Tyson vs Larry Holmes

During the first fight although Razor threw some tough shots he too often looked shabby and vulnerable , which eventually led to the referee stepping in and saving him whilst he appeared sloppy and almost at the end of his game.. Had he been a little more driven and single minded , and even a bit better conditioned he may have got to mike.. The second fight he just showed a desire to merely survive and not drive Mike back.. Razors heart was not as big as Douglas's .. a great opportunity wasted , who knows , had he pushed harder and showed more comitment he may have replicated Busters solid feat.....

 

DAM SWEET PEA IT WAS IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO HIS LACK OF PROOF TO HOW NO ONE EVER STOOD UP TO A PRIME TYSON .

ALSO TO GET HIM PISSED .

WHY WERE YOU INTRESTED:huh

 

well im a tyson fan so o well i retract every thing i said atsch

 

have you guys watched the whole fight? they show it on espn classic once per month. holmes didn't win any of the previous rounds and only had a couple of decent spurts before getting pummelled.
prime holmes would've been a true test for tyson in his peak years because of his top notch jab. but no way is holmes a clear favorite imo. despite being shorter, if witherspoon can give a not too old holmes all he can handle something tells me that the much quicker and more skillled tyson would give holmes fits.

 

damn, i forgot how fast tyson was

 

You put weight on his Lewis and Williams fights...?

 

Those were nice words from Tyson; they feature near the start of the documentary 'Champions forever'. A great documentary that but Ali, Norton and Frazier sound punch drunk and that was 1989!

Tyson could often be surprisingly gracious after fights; I reckon he was 'high' after fights on endorphins

 

Exactly, in his prime Tyson had the foot speed and hand speed which blinded his opponents. His speed was also his power. If you cant see the punch coming you cannot dodge it. The only way to neutralise it was to hold everytime he got inside, at his best though this just was not possible. People need to judge this ATG based on what he produced at his peak level rather than when he started his long decline in 1990, due to lack of commitment and complacency.

 

the only problem with that analysis is that the tyson who lost to douglas was under trained, unfocused in camp, and simply wasn't as good as the tyson of just a couple fights earlier. NOT saying that holmes couldn't beat a peak Tyson but its a toss up. Again see holmes witherspoon

 

But we´re talking BUSTER! Tyson should have beat him under trained, or not!

 

you do realize this same Holmes that was so brutally KO by a young mike tyson 5 year later would out box gold medal winner Ray mercer , extend a young Holyfield to 12 round and still have enough left in the tank to out box butter bean at the tender age of 53.

Holmes is a testament of how powerful and skilled a young tyson was, and how can anyone say that Cotto is the real deal and in the same breath say that tyson was phony when Cotto style looks almost identical to tyson's..

 

we all got our opinions but if you watch that fight, buster was awesome that night and had other very good performances (along with some clunkers). buster was erratic. but in tokyo especially he'd be a tough fight for any hw all time -- 6'4, excellent jab, extemely motivated with the passing of his ma, good quickness, top chin, very good power... find some flaws in his game that night, its hard.

and also it just wasn't that tyson was underprepared, he had let his skills decline for some time by that point

 

ahhh that tyson didn't even get "impregnated" by Douglas. Douglass beat him convincingly but Tyson did some damage and obviously floored him. That said as I just replied -- Douglass of that night would give peak Tyson fits and any HW for that matter.

 

yes, even though they were both out of Mikes better years , they still took the pressure route and pushed him back where most fellers stood and gave too much respect to Mike allowing that edge to sway in Tysons favour.. The worst examples of that were Bruno and Seldon, they were terrified and battered before they left the dressing room..