Tyson vs Tillis - who really won??

First of all... I think Tyson clearly beat Tillis. It was a moral victory for Tillis, nothing more.

Second... even though Holmes was older when he fought Holyfield ('92) than when he fought Tyson ('88), he was much better vs. Holyfield.

When Holmes faced Tyson he had not fought for 2 years or won a fight in 3. He did not take Tyson serious (big mistake) and even recorded an album during training camp.

When Holmes faced Holyfield he had a new found hunger for boxing. Holmes had won 6 fights in a row leading up to his fight with Holyfield. He had even beat a previously undefeated Ray Mercer with ease.

1999 Holyfield vs. 1988 Holmes? Holyfield wins a close decision... probably not by KO though.

1992 Holyfield vs. 1988 Homes? Holyfield wins a clear decision... it's easier than his actual fight with Holmes.

 

Like i said before, total bull****, there are dozens of articles out there which talk about Foreman and Tyson. Tyson also Ktfod Orlin Norris and the only reason Tyson didnt get to wipe the floor with Holyfield was because he was rotting in prison. By the time they did fight 'Iron' Mike was now 'Rusty' Mike

 

This fight shows how comical are the opinions of those people who think Tyson would KO Klitschko in 2 or 3 rounds. Here, a prime Tyson can't even knock out a journeyman!

 

Yeah I recall a magazine special devoted entirely to Tyson prior to his release from prison in which he discussed certain fights in his career and he said that he may have got a hometown decision against Tillis.

This is partly why I was surprised when I actually saw the fight that Tyson won as easily as he did.I was expecting something far closer.

 

In all seriousness...

-After a frustrating initial round Tyson knocked down a shot Norris after the bell and was lucky to get away with a draw. Norris hurt his knee and wasn't able to continue, he was certainly not knocked the **** out.

-Holyfield earned $6 million for the fight. He was originally scheduled for a $30 million payday to fight top-ranked [url]

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[/url] who withdrew because of a rib injury. The original replacement was [url]

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[/url] who was also injured in training. Thus, Cooper was a short-notice replacement's replacement. Cooper earned $750,000 for the fight. [url]http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:5688[/url]

 

Which 19 year old fighter would have beaten Tillis easier than Tyson beat him?

 

-Ok, the "age excuse" is getting a bit silly. That poor green "one month shy of 20" Tyson would go on to unify all the major titles less than a year down the road in the apex of his career. So lets not pretend he was a raw prospect not even close to his best. Nobody did or has done what he did since given his age..he is the youngest Champion in history afterall.

-Tillis was simply more game than usual after learning of a dairy allgery that previously hindered his performances; in addition to being a difficult style match up for Mike in the first place. It happens.

-You got to love Tyson fanatics. Outside of his one minute blow out of Spinks...every other performance needs an *. Too young, too old, too crazy, too sane...etc. Its absurd.

 

...except Tyson had already been stopped in 10 by James Buster Douglas :deal

 

The other Buster got lucky. Buster Mathis fought a prime, focused Tyson who was moving his head.

 

Its not an excuse. Tyson was clearly green into his career, going up against a guy who was a pretty good technician. Tyson clearly won the fight, and Im sure in the process learned quite a bit coming away from the experience. Afterall, Tillis was chosen because they felt he was mentally soft, but offered enough of a boxer mover style to give Tyson experience to fight for the title against Berbick, who they expected to offer Tyson a similarly styled challenge.
Wladmir Klitschko on the other hand, if we want to talk about excuses was 24-0 when he lost to Ross Purrity, the same Purrity who had been soundly defeated by 19-0 and 12-0 no amatuer experience Mike Grant and Hasim Rahman.

 

LOL, and the great Wlad was in fact knocked out by a journeyman.

 

What's with all of the Bert Cooper bull****? Cooper had potential but never lived up to it. He had power but it takes much more than that.

He beat Norris by 8th round TKO due in large part to a Norris knee injury... the same injury that resurfaced vs. Tyson 9 1/2 years later.

He dropped Holyfield but have you all really seen this? Holyfield was hit with a good shot and he used the ropes to keep from going all of the way down... it was a legit knockdown but don't get it twisted. Cooper lost every other round of the fight and actually did lose the fight (LKOby7).

Cooper didn't even show up vs. Foreman LKOby2 and Bowe LKOby2. He fought well vs. Bowe in the 1st round and fell apart in the 2nd.


Moorer stopped him in 5 but he dropped Moorer twice.

Carl Williams stopped him in 8, so did Reggie Gross (who Tyson stopped in 1).

Perhaps his best KO win was vs. Joe Hipp, KO5.

He won close decisions vs. Henry Tillman and Tyrone Booze at CW. He was stopped in 7 by Nate Miller at CW.

Joe Savage was a joke as a pro boxer! He may or may not have gone 42-0 (42) as a bareknuckle fighter but who really cares??? If I fought my next door neighbor 42 times I'd be 42-0 (42) as a bareknuckle fighter as well.

Savage spent 1 minute and 41 seconds in the ring as a pro boxer and retired with a mark of 0-1 thanks to Bert Cooper.

I also thank Bert Cooper for stopping Richie Melito in the 1st round. Melito was a joke who had a record of 18-0 (17) but some of his fights may have been fixed.

 

:bloodWhat? Frustrating round? Tyson was going into that fight to get some rounds in. Norris was chosen for that. Tyson missed a couple shots but performed quite well in that first round. This would have been a good fight for Tyson. He was clearly holding back and not going full steam offense. As much as Tyson made a poor decision hitting at the bell, Norris punked out by faking a knee injury. You can clearly hear Mike Marley (his manager), telling Norris not to fight on, and stay on his stool. Norris has later said he could have continued.

 

-Asking if any 19 year old could do better against Tillis is an asinine paradox.

-Wlad is another story for another thread.

 

I am not saying that Wlad would beat Tyson, but rather that it's far from given that Tyson would KO Wlad as most people seem to think.