Prime Tyson vs Prime Joe Louis

Hey combateo :hi: you knw I like to be completely impartial and unbiased and anyway where did you learn words like that??! :hey.

Anyways I don't like to talk 'averages'. I prefer to refer more to specifics: for instance as an example I always thought Lennox Lewis' prime was the Razor Ruddock days - for Ruddock he was 227lbs - but if we were only to average out his weight we be including a good deal of 240plus weights in the later part of his career when I think he was losing a good deal of speed and stamina.

With Tyson - the times during his best days when it was clear that he'd trained like he should've been doing for every fight his weights dropped off a little accordingly hence 216 for Tubbs, 215 for Holmes (although on my TV recording they had him at 214?), 216 for Biggs, 213 (!!) for Ribalta, 215 for Blood Green, 215 for Tillis.

I don't think that Tyson was really in shape over 217 - he alluded to that himself on one or two occasions - he said himself that he was only able to squeeze in a bit of training for Berbick because he'd been on antibiotics for an infection after he fell from a pigeon coop and damaged his ear, and he said he pretty much didnt train at all for Bruno I and he was only 218 for that. Tucker was another where Tyson said he was too busy partying to train like he should.

So yeah I think the evidence points to a hard training in shape Tyson being sub 217 - but Tyson notoriously had a tendency to party away his time when he should've been getting ready for a fight.

 

PS what you probably don't know is that Louis agreed to a preflight clause that Louis would come in no heavier than 200 lbs for that first Conn fight - and apparently it killed him to get to that 199 and left him really jaded for that fight itself.

Two fights where Louis looked brilliant and really loaded with strength and power versus Buddy Baer and Abe Simon Louis was 207 and in great shape and looked to pummel the two big lugs