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

Berbick, Spinks, Bruno Seldon and Tucker were elite enough to hold straps. Tubbs was still pretty elite. As was Ruddock.

Who is the elite prime heavy that Dempsey beat? Johnson? Holmes?

 

Not a fan of Tyson. (i do enjoy his fights but nowhere close to top 20 of my favorite fighters)
Just hate those BS terms. Hate them with passion.

 

Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis badly struggled in their respective primes against some very subpar fighters and some of these fighters were guys Tyson blew away in 1-2 rounds.

 

Tyson's mother was a prostitute, and his father was a pimp. He was living in absolute squalid conditions as a kid. He has admitted to being sexually abused as a kid and people who bully him, humiliate and insult him for speaking with a lisp. It is a very sensitive topic for him and he carries scars about it even today even though he has achieved all the fame and money in the world and has uplifted his life and given his own kids and family the opportunity to have a privilleged life but he carries all the baggage from his birth and childhood.

 

People that knock Tyson have no clue about the sport. The man was a phenom and one of the best at his peak to lace them up. Talent wise his ceiling was through the roof. Great chin, blinding hand speed, underrated and very good foot speed, excellent defense, two handed power. Watching a Tyson fight was an event, actually it was thee event. Nothing came close in the late 80s.
He was mentally immature and the train got derailed pretty fast too much partying and eventually prison. Post prison he was never the same.
1988 Spinks, Holmes, Tubbs,
Two hall of famers and a very talented underachiever with a combined record of 103-3 couldn’t last 7 full rounds with a 21 year old Tyson— Combined.

 

Just because Teddy says so doesn't make it so.

 

Teddy Atlas is one of the dumbest motha****as on the planet.

 

After Tyson apologized to Teddy for coppin a feel on Teddy’s girlfriend’s niece, both Mike and the girl being teenagers at the time, Teddy invited Mike to an event for Teddy’s foundation. Mike declined. And then declared war on Mike again.

 

He should have performed better in both fights though.. That is the point he is making as soon as he came up against some resistance he failed or looked for a way out

 

Tubbs and Thomas were awesome fighters

 

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/teddy-atlas-has-lost-his-mind-tyson.615841/#post-19435661

 

Teddy my friend, you don't think that being out on your feet against Tucker (left uppercut early doors), Bruno (left hook R5) and Ruddock (left hook R10 rematch), 6ft5 monsters, and coming back to win doesn't take mental toughness and boxing greatness? He was losing against Douglas and went down fighting, dropping Buster heavily with that uppercut for 10 seconds...

He TOOK the Holyfield rematch and went toe2toe with him AGAIN, a man with a neck bigger than Tyson's himself, and who attempted to break Mike's arm and headbutt him before Mike ever nibbled.

He took his beating like a man against Lennox and didn't stop throwing the right hand right up to the ending punch. Bruno was throwing BOMBS in their rematch that just whistled past his head, and Mike was in that firing line the whole time, a guy who had hurt him very badly previously...

 

Source ?

Tyson has a brother in the Navy who went through he same living conditions as him but never assaulted women or jumped people in the street.

 

Chances of having the same father?

 

Gotten into many fights with super casuals over which of his victories combine to produce a resume greater than X other HW's off the top of my head. They only ever respond with, "he was beating up grown men!" or "doesn't matter who they were, look what he did to them!"