Teddy Atlas: “Mike Tyson was NOT a great fighter”

From what I remember, he was steered towards a bigger fight with Evander.

I think that the Lewis fight would have been made in 97 had Mike have beaten Evander.

 

Well, if they're kids as you say, my prop still stands: your 13 year old niece with 15 year old Tyson in the same room.

And here's a statement from your future HW champ:

pg 107:

''You know something, he said, "I like to hurt women
when I make love to them." He stopped, searching my face
for a reaction. But there was none. "I like to hear them scream
with pain, to see them bleed," he said as he put his right arm
around me. "It gives me pleasure."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You mean to tell me that you don't have any idea why
you do that to women?"

Mike shook his head."

 

The ironic ending to this story is EVEN after having a gun pointed at his head, Tyson kept assaulting women right, left and center and had Cayton bail him out with private settlements so Mikey could make old senile d'Amato happy and become HW champ.

**** and assault at your convenience, but please make us relevant again...

 

And how many of those take pleasure at inflicting pain to their victims ?

 

Teddy needs to shut his damned mouth. The guy just can't stand being out of the loop. So he says crap like this. Most people who had been brought up in Mike Tyson's world wouldn't have made it out. Tyson was mentally damaged due to all of the abuse that he took when young but for Atlas to tell the world that Tyson is weak is BS.

Every time Atlas steps up to a mic and has the audience's undivided attention he wants to make an impact, he wants to shock them. He does this all the time. He is a longshoreman's Socrates. He ought to keep his big fat mouth shut.

 

^^^ Yep. Real class act Tyson was! POS

 

Well then, i'm going to make an exception for you and make you happy.

 

It's one thing to be damaged, and another to choose to perpetuate this damage unto others.

That"s the demeanor he chose to follow.

Nobody forced him.

 

I'm not making excuses for Tyson. I'm just fed up with Atlas mouthing off. He should be off the air completely. He's a bore, he is stupid but thinks he is a genius, self-deprecating as though that is supposed to impress us, and can't shut the hell up. Get rid of him. Just get out of here, Atlas.

 

I understand what you're saying, but by the time he fought Evander and Lennox he'd lost his previous ability.

He was just a different fighter.

Even if he'd have been focused with good people around him, I don't think he could have fought the same way in his 30's, as what he did in his early 20's.

 

he was a great fighter come on teddy smarten up.

 

Lennox would always have been Mike's toughest opponent. But in 1996, I don't believe that he ducked him. I think it was purely business from all concerned.

Mike had been released from prison in 1995, and he'd put a few wins together. A fight against Evander had been planned since 1991/92. A fight between the 2 was absolutely huge.

Lennox wasn't as big as Evander back then. He was still trying to repair his reputation after the loss to McCall, and he was coming off of a very close win over Ray Mercer.

Fighting Lennox at the time made no sense. Because if he'd have lost, he'd have lost the opportunity to fight Evander, and Evander and Lennox would probably have fought each other 3 years earlier than what they did. It was better for Mike to try and beat Evander first before then fighting Lennox afterwards. And I firmly believe that Mike would have fought Lennox had he have beaten Evander. I think that there would have been a huge demand for it in 1997.

 

It wasn't a very weak division at all, and Kevin McBride isn't at relevant to the debate. Also, he didn't retire him brutally either.

 

McBride was a D class heavy and Mike has no excuse. Ali with Parkinson's put up a better show against then top contender Berbick who was probably in better shape in 81 than he was in 86.