Teddy Atlas says Tyson isn’t close to being an All Time Great [2017]

No bias from Teddy whatsoever...

 

For what it’s worth, most of Golovkin’s top opponents claimed that his power was overrated. Including Curtis Stevens, who withstood an absolute shellacking for 7+ rounds. But none of that fits the ridiculous “Golovkin hits as hard as a superheavyweight” agenda or matches what we can see in 2-second streamables, so what do they know, amirite?

 

That’s not how it works. We’re supposed to pick and choose the quotes that are most flattering to the fighters we hold in high regard, and dismiss all the other quotes as lies, sour grapes, or intentional hyperbole. Are you new here??

 

Teddy Atlas is a moron. By any metric or standard Tyson is an ATG. He wants to use a fight after 3 years in prison, when Tyson was a shadow of his former self and a drug addict while ignoring a 4 year run where he cleaned out the division, kept very busy and was winning in emphatic fashion against top talent.

If Tyson isn't an ATG, then neither are Johnson, Jeffries, Dempsey, Marciano, Liston, Frazier and Holmes.

 

Game quitter....good quote

 

Tyson was an ATG after he beat Spinks.

 

Tyson is a mother****in legend!

 

Tyson won the hwt championship when he beat Spinks.

Atlas is brilliant in his analysis. It’s very difficult for a truly knowledgeable historian to rank a fighter with a quitter mentality side by side with those that pushed forward under the harshest of situations refusing to quit.

 

It depends how you define "all time great".
Some people claim there are hundreds or even thousands of ATGs in boxing history.
At the other extreme I've read posts on this site that claim there are two dozen across all weights, at most - and maybe only one or two of them were heavyweights..
I think someone would have to be firmly in the latter extreme to conclude Tyson isn't even close to ATG.

It would be interesting to note how many heavyweights people do class as ATGs, and on their all-time HW list how close Tyson comes to the cut-off.
I think almost everyone will agree Tyson is firmly inside the ATG group ... but it becomes interesting seeing which fighters are more "borderline".
Some people make a distinction between a "great" and an "all time great" which is confusing too.

Teddy Atlas, however, generally talks out of his ass, so that's probably what's going on there.

 

Mike was a quitter, but let's take a completely objective look at his 80s accomplishments. I don't really count the Holmes, but even a cursory glance at what he did to Spinks and Thomas, Carl Williams, Bruno, Berbick...even those wins alone are no joke imo.

Especially the way he did it. He devastated those guys. Ate them up. He was perhaps the most ferocious champ ever in the division.

The quitting thing (not to mention a couple of embarrassing losses) take him out of the top 10 for me. But I have him at a strong 11. He was incredible...he just didn't have a champion's heart imo.

 

Someone please remind me all the specific fights which established Tyson as been a serial quitter?

 

Mike showed plenty of heart vs Douglas