Here's some videos I just found recently, pretty good stuff. Tyson sparring Mcall: [yt]eYdZt1ZpXg0[/yt] [yt]uxZD387rt3s[/yt] Here's a video of Mike sparring with James Tillis later in his career. Notice the difference in Mike Tyson compared to their early fight. [yt]2BiAV_DSbYg[/yt]
Oliver was Mikes sparring partner for a long while, in fact one of the first people Oliver hung out with after his release from Jail was Oliver... They used to go to clubs out of town and fool around with women etc... When Oliver was WBC champ he and Mike became regular buddies.... I think if Bruno hadn't messed the whole project up, McCall was ging to be the title holder that would be fed to Mike by Don KIng after Mike comeback from Jail.. It was to be the moneyspinner, but it became Bruno who landed the Tyson rematch at MGM en route to the Holyfield matches..
Tyson had very solid sparring back in the day. Not sparring partners who he could just run over, but guys who made him work! It was proper sparring. One the competition of your sparring decreases it has a big effect on the fighter! You no longer improve at the rate at which you once did! The Tyson who came out of jail did not have guys such as the quality of Tillis or McCall in preparation. I think this was a big hinderance to Mike! Kevin Rooney would never, ever have allowed Mike to spar guys who he would be able to just beat upon! Rooney knew sparring was a learning experience! As for the footage, I'm a bit surprised McCall exited the session that early. Ok, he got hit in the hip bone, which hurts anyway, let alone getting hit by Tyson, but I didn't think he would be easily discouraged as he was! Nice move off the ropes by Tyson by the way. Highlights his once great footwork & anticipation!
I don't think I'd want a Tyson caliber puncher hitting me near my junk for **** poor sparring money either.
