What are peoples memories of Tony ? He went the distance with a prime Tyson,claiming an injured hand, some reports said it was done in training some in first or second round. His father mismanaged his financial affairs and allegedly there were lifestyle issues,but after another string of wins it took a prime Lennox to beat him.
Good fighter who like a lot of fighters could have been great. With the right fights, lined up in the right order Tucker would unquestionably have been a great fighter. As it stands in back to back fights he fought the best version of both Douglas and Tyson. Considering he beat the man who beat the man it was no disgrace losing to prime Tyson with a bad hand. ALL it takes is not getting the right fights at the right time, injury, management issues and boxing politics to get in the way for it not to happen. Tucker spent 6 years treading water as a prospect before beating Douglas then lost to prime Tyson in his next fight. From there Tucker had only one fight in two years then landed just 2 rated opponents he barely beat from his next 13 outings before getting a prime Lewis. It is no coincidence that great fighters get the right number of the right opponents to allow them to progress to their potential. It is no coincidence that the greatest fighters got their chance to fight champions who best suited them at the right time.
thanks for that choklab.. in his early years apparantly his father kept him away from tough fights. he had sold so many shares in him for up front cash.. when the big pay day came there was no money left after all the shareholders were paid....not sure what the exact truth was about the hand but he certainly wasnt scared of Tyson and he acquited himself with credit against Lewis and of course beat Douglas. Later declined and late career defeats do not do his record justice..like many fighters...
obviousalt... yeh your last post is a fair point..you couldnt say he beat X or Y or Z....he just looked so competent against Tyson and in his prime it took 2 all time greats to beat him, he must have been a very competent fighter.
Did eny1 woch or hez hiz fait vs McCall ? transleishen : Did anyone watch or has his fight vs McCall ?
Good fighter who unfortunately got caught up with several problems.Have a tape of a fight of his on ESPN vs Al Jones from 1981.The potential was definitley there.
Aside from Holyfield, hes the only other guy who fought both Lewis and Tyson and was stopped by neither. Id argue he fought much better versions of both than Holyfield did. Between them Tyson/Lewis stopped Golota, Ruddock, Bruno, Botha, Biggs
He was quite good against Mike Tyson for a few rounds till he went into survival mode. He was certainly one of Don King's favourite fighters. There was a phase when he'd suddenly leapfrog into the number one contender's position,two or three times,without beating anyone of any quality.
