What made Mike Tyson so popular ?

Tyson would **** Johnson, in and out of the ring...:yep

 

I like Tyson. Have him a definite top 10 ATG with nearly NO chance of being replaced in my lifetime......but he wasn't the KO machine everyone makes him out to be. He struggled with guys who were more easily decimated by weaker opponents....Quick Tillis, Jose Ribalta, Mitch Green, and Bonecrusher. He went at least 10 rds with those guys during his "invincible" and "unstoppable" days, and was made to look bad for moments in each fight.
When Douglas broke the myth, I agree with MOST, that A. Tyson was sick 101 fever, and B. he was going insane with his $$$ troubles(DK, Robin Givens, Mitch Green, etc suing him for whichever reason). But it was those fights with the above named fighters which set the tone for beating Mike in the ring. Holyfield and Lewis obviously watched those fights, and would have been fools not to have done so.
IMO Mike was actually as feared a fighter after prison. More hungry, crazier than ever. It seemed as if the MYTH was back.....but of course we saw Holyfield and Lewis again shatter the myth, and unintentionally END Iron Mike Tyson just a few short years after his return.:-(

 

Mike Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old.

Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by KO, with 12 of them occurring in the first round.

Tyson won the WBC title in 1986 after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round.

In 1987, Tyson added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker.

He was the first heavyweight to individually unify the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

In 1988, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in the first 91 seconds of the fight.

Tyson successfully defended the world heavyweight championship nine times, including victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno.

 

Whoa, slow down there, Boxrec warrior.

Which weaker opponent "decimated" Blood Green? You probably don't know jack**** about the circumstances of his TKO loss, do you?

He struggled with Ribalta? :think He spent most of the night softening his body against the ropes, and dropped him just about every time he put that gameplan on hold and sought out his chin.

Bonecrusher put in one of the most negative performances in heavyweight title history - worse than Haye's against Klitschko! atsch ...and with that you seek to discredit Tyson's prowess as a KO artist?

I'll give you Tillis, but he did get knocked down and soundly beaten - and Tyson was 19.

 

lol, only you would take it THAT far....

 

I have about 30 of Tysons fights on DVD or VHS, including the above mentioned fights. I know Bonecrusher held, and OFTEN, and what some would call cowardly....but rewatch the Douglas fight, or the Holyfield fight. Or the Lewis fight. All 3 held no less than Smith, and all won by fighting back or fighting out of the clinch.

After Greens loss to Mike, he was NOTHING. Yes, it was probably an outside distracting influence(coke/whores/etc) but needless to say, Green held Mike when he lept in, and it allowed him to survive the fight. Again, it laid out the blueprint for Douglas, Holy and Lewis to follow. Tillis was NEVER known to be IRONCHINNED before or after Mike. And while Ribalta went down like David Haye every time Tyson tapped his chin, IMO it was his smothering of Mike which allowed him to survive as long as he did. And of course, JD followed suit, as did Holy and Lewis.
My point is.........Tyson, being a ball of a fire, was somewhat easy to extinguish when smothered, and didn't KO people when they consistently got on top of him.

 

Fair, but who with Mike's style was immune to clinching tactics from their opponents? Saying he couldn't score knockouts when his would-be victims were intent on grabbing and surviving doesn't really detract from his fearsomeness when people didn't employ those tactics.

As far as caveats go, that's a small one.

He was the KO machine everyone makes him out to be (pretty much whenever the opportunity to be that machine wasn't spoiled, during his early days)...the exceptions just prove the rule.

 

Controversy! The world loves controversial figures, don't get much more controversial than a prime Mike.

 

How was prime Mike controversial? :huh Tragic figure, maybe - but most of the real juicy controversy came well after his peak, when he was arguably a good deal past his prime.

 

Sorry buddy I didn't clarifiy, when I said 'Prime' I meant as in drawing power, and world wide interest in him, I think it peaked once he came out of prison and his behaviour became more erratic.

 

Because of Things like This :


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRwJyQtQ2Fo[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51090bGcoR8&NR=1[/ame]



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UAsz3sG-Y[/ame]

 

That's exactly my point. Mike wasn't immune to defeat due to his inability to fight OUT of a clinch. That's all I was implying.

Tyson has literally LEPT at his opponents while throwing fierce hooks or UC's. When fighter tried to block or back away, they were mostly overwhelmed, but when they stepped in, absorbed and tied up, they took his power away and that was a VERY exploitable weakness.

I'm not daring to argue with the boxing encyclopedia that is IB....I swear.

 

Marketing, network exposure/coverage.

 

ummmmm, he was a KO machine. Im sure if you remember back in the 80's/early 90's, all the buzz was about WHAT ROUND Mike Tyson was getting a KO in. Betting was narrowed down to this. His explosive punching made him a most feared and notorious fighter.

I happen to be an avid fan as you are and have around 40+ of his fights on dvd. I know off the cuff he went 19 straight KO's until his 20th fight vs Tillis.
I think statistically he was 37-0, 34/35 KO before his first defeat? How is this NOT a KO machine statistically?

Ok, i just had to check BoxRec for this....
he was at an 80% KO ratio (8 of 10) for Title fights pre-James Douglas...

True MT fans know the underlying story with his Douglas defeat - and no, it wasnt some supposed petty sickness that undermined him....

 

A 20 year old guy with social trouble that became heavyweight champion, had an exciting style and had a bright future ahead of him that could lead him into being the Greatest of All Time: it was a fantastic story for the media and for the public.