Tyson vs. Sullivan, Fitz, Jeffries on the Same Night

Evolved.

Every other measurable sport with regards to times has evolved from the 70s or 80s. There are no athletics records left, no swimming records left etc. So, one can only assume that if you truly believe this, then your top 10 will have nobody before 1980 in it, including Muhammed Ali. Is this the case.

And by the way, i should have said every measurable sport except for billiards, because no one in billiards has managed to get near the the level of 1920s legend Walter Lindrum, presumably for the same reasons that boxing hasnt really evolved.

 

Gloves or no gloves ?

 

Foreman fought 5 men in one night and could only knock out 3 - and they were mostly journeymen under 200 lbs.

So, I don't see Tyson having much chance of KOing 3 world champions in one night. In fact, if he can't run through Fitz and Sullivan in 2-3 rounds each, then he is going to get absolutely brutalized by the bigger, stronger, granite-chinned toughman Jeffries. Jefferies is basically the worst kind of opponent for Tyson - very hard to KO, very strong, world-class stamina, mentally very tough.

 

Fixed. :good

 

There are two types of sports - ones which are measured in units, and one's which are measured against fellow competitors only. Running, jumping, shot put etc are measured in units and all show progression. Sports like boxing or baseball are measured against the opposition at the time and don't show any progression at all e.g. Ty Cobb still holds the best average, Babe Ruth the best home run % etc.

Since one can only compete against the same era, then a 2010 boxer versus a 1910 boxer must be downsized because if they fought in 1910 the modern boxer would be smaller, weaker etc, and if they fought in 2010 then the old-timer would have modern nutrition, training, genetics etc. The only way that wouldn't be true is if you used a time machine.

So, boxers can only be assessed by their abilities relative to the opposition of the day.

 

If we are using the size argument, then Jefferies is taller, heavier, and with a longer reach than Tyson. Jeffries was also better conditioned than Douglas or Tyson ever was.

 

Tyson in that vid sure looks like he would have no trouble with a bigger, stronger, rangier fighter with a great chin, right? Just look at the way his conditioning keeps him active in the later rounds

 

But not in the same night. See the Foreman vs 5 journeymen fight night for an example. Besides, you are talking about proven world champions, not green journeymen - huge difference.

 

There is no evidence for Jeffries being 'better conditioned', Tyson was amazingly conditioned in the 80s are you basing this on Jeffries fighting 30round fights at 1mph speeds?

Most fighters are taller/rangier/heavier than Tyson but he's destroyed the big men of the 80s/90s that outsized Jeffries by some measure. Jeffries has never beaten a man over 200lbs, never taken the power and always had a size advantage, even when 210lb Johnson treated him like a rag doll

 

Tyson's knocked out more than that many skilled much larger boxers, with more modern skills in sparring sessions with bigger gloves and head gear

Maybe Foreman was pacing himself or not going full on given it was an exhibition, journeymen are also very adept at surviving sometimes more so than champions who come to win

 

Regardless of that the amount of intensity in Tyson's work and continuing that round of round takes massive amounts of stamina and he was supposedly pretty damn quick with his roadwork

Doing more rounds doesn't mean you have more stamina, it means you do more rounds, your opponent is just as tired as you are, and usually you both conserve energy and drop the pace.

Its like saying an average marathon runner has more stamina than Bekele because the marathon runner goes further