Was Tyson considered invincible again in 96

He was generally considered to be back to #1 spot and would have been clear favourite to beat anyone.
Bowe had been considered the biggest threat a year earlier but the Golota fight had convinced many his days were numbered.

 

His rather impressive win over Frank Bruno, convinced a lot of people that he was back to form, or at least close enough to it.

Most people expected him to be back at the very top of the division again soon.

During the run up to the first Holyfield fight, the odds shifted massively towards Holyfield, though he remained the clear underdog.

Holyfield gained massive kudos for the win, with some sports writers naming him as the third greatest heavyweight of all time, behind only Louis and Ali.

That was probably the summit for him.

 

The aura of Tyson never went fully imo right up till Lennox Lewis even ,as mad as it seems there were people who thought he was even in with a chance then .Especially after Lewis got KO'd by Rahman .If he could do it ,then why not Tyson !?
They failed to see that he'd slipped so much ,the 88 version of Tyson was long gone .So against Holyfield the first time ,then yes .In a nutshell Tyson was looked upon totally unbeatable before Douglas ,and back to his best before EH .

 

I remember Ring did a big piece that sounded like Holyfield was going to his execution going into the Tyson fight. In fact they were predicting a first round KO win for Tyson.
The Bruno win was seen as impressive (which it was if you ignore Franks lame display) although the Seldon win was seen for the farce that it was (but that wasn’t Mikes fault at all).

Bowe was seen as the best Heavyweight in the world who wasn’t Tyson but had lost a lot of his lustre after the Golota fight. Lewis still had question marks from the McCall shocker and he’d gone life and death with Mercer shortly beforehand and wasn’t considered in Tyson’s class at that point. And Evander was seen as well past his prime and a sacrificial offering for Mike.

So Tyson was considered the best heavyweight in the world going into the first Holyfield fight by most but based not on that much in hindsight.

History shows that most people got it wrong.

 

I am not even sure that his aura fully evaporated after the Lewis fight.

Lewis got massive kudos for beating him, and even after he lost to Danny Williams, a lot of people picked Danny Williams to beat Vitally Klitschko, based on the fact that he had beaten Tyson!

He continued to draw big money as well.

He could probably have enjoyed significant financial success post Lewis, if he had been able to consistently beat men like Williams!

 

Yeah, he was certainly seen as the man to beat again. After he put Bruno away British commentators were saying it was the start of a 'new reign of terror' for him and described his performance in that one as awesome, back to his best etc., despite the fact that he'd already proved he had the wood on Bruno and Bruno completely froze on the night and more or less begged Tyson to put him out of his misery.

The bookies' odds for the first Holyfield fight speak for themselves. Not that many people thought it would be competitive, but it was seen almost as a box-ticking exercise. People had been desperate for it years earlier, so it was still worth making just for the huge money involved and the fact that at least people could now say they'd seen it and shut up about it, even if it was (apparently) only a poor copy of the glorious event it would have been five years earlier. A lot like Pacquiao-Mayweather, come to think of it. The difference being that Holyfield sprang the upset.

By late 1996 Lewis was seen as the major threat - there was a lot of disillusionment in the press and amongst fans when that 'step aside' money was paid and Tyson fought Seldon instead. But yes, at the time the majority of onlookers felt that Tyson unifying all the belts and dominating for a few more years was just going to be a matter of course.

 

Yep, this is it.

 

Excellent posts. Nothing to add really. Maybe only that there were true concerns for Holy's well being, that Tyson might permanently damage him.

 

No. Only to the young media fanboys and not hardcore boxing followers. ***boys like bobby czyz pacheco and thuguglies. The truly heartless and only act tough when surrounded by homeboys punks loved TYSON and hated Holy for outing thier *** king.

 

Yes. He was the baddest man on the planet again and looked set to clean out the division and retire with all the belts. Here's how Tyson's rivals looked in 1996 after he had destroyed Bruno and Seldon

Holyfield : Old and shot
Bowe : Ruined by the wars with Holyfield and looked shot against Golota
Lewis : Chinny and had lost self belief after the loss to McCall
Mercer : Good fighter but totally inconsistent
Tua : Dangerous young prospect but untested

 

!00% correct.

New icing on 2 week old cake. There was a handful of up and comers with tools. Mike was fighting DKP setups. But most folks do not look deep into things. And most believe whatever was being said by the magazines at the time.

But the days of Mike being the new sheriff in town were long since in the rear view mnirror. His publicity team did an outstanding job of shrugging off the Douglas loss as an anomoly and Mike never needing improvement to his game. And lots of people bought it.

 

Ur probably right janitor .There's only Tyson and Ali ,that come s to mind anyway ,that had people believing they could always come back whatever their situation.
Even after Ali had scraped by Leon and then retired ,some actually gave him a chance verses Holmes .

 

Post Holyfield 2 Tyson was only in it for money. Though the die hard Tyson fans still though he could beat Lennox Lewis. It was only until McBride beat Tyson that the aura finally died off. Even the biggest Tyson fans couldn't defend it. They finally accepted it was over.

 

Yes, everyone thought the was back to old form after Bruno and Seldon. Even though every single one of his fights post prison (sans the Bruno rematch) had controversy surrounding them, and even though he had an actor in Jay Bright for a trainer, he was deemed back and the head man in charge again. Bowe was the biggest fight out there but everyone else had a snow flake's chance in hell of beating Mike.

But there were things missing. McNeeley and Mathis were pushing him back and Seldon laid down. His aura seemed bigger which was due to his power still intact. His speed was still there but his bounce and fluidity were missing. But then again all it was going to take was a few fights under his belt to get rid of the rust.

Like many above stated, there was hope even after Lewis that he could get back to form if he just went back to fighting 4 times a year. But it never happened.