After watching Mike Tyson repeats on Sky I noticed how Mikes workrate really was never that high- he was never a really busy boxer-unless he had someone hurt. When he was using body and head movement fromthe 19th fight onwards until the Bruno fight he was fantastic.
It's very vary difficult to answer this question. But my gyt tells me he got close, but didn't fulfil. I think Tyson could have been the third great heavyweight, along with Ali and Louis - as it is, I see him just inside the top 10.
He probably hit his peak around the time of the Spinks bout. He certainly didn't reach his full potential career-wise, but I think he was as good as he ever could have been when he fought Spinks.
I don't think he really went as far as his physical talent would have allowed him to go. But factor in his mentality and all of the distractions around him and he went very far. Could he have been champion for a longer period of time had he made the right decisions and stayed with Rooney? Yes. Immediately after Rooney was gone, you could see a decline in Tyson's game. Less head movement and more head hunting. He had the tools to become a top 5 heavyweight as well as the available competition to secure a stronger legacy, but from what he actually accomplished, I have him 12th.
Some people have to learn to accept that a destroyer never lasts long in boxing. Potential or not. When you win as easy as Tyson does, you get arrogant and start thinking you're invincible. Whether you're from the street or not. It happened to Foreman, it happened to Liston, it happened to Louis, it happened to Duran, etc etc; it is bound to happen to anyone with that kind of success. His style in the ring guarantees a short peak and that style in the ring usually comes with a wild lifestyle that makes for an even shorter peak. If Tyson stayed focused he would've probably had more success, but i strongly doubt he could've broken Louis or Ali in terms of longitivity. It's the Tyson's and Foreman's that are made out to be unbeatable, it's the "human" Ali's and Holmes' that turn out to have the greater career and in Foreman's case, take that aura of invincibility away.
Tyson was such an incredibly flawed person, it was with hindsight amazing that Tyson managed to stay on the rails long enough to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. So IMO he surpassed his potential, because with his flaws, I suspect being famous in such a pressure sport was the last thing he needed. And as a horrible price to pay, it will sadly help destroy him in the comming years... I hope I am wrong. Tyson should of been getting help for his obvious personality disorder, rather than of been in a ring learning to box. But then resolving his demons, would not of made anyone around him financially rich...
Tyson had developed very well regardless though. The only thing i can think of that he could improve was being a little bit more active on the inside, but i think it was his choice to rest there and wait to be seperated by the ref. He was developing by himself a bit by the way. For instance, he threw a triple jab against Tubbs, hadn't seen him do that before. I think d'Amato couldn't have added more quality to him (he already prepared him for the heavyweight championship for 5 years), but he could've added quantity, making him keep the title longer and knock Douglas out before 6 like he was supposed to.
I dont think that he did ever reach us so called peak. It is not his workrate which was the problem. It was about right given his style and economy of punches. There were however subtle refinments to his style that could have made him into an almost unbeatable fighter. I am talking mainly about shortening his punches and improving his infighting skills. Joe Louis for example did not really reach his peak untill his late 30s despite impresive performences early in his career. He continued tightening up his game untill he went into the army.
I think Tyson indeed realised his potential per how good could he get, just not for longevity. IMO he achieved his peak but could not maintain it as long as ideal circumstances would have allowed.
Tyson was groomed for greatness at a young age. He was adopted by Cus DAmato who beleive the teenaged Tyson would one day be the heavyweight champion of the world. D'Amato helped Tyson develop into a fighter both mentally and physically. The young Tyson was a scared fragile ego type. D'Amato taught Tyson that fear is ok, and how best to use it in the ring. Without D'Amato, Tyson would not have stayed at the top for as long as he did. Tyson focus began to slip when his trainer / father DAmato and good friend Jimmy Jacobs died out. Business man Clayton lacked the rapport with Tyson. Don King came in and stole Tyson. After that, Tysons life began spiral out of control. To answer the question, I do believe Tyson reached his potential around 1986-1987.
He reached his true potential in jail as a teenaged mugger who beat old ladies for change, as a twenty something ****** and as a thirty something assaulter of old men. Throughout his boxing career he routinely exceeded his true potential.
Tyson' peak was from 1986-89, but I certainly do not think he reached his full potential. You must not forget, Tyson was such a young guy & extremely advanced in terms of ability, power, speed, even defensive ability. There have been very few guys trhroughout the history of boxing who have been as good as Mike wasat the same age i.e twenty-one, twenty-two. Now take this how you wish, but I remember watching Larry Merchant & Kevin Rooney analysing the Spinks bout a few days after the fight happened. While Rooney was impressed & praised Mike for the performance, he stressed to Merchant that Mike still had a lot of improvement to make, & that Mike has done thnigs in the gym which he hadn't shown in the fight. If I were to asked how much more improvement Tyson needed to mae to reach his ultimate potenetial, we that's a hard one to gauge as Mike was a very skilled fighter. It's hypothetical, but having the interest & motivation is half the battle. If he would have stayed focused & had stayed with the correct people, he could have improved & become an even better fighter than he did. It didn't work out like that though, which is a shame in my view!
How is this relevant to his boxing? Anyway to answer the question, no he never got close to his true potential although he did show the makings of what could have been a clear argument for #1 on ATG lists. He achieved enough to make the bottom half of the top 10, but it was clear that unlike his contemporaries his career fell short of exceptations.
I doubt that any fighter would ever reach their full potential aged 23. There are always improvments of technique that can be worked in right up untill the fighter starts to decline physicaly. Tyson was never a finished work.
