What if Rahman would have defended against Tyson instead of the Lewis rematch?

Pp do you really think tyson could have taken the beating maskaev did and still have the stamina to pull a come from behind stoppage?

Because in 01 I really doubt the significance of the clip you showed.

 

Don't think Rahman would make it out the first 5 and he may go earlier than that. You have Ruiz who outboxed him, his defence isn't good enough. Ruiz pretty much bossed him, so did the Old Holyfield he fought

With due credit to Rahman he weathered the storm against Sanders, but Sander's is technically nowhere near as good as Tyson.

 

Physically he was every bit as good as shot tyson.

Mike from 01 could never do what sanders did to wlad.

If mike was still good enough to beat opponents of this calibre, he would have done.

 

Why do you assume that? Tyson was very vocal in the media clamoring for a fight with Rahman and even called Hasim to talk to him about fighting. That's when King stole Rahman away from Kushner and Lewis had to sue Rahman over his rematch clause.
Tyson would have been up for this fight. I don't know how you could call the Golota fight overated? That's probably the best Tyson looked his entire post prison comeback technically, and Golota did give three decent rounds of effort before he quit.

 

No he did not.

 

Yes he did, maybe you need to watch it again.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yBhZcUVKOE[/ame]

 

Physically Rahman was better than Tyson in the weights room and on the treadmill. Rahman is maybe similar to Bruno in that sense. But does Rahman have the speed of Tyson? The accuracy? The defence? Tyson had more skill in his pinky than Rahman does in his body, even this version. Boxing is largely about hit and not getting hit while exploiting weaknesses. It's also mental and Tyson still did absolutely intimidate, that's why Lennox didn't want to go for the kill against him.

Lefthook31 who used to post here, worked with Tyson and said that Tyson's skills, head movement, feinting were coming back in 2000, to the extent that they were better than 1996. Savarese and Francis were decent performances, despite them being gatekeeper level

Golota in my view is of Rahman's calibre pretty much, arguably below, arguably mentally weak, but Tyson did break some bones in his face. Ettiene is a guy who beat Brewster, so not too many levels below Rahman either

Now let's not pretend Rahman is a 6'5 Lennox Lewis, he's only 6'2 and isn't nearly as strong. Rahman also didn't do aswell in the Lewis rematch as Tyson did against Lewis

 

If you wanna compare how they did against lewis just check out the first time they both fought him.

in a rematch we have no idea how dominant lewis would have been but logic tells me he'd have got him out sooner.

I see nothing in 2001 that tells me tyson was at a higher level than or would have beaten rahman.

no point you getting all upset about it because the fight never came off and everyone's opinion here is equally valid.

I favour rahman to stop tyson about the six round mark.

 

Rahman fought an unprepared Lewis first time, who was suffering from altitude adaption. Rahman wasn't suffering from that because he goto altitude much earlier than Lewis, who arrived late. Take that off his resume and no one picks him over 2001 Tyson. A good win and a peach of a punch, he never landed that type of punch on anyone before or after

Everyone considers Tyson done in 2001, no one was really saying that at the time, he was still generally considered second to Lewis

 

It's up to lewis to prepare adequately for his challenge so i'm not giving him a pass there.

Oh I totally agree. Tyson was lewis's top contender based on his destruction of golota. That's why I said tyson'd be a favourite. I just expect he'd lose.

 

Only by people who fell for the hype machine. Post-'97 it made no sense to rate Tyson above Holyfield, for starters ...

... the best guys Tyson beat in this period are coming off losses to Michael Grant. :think


We all know why Tyson was hyped as the logical contender to Lewis. It has nothing to do with his results and his performances.

 

No fooling you even though Tyson would not lose another fight for five years to Lennox Lewis, taking it half assed going to jail and still beating rated contenders?

The truth is Tyson was finished as an "elite" fighter, but still good enough to hang with the top ten. With his behavior it was no surprise his handlers were trying to navigate him back into contention the safest way possible. That being said I dont think a guy like Rahman could beat Botha, and it wouldnt surprise me if Golota beat Rahman too. Ruiz handed him his ass so did Holyfield who would go on to lose three in a row and quite embarrasingly.

I dont think he was but Holyfield got his shot at Lewis twice and lost.

Depends on how you want to look at that. Golota for example was well ahead on the cards before he quit in the 10th when it got rough. More proof all these guys were about as good as each other on any given night. As I said Golota was a superior boxer to both Grant and Rahman.

I think Tyson, after the Golota fight had done enough to warrant a shot at Lewis he just blew his momentum with inactivity. He was looking good in the gym with Tommy Brooks and was looking like a fighter again. Tyson wasnt any different than any of the other guys who got multiple unwarranted shots at the title. Tyson was "fairly" active in the period and beat three opponents before going on exile again. His return against Nielson was pretty disappointing but it was clear his weight and fitness fell back off the cliff.
Tyson may not have earned a shot at Lewis but it was more Lewis earning a shot at Tyson for the payday. Lewis wanted the fight badly and Tyson needed the fight only for financial reasons and thats why they literally had to shove Tyson into the ring to face Lewis, he wanted no part of it.

 

Its not about giving fighters passes. Its about reality. Reality WAS Lewis didnt take Rahman seriously and treated him like a sparring partner in the fight and screwed around and got beat. The rematch kind of cemented that point. Rahman still won the fight and became heavyweight champion but it didnt prove he was in Lewis' league as a fighter.

 

People saying Rahman did worse then Tyson against Lewis? Are yall high?

Hanging around getting slapped around like a child is not doing well. Lewis punished Tyson like a C-class sparring partner. He was pissed at Rahman in the rematch, and went out there to blast him out, not jab his face to pieces.

He was mad at Rahman, you know, cause Hasim knocked him out. Like, spark out. Something Tyson probably apologized to Lennox that he even dreamed he did.

Rahman did WAY better in the first fight then Tyson ever looked like doing against Lewis, and lasted 4 rounds in the 2nd with a Lewis who wanted a KO 1.

Don't even come in here with that "Tyson challenged Lewis better" ****. Lewis beat Rahman when he was challenging him to avenge a loss. That alone says it all.

 

To be fair Rahman didnt win a round in the rematch against a prepared Lewis.
I think Lewis was better prepared when he fought Tyson than he was for Rahman in the first fight. Tyson managed to win a round and last longer but I dont think Tyson did much better than Rahman did only in the chin department possibly.