What Ruined / Ended Tysons Career?

I think Holyfield would have given Tyson hell at any stage of Tyson's career! The other guys, Tyson would have steam rolled!

 

Both of the above.

Pre Tokyo: A lack of desire of wanting to be the best he could be, combined with a hectic personal life.

Post prison: The above, as well as actually needing to fight to pay off his debts.

By the end of the 90's-early 00's, he was fighting purely for the cheques.

I'm sure Mike looks back in hindsight and is disappointed with how things worked out. But everyone's circumstances are different. Mike was a street kid, who ended up with millions of dollars to spend when he was in his early 20's. I think it was a huge ask for someone in that position to stay grounded. By 22, he was literally one of the most famous people on the planet. I did some pretty stupid things myself at that age.

 

Mental strength is what messed him up, or lack of it...A grown man has to take more responsibility over his own life.We've heard, cus dying, Robin Givens robbing him, **** charges etc etc All excuses

 

Throw Don King into that mix and you have the perfect recipe for a career meltdown...

 

What ended Tyson's career? Losing to Evander Holyfield.
Tyson came out of jail determined to put thing right. He was in great physical shape and quickly re-established himself as the baddest man on the planet, both with the general media and in his mind. The Douglas loss was put down to a fluke and "just a bad night a the office". The titles and the money were back and Holyfield was seen as just another step towards an all time great legacy. Something Tyson had worked all his life to achieve. What Holyfield did and the way the second fight ended destroyed the chance of that legacy forever and with it Tysons motivation as a fighter.
When he got his licence back he carried on fighting as it was all he knew but the desire was gone, his mind was a mess, the performances were sub par. It was just about the money.
Tyson still achieved more than most could ever dream of achieving, youngest ever heavyweight champion that doesn't look likely to be threatened any time soon and international recognition like no other fighter since Ali. Still the way the Holyfield fights ended ruined Tyson chance of the legacy he and Cus had worked toward and with it Tyson as a fighter.

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

Now that Mike has written a 600 page book on this exact subject, there really is no excuse for not knowing the answer.

 

he cant have been that serious in his post prison comeback, having Jay Bright as a corner man, pretty much training himself? Tyson was a mental wreck when he got out of the clink. He covered it up pretty well at first with some very articulate interviews but all the bile, insecurity and hate came out in the Holyfield rematch and it was a circus from there on.

going to prison pretty much destroyed him, put the nail in after all the management, divorce personal issued etc. the humiliation of being sent down for **** turned him bitter and twisted, he hated boxing it seemed, used it like a con man living off his 80s prime but none of it was real. once he was found out by Holyfield he seemed disdainful of the sport, spat on it, or chewed off an ear and spat it out. rather destroy it all than let these people see him beaten down again. before prison you could at least say he was making a decent comeback outclassing Ruddock, he was still dangerous. after 91 Tyson the fighter was gone, all the fighting discipline evaporated.

his mindset was in complete melt down it appeared, worse than at anytime before he was incarcerated. and it got worse and worse until he quit boxing, he just couldn't reel it back. he said it himself, the only way to be sane again was to drop the Mike Tyson act that had become so warped he lost sight of what that was. From the seemingly level headed 80s kid to the complete disaster he became, it was always in him, time and unfortunate events brought out the worse.

 

Most definitely.

Very sad.

 

Well said, I agree with most if not all that you wrote.
Jail and the events of his conviction understandably messed Tyson up and he was never the same.Tyson himself is quoted many times saying his career ended in 1991 after which it was all about the money.
There was however a dramatic change in Tyson after the Holyfield fights where the circus really took over and he didn't give a ****. Up until that point he still had his respect, at least as a fighter.
Holyfield exposed what was left in the one place he had always got away it and Tyson didn't take it well really ending him as an elite fighter.

 

This. He lost structure in his life. That's when things started going downhill.

 

Buster Douglas exposed Tyson, he lost to every good fighter he fought after that

 

Danny Williams and a barrow of coke.

 

Like many people with money he surrounded he self with hangers on and yes men all on the take telling him what he wanted to hear not what he needed .wasn't the first won't be the last.

 

the evander loss

Tyson was still the top of the division after prison most saw Douglas as a fluke and he won multiple titles

the evander fight ended him at the top level despite cus and robin and Rooney he still achieved significant feats

I will say even without jail does Tyson really clean the 90s. foreman evander bowe Lewis and more does he really beat them all without losses?