Tyson as a technician

Well , the defense definitly deteriorated with time, head-movement and guard was never as effective as in his peak-years

 

Tyson did a great job of keeping his hands up and moving his head, and throwing pretty safe and straight punches for a hard hitting heavyweight. He also did a good job of using his jab to set up his other punches

Tyson later in his career abandoned the jab and just threw big punches. It was still enough to beat most of the contenders anyway but not against the best. A lot of the things Tyson did relied on reflexes and speed and they deteriorate with time.

 

From a techinical standpoint he was a tier 1 composite puncher. He can throw any punch in the book fluently;

Left Hook, Right Hook, Uppercuts, Jab, Cross you name it.

His defense was stellar. Very underrated. For an aggressive fighter who constantly moves forward- the fact that he rarely got hit clean was nothing short of amazing.

He was a precision combination puncher never really relying on volume but relying on accurate punching. His speed and power of course helped.


Remember this is not only the last HW Champion to top the p4p lists, but the last HW Champion to do so consecutively

 

The problem was that they D'Amato peek-a-boo style is for young men. A poster once pointed out to me how demanding it was on the lower back. Once some of that flexibilty starts to go the whole set up becomes much more difficult to execute.

Tyson was not like a Holyfield or a Lewis, guys who worked on improving their skills throughout their career. He did not have the ability to adapt his game like they did, or Ali did, or Holmes, or even Foreman did (eventually).

 

Tyson is one of the most technically correct HWS of all time technically and physically he had everything except height and reach.

5,10 Tyson outjabbed good 6,5 HWS with good jabs

 

This is so true...he relied on explosiveness, quickness and reflexes - all something that is very much a young man's game.

What I think he did well - it wasn't so much technique as an instinctive talent - was to find his range and fluency very, very quickly. He could nail you with a lead left hook or right hand out of nothing. He had a good jab, but it wasn't so much a range finder so much as a tool to set up other punches.

I think his footwork was pretty impressive too...he had good balance, shifted his weight well and could move in on an opponent with a quick step, but always with control and balance. His defence and combination punching has been mentioned already...

Deficiences? I don't always like the way he threw the right hand. It often looped over his opponent's head. He was also far to prone to clinching.

 

^

Tyson was, technically, one of the best fighters you'll ever see on film - high hands, sharp movement, sharp punches.

The problem lay within his size. As well as he used the jab, it was a punch he was prone to over-reach with and his marauding intentions could be negated with educated side steps and a jab.

Tyson was unable to adapt later in his career because his style was probably the most physically demanding of all heavyweight champions - it was explosive, tight and sure to burn out.

 

Tyson had great hooks and uppercuts, and a very underrated jab. His jab was a pile-driver.

His defense was good but a bit predictable. He'd come in with his head weaving left-right-left-right like a windscreen wiper.

His flaws were his lapses in applying all his abilities in constant high levels of pressure over long fights, his willingness to clinch and be clinched, and his square-on foot position at close quarters (all of which contributed to an inability to be a great infighter)

 

Tyson, within his own style, was fundamentally flawless; it was the style itself that was flawed.

 

He occassionally had the bad habit of bringing his feet together when he was swarming inside, even in his prime, meaning he was momentarily offbalance although it wasn't easy to capitalize on this.

Other than that, from a textbook point of view it's difficult to fault his defense or punching, he turned his disadvantages into advantages and was great to watch.

His athleticism wasn't the only component of his which deteriorated, he stopped using his head movement, he stopped using the jab to get inside, and abandoned the systematic combination punching that took him to the top. He became a lumbering little headhunter with short arms and non-existent defense.

 

It was odd for a guy of his stature that he was not a great infighter.

 

In truth even if Tyson had stayed focused and never went to jail his style would have had diminishing returns from 28 and have totally wrecked his body by the age of 30 . With his explosive style you are not going to have a long carreer.

 

The style was not flawed perse.

The flaw lies in the fact that to execute the style at his best you need an athletism and explosiveness that 99,999999 % people dont have.

 

That's the flaw I meant.