Tyson/Douglas: Tyson got beat up by Berbick, Page and McCall in Sparring

Years ago, I read an interview with Berbick about how he (and others) were getting the better of Tyson in camp (even before he left for Japan). Tyson just looked "off" his game. And people in the gym wondered what was wrong with Tyson.

Physically he was fat and just out of shape which was part of the problem. Even when he arrived in Japan, he was still over-weight and used a crash diet to make weight. I think it was just one meal a day- Soup. Forget. but it's somewhere in one of my threads I posted up a while back from a list of articles before and after the fight. So it wasn't like it was "post-fight" excuses. They were written about before the fight.
But mostly, mentally, he was in a different world. No motivation.

Tyson has had lapses in training before; even while with Rooney. Tucker was on of them. He left camp and told some friends he thought about retiring. Its in one of the S.I. articles. But the Team got him back into camp.
Other Ex: Spinks. Tyson showed up at his heaviest for training camp and was even late to camp. In that camp, Tyson was not doing well early. In a sparring session, he was knocked down by McCall. McCall did say he got back up and fought on and must have gotten his act together because we saw the results with his fight with Spinks.

If I were to say what helped him get things back in order___I would say Rooney. Unlike the "Yes Men" that Tyson had later with Douglas, Rooney was a no b.s. guy. Which is also why some say he found his bags packed after Spinks. King wouldn't be able to run the show with a guy like Rooney there.

Interesting note about Spinks fight__after the fight, Tyson talked retirement. he seemed like he had enough of boxing.
But instead of following through with walking away intact with what he had built, he did it another way: He fired his team, lost his away in the desert; and let the vulchers come in and take him out.

so anyway, here is something similar:
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February 23, 1990|EARL GUSTKEY | TIMES STAFF WRITER
Matt Baranski and Johnny Tocco, veteran boxing trainers who have worked extensively with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, are wondering if Tyson will ever be the same after the beating he absorbed from Buster Douglas in Tokyo.
Before Tyson fired him and trainer Kevin Rooney in 1988, Baranski had worked as the cut man in Tyson's corner for 35 fight.

Baranski, who lives in Selkirk, N.Y., said Thursday that he had visited Tyson for an hour recently in nearby Catskill, N.Y., where Tyson lives, and found the former champion unwilling to even talk about the Douglas fight.
"He said he'd be back, that he'd get his title back, but that was about it," Baranski said. "He didn't want to talk about the fight. All he told me was, 'I'll be back.'
"When I asked him if he was interested in getting back with Kevin and me, the old team, he just kind of shrugged his shoulders.
"Right now, I think it's a case of pride . . . he doesn't want to swallow his pride.
"He took a beating, and he knows it. Mike has a lot to think about. I don't think Mike can be a better fighter than he was, not after this fight. But I think he'll beat Buster the next time. "People don't realize it, but Mike has taken a lot of shots in the gym. I didn't see him train for Douglas, but I've heard he looked really bad in sparring.

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and if that's true, then Mike is really gone.
"The ninth-round punches Mike took from Douglas hurt him more than the ones in the 10th that took him out."

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"To me, (Tyson) isn't the same (as) when the other people had him. He's too protected now. When Bill Cayton and Kevin Rooney had him, they'd walk in the gym, say hello to everybody, and work out with everyone else who was here.
"Now, (promoter Don) King's people walked in here the first day and ordered everyone out of the gym. I said, 'Hold it, I own this gym, not Don King. These guys stay.'
"Mike's problem is Don King, period. Here's a kid off the streets, a multimillionaire, a pretty bright kid actually. I give him a lot of credit for what he's done in a short time.
"But he's changed so much with King managing him. He doesn't have to make decisions for himself anymore. Used to be, he'd come in and talk to me in my office when he'd work out. Now, hardly ever.

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http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-23/sports/sp-1279_1_mike-tyson




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So anyway, the same Man that beat up Berbick for the Title at 20 years of age was now having a hard time with what was left of Berbick.

http://youtu.be/cCIC5ddjGP4

MENTALLY, Physically, and Technically___Tyson was no longer the same. And even if he could later get himself into Physical shape, technically there was a difference and Mentally, the high from fighting may have been lost for good. He did admit he was burnt out during by the second Ruddock fight.

And I did think after watching his career fights over again, he became more reliant on wanting to clinch after he left Rooney. It's very noticeable in the Douglas fight. One Punch, hurry up and clinch. It's like that is all he wanted to do and thought about: "Clinch." Usually he would Jab and punch his way in before even thinking about clinching. Now, he was all about just sticking his arms out to grab at Douglas to clinch up.

Douglas just didn't let it happen. He took advantage and used movements and combinations for the most part to tag Tyson up for not wanting to fight and get by on the big One punch.
The combination attack was incredible to watch from Douglas.




I've always found it interesting the Tyson/Douglas story. while one Man had his act together, Mentally, Physically, and Technically___Tyson__in order to make a blazing impact on the Sport, unifying the title__another Man, Douglas__was trying to find his way. Going up and down with all three attributes. Until that is, he got his act together, figured things out, got motivated, and got a shot at the title. All while the Man that had his act together, had been slowly losing it.

And what happened to Douglas as soon as he won the title?
It all went away. he lost site of___to quote what Floyd Patterson said (when asked to give advice to Tyson after his loss to Douglas)___"Remember

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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJOZPzmIJ2w[/ame]




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It was a crash diet. He was very over-weight when he showed up in camp. So much so that even when he arrived in Japan he had some fat on him still. The only way to strip the weight off was to eat as little as possible and train it off.

When you do not have adequate calories for your training and you are purposely starving yourself so that your body strips off weight as fast as possible because you are trying to get to your "ideal" weight in a hurry (despite the negative effects)....that's a crash diet.

Example: One bowl of soup a day for a 200+ pound athlete is not a proper diet to follow.

He starved his body of vital nutrients.

 

Yes there is. For Tyson there is.

Tyson's ideal weight was 215-220. That was his target weight.

A lot of HWs used to care about being "in shape." "Looking Good." Looking like a Pro.

They set goals and a target weight was one of them.

If you are to light, you might be weaker. If you are to heavy, you might be slower and have less stamina. So you make an ideal weight which works for you so that you are on top of your game.

Just because you are at HW and some other HWs don't care to have an "ideal" fighting weight___it doesn't mean others, like Tyson doesn't.

Wlad has one. Vitali has one. But most of the rest of the HWs today don't seem to care. And that's why they suck and the Klitschkos are Pros.

Tyson used to hover no more than 15 pounds over his fighting weight. This started to get out of hand around the Spinks fight (when he was still married). He showed up late and way over-weight.
And it got worse after Spinks and after he left Catskill/Gym. He became more inactive (because of King) and his weight ballooned up. We are talking 260-270 in some cases.

 

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