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

Tyson fights were the most exciting sporting events I ever watched. I would watch ever single press conference, every clip of training, & every interview leading up to a Tyson fight. I bought every boxing magazine I could find back then. Guy was amazing. Amazing period. He brought excitement at a time when there were way too many slick heavyweight boxers. Talented guys but not much menace. Tyson brought that threat to the ring.

I think Tyson was a great talent. I don't think he the hardest puncher but he was very good. His power comibined with his speed made him phenomenal. When he was focused on boxing he was a danger to just about anyone. Not a boxer looking for 1 punch but a fighter willing to break a guy down. No feeling out rounds but rather immediately on the attack. If a guy got past the first few rounds, he probably wasn't much of a threat because he'd taken a heavy assault. Tyson was also as menacing a fighter as I can think of. Some guys didn't fight to win but to survive & maybe hope they could win on points. I remember thinking Tyson would be champ for 10 years.

Problem is, his prime was so short. He still won after prison but did he have a performance comparable to the 80's version? Clearly his focus wasn't the same. His style & his height meant he was going to have a short prime but man it seemed really short to me. After Ruddock, what was Tyson's best fight? He needed a big win Post prison. Holyfield wanted to beat him SO bad and he showed all the toughness that we want out of out of champion. By the time we get to Lewis, I think Tyson was just fighting on memory. He tried to be menacing but it was over the top & a circus by this point. The erosion of his skills mean he couldn't apply pressure on Lewis AND be elusive at the same time. That's what made Tyson so special. The last two fights were bad. I excuse the Williams because Tyson did injure his knee but his punches had none of the power and snap that they had back in the day. Same thing with his final fight. The power & speed just wasn't there. I think he gave up because he was smart enough to know he was disrespecting himself. His heart wasn't in it. Tyson rarely looked like he wanted to fight in the later years. When boxers weren't scared of Tyson, he didn't seem to be able to break them down like he had in the 80's.

In his prime, he beat some solid fighters & men who had been champions. To me, he either needed a win against Holyfield, Bowe, or Lewis to move up on the "greatness" list. The Douglas loss was rough but he was still in the fight late. The other losses are pretty bad to me. Ali had two bad losses but they came after a career of showing championship heart. Without a huge win, Tyson at least needed longevity & he doesn't have that. I think he was good and a highlight of my time as boxing fan but I have trouble calling him one of the greats. I think he could've been though.

Just my opinion. Don't kill me

 

Tyson started going down hill around 89 his prime was short

 

You gotta believe that Atlas really does believe in magic....

Tyson could've easily made him disappear.

 

I've said it before he was mentally weak cus is what made him without his guidance it wad only a matter of time before he implode

 

He said he was a great talent, didn't he? Being a great fighter is something different.

 

Part of what Atlas says has merit but overall, he sounds old and bitter, which makes sense considering what happened between them years ago.

Tyson didn't live up to his talent, that's true. But to basically dismiss everything the guy accomplished is pretty much being a hater.

Atlas and others make the claim that anytime Tyson meets resistance, he folds. That's just seems like a bogus statement because if it was true, Tyson should have had more losses. He should have lost to Ruddock both times(two brutal fights), as well as Bruno in the first fight and Tucker.

 

What great fighters did Lennox Lewis beat, whilst they were still in their prime? Vitali was kicking his ass before he was saved, arguably. People that support atlas’s unreasonable negative “complete truth” views on Tyson tend to use diffent rules to fit their agenda I think. Tyson had great names on his resume, they might not have been at their best when they fought him, but the same can be said of other champs that fought great fighters out of their era. Who else blasted Holmes out in 4 rounds? Use the excuses but You can discredit anyone when you put your mind to it.

 

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Are you sure?
1996 he won the WBC from Bruno, right?
6 months later in 1996 he either vacated it or was forced to relinquish it.
How can we be sure?
1996 he fought Seldon, not Lewis, nor Holy. Crazier is that it was for the WBA. How did Seldon become a bigger fight to take?

One more link:
https://lasvegassun.com/news/1996/sep/25/tyson-criticized-for-vacating-crown/
Highlighting:

Dino Duva, who promotes Lewis, used the occasion to ridicule Tyson for not only dropping the WBC belt but failing to agree to fight Lewis (which ultimately resulted in the court order to relinquish the belt).

"We are disappointed and surprised that Tyson decided to give up the title instead of fighting Lennox," Duva said. .... For Tyson to just throw it away like this is incredible. I thought he was a warrior. I was wrong."

Duva wants to position Lewis for a 1997 fight with Tyson, and goading Tyson into that fight is regarded as a legitimate tactic.


Your are correct that he was steered toward Holy, I differ only in that it was (after) he did a Riddick Bowe. Only he didn't physically throw it in a can.

The article to your point stated:
Tyson, who is currently involved in a lawsuit being heard in Albany, N.Y., has Holyfield on his immediate agenda.

The court order against Tyson was the result of Lewis winning a suit in which he claimed Tyson -- by edict of the WBC -- had to make his first defense against the WBC's No. 1 contender, which happens to be Lewis.

When Tyson fought Bruce Seldon Sept. 7, Lewis was paid $4 million in "step-aside money"

 

Yeah, I don't disagree with any of that. But it made no sense for Mike to fight Lennox at that time.

Bowe wouldn't fight Lennox. But I firmly believe that Mike would have done had he have beaten Evander. It would have been the biggest fight in boxing.

I didn't see it as personal duck from Mike. I saw it as a business decision from the guys behind the scenes.

 

Damn, his fights were literally events weren't they?!?! And nice thing about knowing there are a few adults here, so an opinion is to be disagreed with, not disputed. Unless ya talkin to other than adults...they come atcha' like verbal jihadists!