Tommy Burns vs Mike Tyson

Johnson immediately went to a doctor after the fight to see if there was some treatment for sore/broken ribs. So, apparently there was some damage being done.

Also, in regards to a statement made above, Tommy had a really long reach, longer than Johnson's. Do not assume his reach was less than Tyson's.

And of course, given size, style, strength and the development of the sport, Tyson creams Tommy in a couple rounds.

 

There is some dispute about this.

Johnson aparently went swimming the day after the fight.

On the other hand he did actualy alow Burns to punch him to thye body and taunt him a few times.

 

Where is Cottodabodykill to defend his man? :think

 

With Burns being 5 7in ,its a natural assumption that his reach would be correspondingly short.What you have to take in to account is that Byrd was 6 foot and weighed 215 when he fought Tua,though not a puncher himself,he defused others power by his evasive thechnique.Burns was a sound box fighter ,but would be severely diadvantaged with modern heavyweights due to his stature .Tua is no great fighter and a boxer can make him look rather silly ,as his feet are pretty slow,but his hand speed is good and he carries his legitimately serious power into the later rounds ,add to this he had a top chin and Burns has everything going against him imo.

 

Your points are well taken and I don`t disagree with anything you said frankly, its just that in my mind`s eye I see Tyson storming out of the gates and looking for the quick KO, and getting it. Burns was good, but Mike was a cut above and would have proved it in devastating fashion.

 

I've seen Burns reach listed from 74 to 76 inches. Tyson's is 71 inches. Not that it would really matter in this match-up. Burns was a 19th century style toughguy who fought at welter on up and realistically was a lightheavy in his prime. Though I think Burns should be given more credit than he usually is, he would be no match for Tyson.

 

I thought Burns had a 78 inch reach.

 

I posted Burns reach earlier in this thread.

 

Burns badly outboxed Marvin Hart over 20 rounds so I dont think him beating Tua is out of the question.

Especialy if it is the version that came to the Byrd fight.

 

I certainly wouldnt describe Burns as a 19th century tough guy. He is one of the best infighters that I have seen on film.

If you scaled him up to 200 lbs he would probably be more dangerous than Tyson!

I would further suggest that he was little more than a middleweight when he won the title from Marvin Hart. He was actualy scheduled to fight for the middleweight title when the offer for a fight with Hart came through!

 

Burns could legally have laid claim to the LH title when he beat O Brien in 1907,since O Brien was the reigning LH Champ,and both scaled inside the LH limit ,Burns 175,O Brien 163 1/2.

 

Damn shame he didnt.

It would have really put his heavyweight acomplishments in perspective.

 

I'm not saying he was without science. I just meant he had that 19th century tenacity. Hell, he kept getting up against Johnson and stayed in their until the police stopped it. And yeah, he was a fat light heavy at best. I do not think he is given enough credit as a fighter.

 

I quite agree Burns was a damn good fighter,took his title around the world,eventually met his nemesis,though he was pretty sure he would lose,["they want me to fight that n****r Johnson,I don't think I can beat him ,but,I will give him the fight of his life"] .Burns would ,could ,and should have been a double champ,maybe even a triple champ ,if he had tried early for the Middleweight crown.