes, '74 Foreman, '62 Liston and possibly...a prime Marciano.

 

But what has beeing entertaining to do with beeing great? :huh

 

No. I think more guys beat him. He was great and one of a kind though.

 

You can read right? If you can, please read again what I wrote and think about it a abit, you´ll see the errors then. :good

 

Seems like most fans that bash Tyson are usually newbies to the sport. Most fans that i know over the age of 30,35 all acknowldege that Tyson was one hell of a fighter. Whether its the hardcore fan or the casual fan.

I would rate Holmes higher on an atg list, but HTH i disagree that he would have beat a prime Mike. Holmes was always succeptible to a big right. One of TYsons money shots.

Id put Prime Big George, Prime Ali, Holyfield as the only ones who beat him HTH.

 

Tyson was made to beat the style of Holmes. Holmes at his prime was very, very hard to beat though. I see it as a 50/50 fight. I think guys like Louis, Baer, Jeffries, Marciano, Liston, Johnson, Ali, Foreman, Holyfield and Lewis beat him. Others are 50/50 like Vitali, Dempsey, Tua, Walcott, Jeanette, McVey.

 

So, you quote me saying that Tyson was great and use it as an example to accuse me of not seeing Tyson´s greatness. That´s a classic :rofl:rofl:rofl

 

it always puzzles me why so many think a peak lewis would beat a peak tyson lewis peak was probably between 97 and 2000 tysons peak was 86 to 88 with all due respect to lewis i know what one looked the most impressive tyson didnt just beat his opposition he crushed them lewis for the most part never looked outstanding at his peak while true lewis was a lot bigger than tyson people a lot of people forget tyson was 21 lewis was 33 or 34 which means he was far quicker more aggresive better chin sorry peak for peak tyson wins inside 4 rounds

 

He's an enigma more than he is a great. In retrospect of course he could of been amazing, he had speed, power, aggression, great technical skills, a very efficient defense, a good chin and he installed fear into his opponents. But his resumé is lacking in comparison to his skills and his longevity is terrible thanks to his lack of mental strength and psychological problems.

 

A prime Tyson, H2H, loses to very few ... the speed, power, conditioning, strength, chin and determination were exceptional ... his lighting fast starts would make for horrible match ups for many other , smaller greats who would simply get blown out unless they landed with their best very early ....

 

As I've said on previous threads,I rate Tyson as an all time top 10 heavy. In the lower half,though. For a while he was the best heavyweight around,without a doubt.

 

Lewis was strong, mobile for a big guy, had mounds of reach and knew how to use it with an excellent jab and good range control, he was a massive puncher, had under-rated punch resistance and could fight inside or out. He had all the tools to give Tyson trouble.

James Tillis showed why Tyson would struggle with a peak Lewis is Lennox fought the right fight. Now in essence Tillis was a copy of Ali - albeit a poor one - and therefore not stylistically similar to Lewis, but Lennox had the intangibles to employ similar tactics. Tyson failed to cut off the ring against Tillis and it was a very small ring suited to his stalking style, and Tillis was keeping his range punching the jab and moving and then spoiling and holding whenever Tyson got close.

I think Lennox is more than capable of that. His fight with David Tua shows his mobility for a big guy, and I don't think that even Lewis' optimum weight, I would imagine an absolute peak Lewis to be around 242/243, so a good half a stone lighter. He's also extremely strength and very good at spoiling on on the inside, also leaning on his opponent and taking more energy from them, which could be vital against Tyson.

Now I'm not saying Lewis definately wins, and Tyson does have a good chance of scoring a knockout in the first 4 rounds, but it's not like Tyson is guaranteed to win the fight. In fact if Lewis does get past the first 4, I'd say he wins.