Talent wise Tyson was athe greatest HW ever

ps. Biggs was 15-rounder. Watched intro to fight this morning. :good

 

To me Tyson may well be the most physically talented fighter of all time in that he had a whole host of attributes that other great fighters, whilst they had some did not have all for instance

Power: Tyson to me is a top 5 all time puncher. Ali lacked this attribute although he had everything else. Holyfield was also an average puncher.

Handspeed: Tyson to me is in the top 5 of this too. Joe Louis, Sonny Liston, Rocky Marciano etc all lacked this attribute.

Stamina: Tyson had plenty of this as well at his peak as did most great fighters but the point is he had it.

Chin: Tyson had a very good jaw. It took an absolute shellacking in his prime for him to be stopped. All time greats like Lennonx Lewis and Joe Louis for instance whilst having decent jaws imo did not have great punch resistance. Mike did.

Footspeed: Tyson could close the gap very fast. Marciano, Foreman and Liston are all time greats that i can think of that didn't have particularly great movement.

Basically, almost every all time great bar Tyson, had one area of weakness in a physical sense at the top level. Tyson did not. With his bobbing and weaving style in mind he had exceptional physical gifts, he excelled in every respect.

However as has already been stated, the fact that he had the mind of a petulant 13 year old boy ultimately meant that he never fully capitalised on these attributes.

Therefore i think it would be fair to say he was the most physically talented heavyweight of all time. But just the plain most talented? No because he lacked the mental fundamentals needed to either switch battle plan or to grit his teeth and fight his way out of tough situations where things weren't going well. He just didn't have this and this is as fatal a weakness as a glass jaw when assessing how he would have made out against the likes of Ali, Holmes and Foreman.

 

Fair post, but I disagree about the stamina issue. Just going the distance in fights were the punch rate has decreased dramtically after Round 6 isn't anything to write home about.

 

I thought his stamina was competent especially in relation to his energy expending style but i do agree that it was not on the level of say a Marciano.

Botton line is as much as i enjoy watching his fights and the spectacular highlight reel of knockouts, the bottom line is despite the physical gifts he is not the most talented fighter ever. Mentally he was found wanting on a number of occasions and that to me is as vital as an iron jaw or a killer punch when fighting the very best.

 

"80% of Mike Tyson's legacy is built on opinion and mate believe match ups that never happened, 20% of his legacy actually happened"

 

Harsh but to some extent true. Especially on forums such as these.

Personally speaking i think his resume is good enough to seem him ranked in the top 15 but compared to the likes of Ali it leaves alot to be desired and does not justify such lofty placings such as the 'greatest of all time' or even a top 5 placing.

 

A Brit talking to another Brit and saying "resume". :-(

 

yea i don't even notice i do it anymore

suppose resume is more synonymous with the yanks....and its usually them im debating with in regards to a fighters legacy

i could have used 'record' i guess

 

Good man. Record (or even CV) would be nice. Sorry for nitpicking, it's just a bugbear of mine. :good

 

Oh.

 

Tyson's greatest weakness is his lack of reach it meant he was vulnerable to a fast big man his other weakness was his mind I agree. Also Joe Louis is deceptively fast.

 

Louis had great handspeed.

 

His lack of height could also trouble him against tall opponents who used their height well defensively.

I don't think Tyson could have ever taken out Bugner for example, a tall, well-schooled safety-first boxer. Certainly not Ali, and I don't believe he could have registered a stoppage win over the Willard who won his crown in Havana. He would also have some difficulty getting to Carnera's head, especially considering the physical strength Primo shared with Willard.

Where stature is concerned, he does have a significant deficit.

 

Its in two English dictionarys of mine ,whats wrong with it?By the way Brit is an American expression ,not an English one.

 

Joe Louis lacked hand speed ? I dont think so!