Tyson vs Mathis Jr- Jeez

I agree, Cooper could have drug a post prison Tyson into deep waters no doubt. Both were 5'11 stocky dudes who loved throwing those powerful left hooks. So someone would have gotten nailed hard at some point and we'd have an all out war.

 

Cause I am talking about the 88 Tyson, not the 96 version.

 

Forgive me if this has already been answered, but Mike's big problems with Bowe would include a superior inside game, easily equally devastating uppercut, and a much better jab.

Bowe's big problem would be his tendency to get hit WAY too much. I don't think that would serve him well against Mike in the 80s. I think Mike would end up hurting him too often. Mike by majority decision.

Against this Mathis/Mike though...Mike wouldn't make it to the end of the 8th round imo.

 

I don't think any version of Mike beats Frazier from '68 to '71. Period. Joe gets knocked down? Gee whiz, he always bounces back up, clapping his gloves together and ready to go. Mike goes down? It's the end of the fight.

 

I am not convinced Bowe had a good chin. He was very easy to hit, got wobbled by light hitters, he avoided many big punchers in his career. Tommy Morrison dropped him in sparring. Sure Bowe will take the fight to Tyson and will trouble him but like Holyfield said Tyson only gets discouraged and demoralized when he realizes that he can't hit or hurt you.

I think Bowe is too stationary, careless and ultimately chinny for Tyson. He is not a feather fisted guy like Holyfield. A lot of opponents Bowe took long to get rid off or struggled with, Tyson demolished very easily and early.

Plus let's face it, Bowe blatantly ducked Lewis, is he really up for a shoot out with Tyson?

 

The Marvis Frazier fight also happened.

 

Lol sure, he will get back up and Tyson will knock him down again and repeat. Like Father like Son, Joe was a slow starter with just a left hook, Tyson at his best had way more tools

 

It was only Tyson’s second fight in four years and the first one was against a guy who wasn’t even a top 100 fighter. That and Mathis for all his shortcomings had pretty good upper body movement. I wouldn’t take this fight as a benchmark for how a 100% Tyson would do against the Fraziers and Marcianos of the world...

 

Well a rusty Tyson did make the adjustment by changing the angles and spacing with respect to Mathis style in the end. I don't see a 1985-88 Tyson missing that many punches against the same style. In his autobiography Tyson admitted after Prison his timing and accuracy had badly eroded and he felt the same in sparring even before stepping in the ring against McNeely

 

Tyson's footwork was never the same after getting rid of Rooney. He became a straight flat footed fighter. In his prime just watch his footwork and when he is launching combinations ie left hook, right hand, he is automatically wired and trained to move his feet back, forth, to the side to allow maximum leverage for each punch. Rooney explained and showed this perfectly in the post fight HBO Tyson Spinks show where he explained the bulk and the secret of Tyson's power and punches come from how exactly he is moving his feet to allow for maximum power in each punch and shoulder snap.

In addition to his slipping defence, it was him not having the same legs, walking in predictable straight lines and just throwing his punches in a flat footed manner as early as the Bruno 1 fight which is astonishing. Rooney in an interview highlighted this that he could easily pin point a hundred mistakes in that Bruno 1 fight and that his fighter was no longer practicing the skills he used to properly.

 

This content is protected

Watch film 2:52:00 to

Rooney explains he is trying to work on Tyson to get rid of his habit on initiating clinches

Also watch from 2:52:45 to 2:55:30 where Rooney explains the science and secret behind how Tyson applies maximum power behind every punch when he launches combinations and body attacks. Rooney then talks about he is working with Tyson on body work, inside fighting and getting out of the habit of initiating clinches. He also talks about how he rolls his feet back and forth to add maximum power to each punch he throws and the shoulder snap he generates behind each punch.

Tyson after Rooney abandoned all these things. You have to be kidding me to not notice how he became very flat footed and square on with his style

 

I agree. He wasn’t the same after that prison stint nor even immediately after the loss to Douglas. The very pinnacle of Tyson’s career was the Spinks fight.

 

Yeah, but your post highlights that Tyson wasn't a finished article yet.
Rooney knew he was still a work in progress. Even in his prime Tyson didn't have a good inside game.

That's a great video. Thanks for posting. It confirms what I've been saying about Tyson for years.

 

Cannot beat this forum for comical value......

Life in turmoil due to bad decisions before jail neglecting training and honing his boxing skill.........going in for 4 years...........coming out to make some coin but your heart is no longer in it but your god given talent carries you thru 98% of your opponents..........fighting a total bum first and what a surprise, the first semi life fighter he met he looked wild against until he adjusted and ko'ed said foe.....

Mike Tyson was a completely different fighter after jail, full stop.

Joe Frazier goes to sleep against pre prison Tyson 10 out of ten, he aint got the chin, defense , movement or a jab to deter Tyson.........Fraziers face looked like a moon crater in all of his signature wins, he was NOT hard to put leather on, was wobbled and knocked down by sub par opposition and the very first major league raw puncher he met he was bounced around like a ping pong ball TWICE.

Frazier has the FOTC against a rusty declined Ali, after that he went 0-4 against Ali/Foreman, stopped three times, two time in uncompetitive fashion...........dem are the facts.

It stands to reason no Ali exile Frazier never becomes the champ.

 

Post-prison Tyson against Frazier would be a pretty damn good fight though.