The division peaked in the early 90's. Ive said that a million times. The contenders that emerged after that is what Im referring to. The contenders that Lennox Lewis defended his titles against. Tyson fought everyone that was available though. Witherspoon was the only one who he didnt, but he lost to Smith. The tournament was fine, and it produced a unified champ who did in fact fight Spinks and destroyed him in 91 seconds, but he was scared, too small and disinterested by then. :nut
When he fought Spinks it was "THE" fight everyone talked about, and not only did he win, but he absolutely destroyed Spinks and gave the spectators a solid clear view of the beast he was at the time.
I agree. The mid-late-90s were possibly even worse. I think 1985/'86 was quite a low point too. Of course. No disputing that Tyson fought the best available in '87 - '88. Butch Lewis was a clever man. I think you might have missed my point about Spinks' withdrawal from the HBO tournament.
I hated Butch Lewis. He thought he should get more camera time than his fighters. He was in the ring before Spinks got knocked out. He tried to steal the promotion when Bean fought Holyfield. He was horrible loud mouth moron that didnt belong in boxing. Noone wanted to work with him and I dont know what happen between him and King that allowed him to keep getting involved with Kings promotions. I never really read into that. I know they were somewhat of partners early on in the mid 80's?
Well, I know they briefly became partners in the HBO heavyweight unification series - billed/registered themselves as the "Dynamic Duo Inc." Lewis wasn't about to hand Spinks over to King, so the deal was that he co-promote. But that came unstuck when Lewis pulled Spinks out. I can't hate Butch Lewis - he did a fine job with Michael Spinks. Made the guy a hell of a lot of money from the Cooney and Tyson fights, money that was only generated by his tactic to pull his fighter out and to tell Don King, HBO, Cayton and Jacobs, and the IBF to **** off. Great management job.
His loss to Buster Douglas in 1990...if he had won that night it would have shown that Tyson could come from the edge of defeat ...climb off the canvas...and then come back to win...as all of the great have done....Tyson NEVER did that...
OMGFG YES - teh Bummy Douglas fight PROVES Tinfoil Tyson had a GLASS HEART And QUITS when teh going gets tough, ANY other top fighter what people call GREAt would of got up in Round 10 And KTFO Bummy Douglas. True GREATS like Dempsey are helped by journalists to climb back through teh ropes after 14 seconds And continue to beat teh clumbsy crude oaf in front of them!! :rofl:rofl Foreman Hooooooooooooooook!:smoke:smoke
OMGFG YES - teh Bummy Douglas fight PROVES Tinfoil Tyson had a GLASS HEART And QUITS when teh going gets tough, ANY other top fighter what people call GREAt would of got up in Round 10 And KTFO Bummy Douglas. True GREATS like Dempsey are helped by journalists to climb back through teh ropes after 14 seconds And continue to beat teh clumbsy crude oaf in front of them!! :rofl:rofl Foreman Hooooooooooooooook!:smoke:smoke glgl
I dont really understand this. Tyson was in no condition to continue fighting or even to get up against Buster Douglas. The fact that he took the sustained punishment he did over 10 rounds showed me he was a pretty determined guy. I dont really think a fighter has to be knocked down to prove anything. Tyson was very difficult to get off his feet, and I think he was in a couple competitive fights against the likes of Ruddock and Ribalta for example, where he really had to grit down and fight hard. Had he gotten knocked down in those fights and gotten up really wouldnt have proved anything in my mind. I think if Tyson faced Holyfield in the late 80's it would have been a different type of fight and it would have been interesting to see how he performed against him but I think Tyson's mindset was more that of a quitter than a real fighter when he came out of the joint.
Not all great fighters have a legacy defining fight. Some have half a dozen, of comparable value, that together make a legacy.
It's gotta be Holmes or Spinks. Spinks is the guy that dethroned Holmes and defeated Cooney who was still looked at as a big puncher who was supposed to crush Spinks. And Holmes was still a very good fighter to that point and had established his legacy already.
Spinks was his defining moment .. I think it could be argued that he was already slipping a bit mentally with all the distractions of Givens and a more durable opponent would have tested him more ... His best performances were Berbick, Thomas, Biggs, Holmes, Tubbs ... he was just destroying guys at that point ... it's easy to forget that before he lost his focus he may have been the most dangerous heavyweight that ever lived ..
The flipant answer to this question would be Douglas. Whatever interpretation you draw, that is perhaps the fight that holds Tyson back most in the pantheon of great heavyweights.