Was Tyson Mentally Weak?

In many respects one has to put where he is into context and perhaps admire what he's achieved. Similarly, Lennox Lewis, who grew up with a single parent is also to be commended.

Which raises an interesting question. Do you punish and critize guys like Mike Tyson for not achieving what you perceive to be their full potential, or do you congratuate them for achieving as much as they did under their particular circumstances? Personally I prefer the latter approach.

 

Hmmmmmm..... one on one, without the press, and in a comfortable environment, I think Mike Tyson would be a great bloke to have a laugh with.

 

He has shown severe psychological problems outside the ring, with Women, abusing people, drugs, dramatic mood swings, whoever said money buy's happiness is full of ****, Mike had millions and still didn't seem happy, just like Elvis and kurt Cobain, they all flamed out young..atsch..
After Buster ko'd him that was it, if he didn't get the early ko, he looked to foul or fight dirty, he was not a god late round fighter and never had stamina:-(
People talk about the Ruddock fight's, how Tyson fought thru adversity, **** Ruddock, what did he ever do?? Tommy Morrison beat his ass and Lennox KO'D him in 2 rounds, Ruddock was nothing..
He probaly would have had a better career if he stayed with Rooney, he seemed to change trainers like i change my shorts, but Rooney drank to much and i doubt Tyson would have tolerated a boozing drunk..

 

I'd peg Tyson as reasonably tough but unstable.

 

Just hyperbole. And I'm sure even at that based on old information. Just in reference to, and you're right, what I've seen in some older interviews and such when he was so volatile. Maybe now that he's out of the public eye and the spotlight of the media, it might be a different story. He does strike you as a down to earth guy when he's centered, a guy who doesn't do too well when he has to pose.

 

first of all any guy who has the balls to get into the ring and fight it out, isn't mentally weak. And certainly someone who's won as many fights and dominated as many opponents as mike has, can't be mentally weak. He had mental issues, and a plethora of personal issues, sure, but he wasn't "mentally weak." In fact, at his best, he was an extremely well disciplined fighter. He dedicated himself to the sport, and was taught by Cus Dmato about self belief and discipline. Tyson knew about the psychological as well as physical aspects of boxing.

 

I agree withthat,i heard at one time he had sought help and was on medication.It didnt seem to last though and he was soon in trouble again.

 

I agree he obviously seemed mentally weak, but this is a great man for me, just because of the great hrills he gave us. If i met him i'd be humbled.

 

He didn't have the extremely powerfully will that Ali and Louis had. But very, very few have. There's a large distance from not having their mental toughness to being weak.

 

Mike had to put a tough badass front on most things in life where he wanted to obtain some respect. Mike deep down is a nice feller, but fells if he allows too many people to see this , its carte blanche for them to take advantage of him, his life track record has patterned that way.. He was screwed by Don King in many ways, he was hurt by his own actions which resulted in The US judicial system taking a piece of Mikes freedom.. Mike was a victim of his own success in many ways, and when you come form a place where you can't trust anyone, to being able to trust very few, it must have killed a part of Mike to see those he found he could truly trust, were taken from him very untimely, Jimmy J, and Cus along with his so called loving wife.. Even his so called friend Rory Holloway was a con man, who used to take from mike every chance he could get, i was in Mikes camp more than once and saw first hand the wa people took mike for a cash rich fool who could be used for gifts etc.. Mike was in many ways very mentally tough, but with the massive pressures , he was eventually broked down by a lot of escalating troubles... Tyson is a lovely man, but it took a long time for him to feel like he could trust people again, he is close to broke but knows at least now , the people who choose to love him , love him for who he is and not for what he could possible (financially) do for them..

 

imo tyson was mentally unstable and probably understandable considering the turmoil of his upbringing! This manifested itself in some fights for example biting Holyfield and quiting against Mc Bride when ahead after probably the most lacklustre performance of his career. Also against Danny Williams Tyson looked somewhere near his best in the first round but when Williams didn't disappear Tyson slowed took punishment and quit (although the Williams fight may have been the result of injury, age and stamina)

 

Never got off the canvas to come back and win a fight...as all great champions must do...
and have done...

 

I agree rock. Tyson never once turned a fight around that he was losing to pull out the victory. I wouldn't say he was mentally weak but he definately lost self belief in all his losses.

 

I think Mike is an exceptionally intelligent person who is rather soft hearted and kind. Many people on the board are going to disagree with me, but I am saying he seems like a kind person who does not know how to manage his emotions. So someone that stressed has so much going on in his head that when he is taking punishment I think it would be hard to really deal with that sort of stress on top of all the other stuff. When he is winning there is not much stress and he can use the ring as a sort of venting of his emotions. When he was losing, it was not that he could not handle it, it was just that he had so much else going on in his thoughts. Evander Holyfield seems colder and more matter of fact and not as sensitive to other people, so he could put his thoughts on one goal and can stay focused. As for Mike he had Cuz Damato who was like his father in everyway, and then he died, besides Cus, Mike really did not have anyone who he could count on who he trusted. I think DAmato loved Mike and Mike knew it, so I think had Cus lived Mike would have probably dealt with the adversity better since his mind would not have had to think about who he could trust and who he couldn't-so his mind would have been more free to focus. What I typed did not make much sense. I know. Maybe I will edit this later.