Tysons Career Without The Prison Sentence

Forgot the title of the topic there for a second,
I think without the prison sentance he gets a unanimous decision against Holyfield or stops him early or late, can't see Holyfield beating that Tyson at all. If he fought Bowe he'd beat him easier than Holyfield Bowe is easy to hit but im sure they had a verbal agreement never to fight each other anyway.
Tyson was nothing when he came out his mentality had changed too much he wasn't the ferocious warrior he used to be anyone who knew anything about boxing knew he was never going to be the same force he once was, yet still he was the biggest draw in boxing for many years after that that thats the remarkable thing.

 

Beaten Holyfield in 91, lost to Bowe after that and then beat lewis 1993 version. IMHO.

 

Very hard to say what would've happened but it certainly would've changed the course of history either way. Tyson vs Holyfield in 1990 I think would've been one of the biggest heavyweight fights of all time. Tyson at the time looked to be in great shape but with diminished skills from his prime but was still very dangerous. Holyfield was at his very best at this time and I think it would've made for a classic fight. Hard to say how it would've turned out I'm sure it would've been a barn burner but I gotta lean towards Holyfield. Tyson at this time was still a big threat to anyone with his power, strength, aggression and speed but I think his slowly diminishing craft would allow Holyfield to find a way to win the bout probably in the later rounds. As a matter a fact I didn't feel Tyson looked that bad when he first got out of prison. I don't think he was quite the same force he was going in but I still feel the Tyson who fought Holyfield was good enough to be a legit threat to any heavyweight and he did give Holyfield a tough fight. The first five or six rounds I felt Tyson was ahead. I feel Tyson mentally began to fold as the fight carried on I think he was hoping to go right through Holyfield like all of his other opponents pre prison and when this didn't happen he wasn't ready. The fights with Ruddock would've more prepared him for a tough fight in 1990. Would've been very interesting to see. Also if Tyson didn't go to prison is would've been interesting to what other dream matches would've happened. Perhaps he would've fought Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, a young Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer or Tommy Morrison. Either way I'd expect Tyson to self destruct at some point in one way or another had he not gone to prison when he did.

 

He hurt his rib raping that girl ?

 

Without going to prison if he fights the top guys like Lewis, Bowe, Foreman, he gets knocked out, and all of his fan boys make excuses for him, just like after the Douglas fight, we already know Holyfield would have thumped him..
Who knows? But its his own fault he went to the slammer, for making poor decisions, so be it..

 

I think a lot of it hinges on that fight he had lined up with Holyfield in 91. That fight was very significant and would have determined Tyson’s legacy. I’m not convinced Tyson was in the best mindset those days and I think people are assuming that doesn’t count for much, also assuming his focus was coming back. The fact is he was going down the tubes as a person and a fighter, that stuff is as meaningful as what shape he was in back then. The Rooney Tyson was gone, he was becoming something else, whether that something else from 91 to 95 was a good thing we will never know.

Personally I think Tyson v Holyfield in 91 would have been a war though, and I see Holyfield out toughing Tyson. I also see 91 Tyson being too big and strong for Evander. My opinion sways on that fight. I think whatever happened it would have been a great fight and would have paved the way for a rematch, or Tyson’s people would have avoided it if he lost the first fight. At this point I think Mike would have further declined, especially if he lost the first Holy fight, from here it could well be a circus again. You have to consider, it went south in reality, it probably would in any other scenario.
Mike would have had a nightmare against a prime Bowe, no question. I have a tough time seeing Mike walking through all those guys unless he was anything other than his best, and even then I’d be hard pushed to say he beats them all.

Lets face it, Tyson’s main threats were Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis. I think he had the ability to beat everyone else, assuming he was in the right mind set, but as mentioned before, he was losing that persistent discipline.

You cant make Tyson what he wasn’t, his mind always kept him back and I think down the line it always would have.

 

No doubt. that fight not happening was one of the biggest disappointments in boxing history, I would chose it over Lewis v Bowe. It forever left that question, would Holyfield always have dominated Tyson, or would Tyson with his stamina back always have been too much for Holy. Either way they had that mix of styles that would have made a fight between them awesome back then, whoever won.

 

Such greatness within one man was just not meant to be.

Same on a lesser level happened to Ali and Louis.

Tyson once said the Gods intervined to make way for Lewis and Hola

 

Bowe didn't have to put Golota away, he put himself away because he fouled out in both fights, and the old Holyfield Bowe stopped, came back a year later and gave Tyson a beat down, and Tyson basically quit in the bite fight because he needed a way out because he knew he couldn't win..
I don't see anything Tyson did post 90 that was more impressive than Foreman knocking Moorer out, Tyson won a decision over Ruddock whoop de doo, Lewis blasted Ruddock out in 2 rounds, even Morrison knocked Ruddock out..
Speaking of Lewis yea he was kod twice, be he avenged his losses, which is more than I can say for Tyson, and at least he was never waxed by a 42-1 dog, funny how Tysons fanboys call him a corpse after the Lewis fight, but were all picking him to win before the fight
One more thing Tyson had the opportunity to fight Holyfield in the fall of 91, but chickened out faking a rib injury..

 

Bowe didn't have to put Golota away, he put himself away because he fouled out in both fights, and the old Holyfield Bowe stopped, came back a year later and gave Tyson a beat down, and Tyson basically quit in the bite fight because he needed a way out because he knew he couldn't win..
I don't see anything Tyson did post 90 that was more impressive than Foreman knocking Moorer out, Tyson won a decision over Ruddock whoop de doo, Lewis blasted Ruddock out in 2 rounds, even Morrison knocked Ruddock out..
Speaking of Lewis yea he was kod twice, be he avenged his losses, which is more than I can say for Tyson, and at least he was never waxed by a 42-1 dog, funny how Tysons fanboys call him a corpse after the Lewis fight, but were all picking him to win before the fight
One more thing Tyson had the opportunity to fight Holyfield in the fall of 91, but chickened out faking a rib injury..
Whats even more strange is even to this day, Tyson fanboys, and nuthuggers ALWAYS try to blame Tyson's failures in and out of the ring by using some lame excuse, like they are afraid to face reality???

 

One point - I can't believe how many people chose Tyson to beat Lewis in 2002, given the fact that Mike was tolally spent at the time. He looked awful vs Nielsen (who himself was older and out of shape) and was deadly tired as early as 3rd round.

Before the fight I expected Lewis to KO that version of Mike in 4 rounds and was surprised how many punches Mike took till he went down.

But 2002 version of Tyson is totally different even comparing to 1996 version (not saying about 1986-89 Tyson), few years back their fight could've been different story.