Tyson vs Tucker segement on ESPN. Did you know.

not that durable? Larry Holmes had never been stopped before, and even well into his 40s and 50s fighting top contenders HE STILL never got stopped, tyson knocked him out cold in 4 rounds

spinx never knocked out before, blasted out in 91 seconds


pinklon thomas never knocked down before, blasted out in 6


tony tubbs down only once in his career leading up to the tyson fight, did some kind of disco dance when tyson hit him with one punch


when tyson hit you, whether you were granite chin or not, you did funny things. thats real power.

 

I don't think it works like that. I'm not saying Tyson would blow all the greats away in a hail of red, but we can't take one or two results and say well he won't beat or KO this one or that one. Tucker was big with a top chin and fought meekly. He didn't let his hands go much at all, and one cannot beat Tyson much less anyone this way. If the greats fight this way well Tyson will decision most. The thing is tho this is why they were great - they will be in there to win and therefore open up Tyson's own offensive opportunities and chances of stopping them.

I could pick apart every heavyweight ever using this angle.

I would never say he was invincible but he was a heckuva lot more than "a formidable offensive fighter when the other guy froze, played into his game plan or was not that durable." That's selling his ridiculously short.

Tyson was poleaxing many durable guys who had never been poleaxed before, certainly not in the fashion he cut them down in. Berbick went 15 rounds with peak Holmes easily, Thomas had never been stopped and in fact never been even dropped against such worthy opposition as Witherspoon, Weaver, Berbick and the huge hitting Coetzee. Tubbs had fought eons of top rated Heavyweights and never been stopped. The list goes on and on.

Tyson made boxers fight into his gameplan. I think claims of freezing would also not be giving him his due.

 

Tyson's Knockouts were almost always comical, his opponents legs would usually just freeze up and they'd fall in a strange heap or get up and fall multiple times ala Berbick.

 

Tyson had some cool KOs because, with him being so much shorter than his opponents, they would always try to lean on him to keep themselves upright.

He would land a punch, take a step back, and his opponents would - quite literally - fall flat on their faces.

 

fair points and I'm guilty of coming down heavy on Tyson because of the amount of over-egged analysis of his abilities.

There's one above about granite chins that makes no mention of Tucker, Smith, Tillis, Green or of course Holyfield.

One thing I will say though is that Tyson's game was early KOs, that's how he set up his stall. I wouldn't criticise others for winning without the devestating KO.

I guess I bring this one up because it's never listed as an example of Tyson in his mythical 'prime'. Tyson could be extended by less than stellar opposition just like any other fighter.

Holmes doesn't have a Buster Douglas loss on his career, neither does Frazier, Louis... the older guys are more difficult to gauge but once they became champions Johnson and Dempsey were old before they were bettered. So much of what is written about Tyson is couched within convenient parameters and I thought I'd throw in a few inconvenient ones....

 

Yeah, i had the feeling you were reacting to praise you thought was over the top. It often is - Tyson polarises opinion more strongly than almost any fighter ever.

Of course not, to each his own style. I also wouldn't hold it against Tyson that he didn't KO Green, Tucker and co. in his usual fashion since he won and won well anyways. A less dynamic fighter would be given kudo's for a solid 9-3 win over a Tucker.

Tyson was just like Liston, Foreman and co - they couldn't poleaxe everyone everytime and nor did they even poleaxe subpar opposition everytime. I would certainly never argue your point. Such a fighter has never lived.

Nothing like the truth, i just thought you took things a bit far which you more than explained.

My view is that those other greats (Ali, Frazier, Lewis, Louis, Marciano etc)had much much better mental mettle than Tyson and had longer more consistent careers due to this. In the greatness stakes therefore they are deserving of higher ground. I truly believe Tyson burnt out more than got found out but certainly don't feel he was unbeatable. I think post Spinks or whatever small signs were there he was slipping and read some good insight saying such. He then robbed himself of the chance to salvage a good share of his reputation back by going to jail.

Some of the frustrations and struggles he had when no longer at his best however give us insight that he wouldn't be cutting a swathe thru all the greats. I do think tho that he'd certainly have his share of wins - and plenty of losses too. I readily pick Ali, Lewis and Holyfield and would make Holmes and Foreman small faves too. I think Tyson will definitely find some wins among the rest tho, Liston, Marciano, Frazier, Louis, Dempsey et al. That's just guesswork of course and we will never know, but that's about where he stands for me personally. Noway are they all beating him including my listed faves, not a chance IMO.

 

Punchstats :

TYSON
Total - 216/412 (52%)
Jab - 77/155 (50%)
Power - 139/257 (54%)
Average = 18/34

TUCKER
Total - 174/452 (39%)
Jab - 73/216 (34%)
Power - 101/236 (43%)
Average = 15/38

 

I believe Tucker went INTO the fight with a bad right hand, and I believe he finished the fight with a broken right hand. But that's all part of the game.

He did okay. Tucker was an okay fighter, nothing special. Fought a load of bums most of his career. I wouldn't even rate him among the top 10 heavyweights of the 80s, and I'm not overly impressed by his contemporaries.

 

:rofl

I love watching those.

 

Tucker was a very well schooled boxer who on the face of his last victory (winning the vaccant IBF against Jamie Douglas) in many peoples eyes would be completely outgunned by a merciless Tyson. Instead Tony came to the ring with a purposeful attitude against Mike and did make it respectful for about 4 rounds.. but none the less was always onto a loser.. Mike was always really in control even though he did get hit clean by a great uppercut on the ropes in the 1st.... It was really a comfortable win for Tyson...

Tony is a great favorite of mine.. (chek the avatar..)

 

Mmm, Afro Tucker! Nice one.

Like you say, through the first 4 rounds it was good and competative. But Tucker seemed to go into his shell, which you can blame on the hand injury but he did do it in other fights too, in the face of Mike's aggression.

Thought Tucker had a good 10th. But apart from that, the last 2/3rds of the fight was clearly in Tyson's favour.

 

BTW, you saw that right. Tyson outjabbed a guy with at least a six inch height advantage who was supposedly handicapped by a RIGHT HAND. So let me get this straight: Your right hand is injured and your best weapon is a left jab and yet you still get outjabbed by a guy that short? In my mind Tyson was doing a lot more to render Tucker ineffective than some on this board are giving him credit for.