The myth about Tyson's weak opposition

Not realy, because Dempsey was a legit ATG, as opposed to a one hit wonder.

That alows us to back him a bit more emphaticaly in these sort of fantasy fights.

 

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I bet he was talking **** as usual

 

Douglas kicked his ass.

 

That cannot be known.
Dempsey was only 188 pounds anyway.

 

They were GLORIOUS BEAUTIFUL GODS !

 

No dominant champions has genuinely fought weak opposition, unless he has missed out some significant players.

There is no such thing as a weak era.

 

I agree in a sense, but I also think that one division in particular has undergone an evolution by mere fact of its uncapped top end... the heavies.

But yes, you are basically correct. A lot of "would have or could have been greats" had their careers thwarted by a great in his prime.

 

It's true .. no one that stands up to a sick Miske, a tiny Gibbons or a highly skilled Firpo in the bunch .. maybe if they were 37 and had one fight in four years they'd meet your standard of excellence ..

 

I think you're over selling these guys a bit, but in general I agree. His opposition wasn't at all bad. Most of them were well trained men with amateur pedigree, decent size, skills, punching ability and in most cases reasonable age and recent activity levels. Ruddock is another one I'd ad to that list. Tyson also didn't fight during an era where people of certain color or background were pushed to the back of the bus, while lesser men got a shot at the brass ring.

 

Care to tell us how many of the above had either, drugs, booze, or mental health issues at the time they fought Tyson?

As for bigging up Frank Bruno, please? Even in the UK he was only loved because of his personality, not his ability.

 

I don't think I'm overselling them at all .. all had excellent size and athleticism .. all were in their prime years excluding Holmes .. all were doing off career highs .. all had pretty extensive experience fighting n world class levels .. here are the men:

Berbick
Smith
Thomas
Tucker
Briggs
Holmes
Tubbs
Spinks
Bruno
Williams

Name me ten better opponents any other heavyweight champ defeated let alone in as dominant a fashion .. Tyson may not have lost a dozen rounds in all these fights combined ..

 

Through out all of boxing history you had contenders and even champions who had bad lifestyle habits, ie. Drugs, booze, prostitutes, poor training habits, bad eating habits and distractions outside the ring.. While its true that Tyson fought men who's lifestyle choices were less than perfect, he certainly isn't the only one to face such a crowd. In addition, its unclear as to exactly how much drug use was really going on at the time of his meetings with those men, weather or not they were addicted, how badly it affected them, etc.. Tony Tubbs for example, got busted a few times in his career with traces of Marijuana in his system, so all of a sudden the guy is labeled as a "junky." Getting high on pot every once in a while is hardly what most should consider as a "drug problem", and it certainly doesn't ensure that he will be badly effected in the ring..

 

I think Muhammad Ali, and possibly Lennox Lewis could beat or at least match that list... Holyfield would come fairly close himself, and Holmes fought a highly comparable roster including half the men who are already on there..But I'm not disputing that its a good list...

 

So they were good but damaged goods for their Tyson bouts? Care to back it up with fact ?

Berbick was coming off his biggest win.
Pinklon Thomas was twenty nine and only had one loss, a close decision to Berbick
Bonecrusher had just koed Witherspoon in a single round
Tucker just won the title by stopping Buster Douglas
Briggs was an undefeated former Olympic gold medalist
Tubbs was thirty years old with only one decision loss on his record.
Spinks was undefeated former two division champion
Brunomwas huge, powerful, could box and punch like a monster he would have taken Firpo out in about a minute and would never been allowed in the ring against a Carpentier, a LaStarza, a ****ell or maybe fifteen of Louis' title challengers.