Just watch the doco on Tyson. The man was animal, a true beast in the ring. He really seemed unstoppable. How far do you think he would have went, and how much bigger would his legacy have been, if he never went off the rails? Say he never went to prision, was 110% foucsed, had the desire to be the best and never lost his passion for the sport. He came to every fight 110% ready both mentally and physical, like he did for the early part of his career. I know that is an unrealistic assumption, given his mental state of mind and the fact that he was 20yrs old, famous and had millions of dollars. But how much longer would of he ruled the heavyweight division?
Who knows? What does it matter? He was a great fighter in his day; a true phenomenon. There's no denying that.
I think that's what it comes down to. With a solid foundation and the people he trusted being behind him (even if he never realised it at the time) did him huge favours mentally. Tyson had no confidence at all to start with, Cus broke him down in order to rebuild him as a person and install self dicipline and belief in himself. On the right night, Tyson is a threat to any Heavyweight in history.
I wish I could agree about Cus being around longer, but I can't. What happened to Tyson was inevitable. He just didn't have the heart of a champion. Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan. But it's obvious from Mike's statements over the years that he was never really comfortable with it all.
He needed someone to stabilize his life outside the ring, as soon as he made his wealth.Also all them bitches having him up in court for stupid offenses including the disputable **** case did him no favours.Being banged up helped end his career thats for sure.
This is what it would've took to keep him on a tear like he was, Pre-Douglas/Desiree Washington. Cus and Rooney together were all he needed. Once they were gone (especially when Cus D'Amato died), **** hit the fan. Today, the man is both underrated by a lot of haters AND a little bit overrated by people who are still in love with his former aura. As it stands, he could have been the greatest of all time, but it wasn't meant to be. Tyson's career burned out prematurely due to some unfortunate life circumstances. **** happens.
