Tyson would have declined even with Cus or Rooney.

We had never seen Tyson cut, bruised, staggered, or hurt in any fashion. Other boxers even said they had never seen anything like Tyson. My father who is not originally from America even said that Mike Tyson is iron ... That's what his reputation was ...even among people who don't even follow boxing originally from other countries


Of course he's a human being but it took 6'4" 240 lb Buster Douglas hitting Tyson all night with heavy punches to prove that he could be felled and beaten.

50-0 was the plan according to Rooney. And honestly, who was going to beat him if he had kept on a disciplined path and had kept Rooney in his corner? Douglas would have been beaten ... Holyfield hadn't juiced up to the level he did later on and would have been beaten ... Bowe is too hittable and would have been beaten ... Old Foreman isn't going to beat a young Tyson .... It wouldn't be until Lennox Lewis linked up with Steward that anyone would have a good chance of beating him

 

Great point

 

Very, very true. I too am quite saddened that Jacobs seems to have, as you say, almost been erased from memory.
He and Tyson were pretty close; Jacobs was one of the few Tyson respected and trusted.

 

I agree with almost all of that!
Still it remains true that nobody was stupid enough to believe "iron" literally.
Another small point: Buster Douglas was 231 when he fought Tyson, not 240. He was a fat 246 when he lost to Holyfield.

About how he would have fared in the early '90s...I think you are correct.
Although we have no idea if Hylyfield had juiced by then. Bowe...Likely he goes down, the others, even more likely.

The thing is due to Tyson's fragile mental state, it was always going to be increasingly unlikely over time that he held it together, such as to get to 50-0.

 

I think the decline was inevitable, based both on his style and personality; but I recall a documentary in the early 90s where Cayton was interviewed and said the plan he, Cus and Jacobs had laid out was to have Tyson retire by 30 as the youngest and richest HW champion in history. The plan was simple: train, fight, back to the gym. It’s easy to see how that plan would fall apart when you’re dealing with a 20 something kid from the streets suddenly exposed to fame and all it’s distractions and temptations, but also spoke that they understood the limitations of Mike’s mentality and high-energy style ...

 

Tyson needs guidance and support to perform ... He can't do it alone

He's not like Ali or other champions who didn't need that much support or guidance

 

Lets be real for just a minute. Tyson was stunned against Tucker, Smith and Bruno.

 

no

 

Smith stunned him in round 12 at the very end.

Bruno legitimately had him staggered but this was post Rooney

I don't remember Tucker hurting him.

So I will give you Smith stunning Tyson

 

Tucker nearly floored him in the first round with a left uppercut. His legs wobbled bad.

 

1992 Bowe could have beat Tyson on his best day. Mike had problems with Douglas, Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tucker's jabs, and Bowe quite likely had a better jab than any of them. Bowe was also better inside, and had one of the greatest right uppercuts in heavy history. True, Bowe did get hit a lot, but he had the tools to defeat Mike.

I don't think, if Mike had made it past Buster and still had Rooney etc. that he would have got past the 1992 Bowe...and maybe not that year's Holy.

 

Negative,

Bowe would abandon the jab and trade...............nobody trades with Tyson, Holyfield did not against a washed up tyson and Lewis did not trade with the ghost of Tyson...........Bowe traded /brawled with Holyfiled non stop in their first encounter because Holy is not a heavy hitter, never was , never will be...................Tyson lands the same shots over and over again like Holyfiled did Bowe is going down and stays down.

 

Tyson was most definitely stunned by Tucker and it was quite big news at the time.

 

Tyson said Holyfield was the best hitter he ever faced.

 

He was probably referring to Holyfield's ability to land on him.
I really doubt Holyfield hit harder than guys like Lewis, Bruno, Golota, Douglas, Ruddock, etc.