Tysons losses

What does me being British have anything to do with it? I'm the biggest Tyson fan you'll find and he's the very reason I started watching boxing. I'm not saying he was anywhere near his prime against Lewis, but he put on a game performance, he got a deserved payday and the world finally got to see the fight they wanted (even if it didn't mean anything to serious fans).

As for them meeting each other in 90/91, you do know Mike lost to Douglas in February 1990? And Lewis didn't make his pro debut until the middle of 1989 so there was never any chance of them both meeting in their prime. If your argument is that prime Tyson beats prime Lewis then we'll have to agree to disagree, but there was never any chance of that match-up happening because their primes were a good ten years apart. Mike was already on the decline by 91 and the rest is history. I'm not sure what your point is there.

 

Douglas. It was a once in a lifetime performance for him. Grieving over the death of his mother, he was able to up his game and his determination. Where as Mike, used to early koes was not properly prepared and from all accounts I've read spent the two weeks before the fight partying. He and his team underestimated Douglas, and Douglas put on an all-time historically great performance. This should be a lesson for all those young unbeaten fighters who think theyare invincible. Tyson was never the same after that fight and three years in prison. He was actually never the same after the death of D'Amato when lecherous claws of Don King snagged him. None of this takes anything away from Douglas, he earned his spot in boxing history. It is too bad he could not maintain it for a couple of more fights.

 

Douglas followed by Holyfield.

 

You answered your own question. Only the British can believe that.

Everyone else knows that in his peak years Lennox was KO'ed by slower, less powerful fighters with worse technique than Mike Tyson.

As for my point, it was simply that younger versions of both guys would be more competitive.

My other point was that watching Tyson lose to Lennox in 2002 was a mismatch in skill and ability so disgustingly vast that Tyson had no chance of winning, and everyone knew it.

Watching one of the greatest HW's of all time be forced into a fight he couldn't possibly win, simply because he had taxes to pay, was a horrible thing to witness.

It was like watching Ali vs. Holmes or Berbick, or Joe Louis vs. Marcianno or Ezzard Charles. Like watching Roy Jones Jr. fighting now.

Ali, Joe Louis and Tyson are probably the three greatest HW's in the modern era.

 

I don't see your point at all, and why you would mention that Tyson would KTFO Lewis in 90/91. Tyson was already in decline at the start of 1990 and Lewis was something like 7 and 0 as a pro at that point. Anything after that is a past-prime Tyson and anything up until say the Lewis-Ruddock fight in late 1992 is a fairly green Lewis with only 22 fights behind him (not forgetting Tyson was already in prison at that point). If your point is that the undisputed HW champion of the world would KTFO out of a 7 fight novice then its not really much of a point to make, and that is by far a worse match-up than a game-but-shot-to-**** Tyson v a past-prime Lewis. I'm not some idiot fanboy that thinks the version of Tyson that Lennox beat was anywhere near prime, but Mike didn't embarrass himself and he got a nice payday. When was the last time you saw a fighter kiss the mother of the guy that just knocked him the **** out? Tyson may have been a shadow of his former self but I would never begrudge him the chance to pay his debts.

As for my nationality, I wouldn't pick prime Lewis over prime Tyson because I'm British, I'd pick him because he was an all-round better boxer and the window to nail down a prime Tyson is very narrow as it is. Like I said, I'm a huge Tyson fan, more so than I am a fan of Lewis but Lennox was just better.

 

Buster for sure - Tyson was a beast then

 

There will never be another fighter as Tyson's caliber, thats why the douglas upset is the biggest win for Douglas. He even hit the canvas that night and got back up.

 

:deal

McCall did a good enough job of seperating Lewis from his senses:smoke

 

Biggest upset = Douglas
Biggest beatdown = Holyfield 1

 

Precisely.

...or Rahman...

To say Lewis was a better boxer is total silliness. Tyson had better reflexes, punch slipping, defense, power, explosiveness, hand speed and footwork.

The only thing Lewis had over Tyson was height.

Prime Tyson KO's Prime Lewis 8/10 fights.

 

Douglas's victory was by far the most impressive, Tyson was still undefeated and in his physical prime. There was no excuse for Mike to fall back on, other than his own mental bull****

 

Tyson was actually in considerably better shape for the Holyfield rematch than their first fight.

He was almost prime in that rematch, if you look at round 3 Tyson starts landing vicious combinations on Holy and Holy has real trouble answering them, before the final headbutt.

 

Pretty much what everybody else has said, Douglas.

 

Douglas easily had the better win. Tyson was slipping after the Spinks fight when he got rid of Rooney as he got away from his elite head movement and combos and went for one big shot to try to get the KO. Physically though he was a beast when he fought Douglas and his slipping technique and shitty conditioning for Buster are his own fault. Buster did his job beautifully that night. Holyfield showed his toughness against Tyson but post prison Tyson wasn't close to what he was even against Ruddock. Holyfield's constant headbutts against everyone he fought bugged me too. I remember Lennox saying Evander's headbutts were his best punch.

 

Douglas. It's one of the biggest upsets of all time.