Were there worries about Tyson post Tillis/Pre Green?

Whenever you are a star on the rise, people begin to look for the chinks in the armor. It's normal. That was the only negative thing they could come up with at the time.

 

At the time there weren't any worries really. It was news that he'd finally been extended, but Tillis fought a good fight, and was very savvy. It was looked at as a bump in the road and learning experience for him more than anything. It did nothing to reduce Tyson Fever.

 

I don't remember much about those fights, nor weather or not people were skeptical after Tyson's fights with Green or Tillis. For as long as I can remember, Tyson was viewed as a superstar that many felt was destined to be champion. He was the protege of the great Cus. He was a throw back to the likes of men like Demopsey and Marciano. He was beating men impressively on a near 3 week basis. If there was any point where doubt might have set it, then I speculate that it was when he failed to make it out of the olympic trials, but if any skeptisism existed, it was quickley forgotten.

 

i think people make too much out of the tillis fight to make sure not to give tyson too much credit. i think tyson had a good night's of work in there - but it was pretty easy nevertheless. wasn't tyson clowning around in round 3? it's like asking someone to do 500 +/-x problems in a single night - easy to do - just the full 12 rounds of work.

 

Agreed, and I also don't know how many times it needs to be repeated that Tyson was 19 years old with 18 fights going into that bout. Additionally, he had never beaten a true world beater by that point and Jesse Ferguson was likely the best man he had faced. Tillis on the otherhand, was something like 28 years old, and had the experience of having been in there with most of the 80's best talent.

 

Well, that's how it was seen at the time. All this revisionist "he sucks because Tillis took him the distance" stuff came well after the fact.

 

There were a couple of journalists who were starting to raise the issue of Tyson's personality. He had behaved well in front of the media pretty much, BUT incidents that contradict this were starting to come through.

People wanted to believe in him though. He was selling magazines etc... Boxing and HWs needed him.

Some were also pointing to Green and Tillis as potential chinks, but they were not really considered as weaknesses

 

Every fighter has to prove his ability in the ring - not just Tyson.

There were some doubts lingering over whether Tyson could be devastating against the top fighters all the way up to the Berbick fight, where he proved it.

Everyone could see that Tyson had special talent before that, but they could also see that he was something of a hype job. Montages of his quick KOs of those tomato cans were played to promote his rise, they had a terrific visual impact, but any casual fan who did some investigating was under no illusions about the quality of the opposition. Tyson was a hype job, but he proved himself later on, and became the best heavyweight in the world.

 

When you've got an undefeated fighter, people are always looking for a chink in the armour.

"Can he hit?"
"Well okay, so he can...can he take a punch too?"
"Alright, he took those shots well...stamina?"
"A good 10 rounds of work there, but he was a bit crude."
"Improved technique, but he's not that good at the press conferences..."

...and so on. There's always something!

Tillis took him to points because he had one of his 'on' nights, had much more experience and generally fought a smart fight. Jabbing and moving, clamping down on Mike on the inside.
Green, well, he took a hell of a shot. His durability got him the distance, offensively it was just a slap-fest.