What was all the fuss about mike Tyson ?

Normally, when someone brings this topic up, its because it was on the back of their mind somewhere.

you bought it up, so you must have been thinking about it

 

Taken from Tysons Biography by Peter Heller

Chapter 16: To Russia....With Love?, page 295

"With Tyson willing and anxious to fight, Bill Cayton outlined a plan for him that in the space of twelve months would earn him $50 million gross. It would start in December with the scaled down (due to the move indoors) purse of $6 million against Bruno in London. In Rio, during Carnival in February, there would be $9 million for an easy defence against Brazils Adilson Rodriguez, in April, $5-6 million for a mandatory defence in the United States against number one IBF challenger Carl Williams, followed by a bout for perhaps $10 million in Milans soccer stadium against Italian challenger Francesco Damiani in June. Then would come the big one, the next 'super fight', late in the year, a closed circuit and pay per view $20 million payday for Tyson against undefeated World Cruiserweight Champion Evander Holyfield. Tyson would then finish the year in Japan, which desperately wanted him for another performance, against 41 year old former heavyweight champion George Foreman. The only thing Bill Cayton had not taken into consideration, the one thing that would rend all these plans asunder, was the sudden re-entry into Mike Tysons life of Don King'

End Chapter.

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Chapter 19: Defeat! page 337

"Following his victory over Frank Bruno came an offer for Tyson to defend his crown in, of all places, China. The Chinese government agreed to back the fight with $25million, with a target date of November. The opponent was to be former champion, George Foreman, now making a comeback. Estranged manager Cayton said Tysons share would be $20million. But shortly afterwards came the student rebellion and in the wake of the Chinese governments brutal oppression of the pro democracy demonstrators, the fight deal dissolved

 

the man was the wet dream of the 1980s yupster banker types - live fast, burn bright... burn out.

 

spot on:good

 

you can talk, you're the worst

 

When Tyson was focused and motivated, you saw what he could do. HE WAS 24, 37-0, 10 TITLE DEFENCES!!! You never see that now. And he was UNDISPUTED. He was only 24 and was 13 fights away from 50-0. People forget that.

Telling you clowns, had Cus and Jacobs not passed so early in his life, he would have been guided to 50-0, retired by 27-28 and been maybe, maybe, the GOAT.

Mike Tyson is a perfect example of wasted talent, probably the most wasted talent ever in the sport.

 

Disagree. He didn't have the mentality. He got shook by every real fighter that he faced that wasn't scared of him. He was a scared bully for the most part.

 

when prime, he still beat them though.

what more did you want him to do with them? beat them at celebrity masterchef?

wins a win.

 

Explain. Like him in what way?

 

I read 4 pgs in this long thread, more than enough of a sample.
I knew how this would go anyway - the pro and con posts.

No doubt MT was a top HW, however he is a tad overrated.

His X factor, let's be honest, was being a black guy from the streets who had a throwback style, entering the ring like a Jack Dempsey or Johnson, and scoring KOs vs mainly over matched opponents. Soon he became victim to the trappings of fame (R Givens, the **** change, ear biting, etc). He also started becoming the villain many fans wanted to see lose - which kept his fights popular, even after getting clearly beat by LL !

About 8 years ago, when MT was pushing 40, some of his biggest fans (the ones upset by the emerging East Euros), posted that if MT got serious he could "clean out" the HW div :nono It was embarrassing. They finally STFU after MT lost to the likes of McBride :-(

One aspect I find amusing from his biggest fans is the short prime excuse. In any, ANY sport a player who has a big 2-3 year prime then fades badly usually doesn't make that sports HOF. I'm not suggesting MT shouldn't be in boxing HOFs, he faded slowly and he has earned HOF status. However you get much credit in any sport for having some longevity at a high level, even if that level isn't as a champion or MVP type player. Comparison to team sports isn't straight forward, think the performance of a tennis pro since it's a 1v1 sport.

His peak also came before the internet exploded in usage by the general public. You would have seen much more criticism of MT on sites like this if he came along a decade later. His life in and out of the ring made him an entertaining tabloid figure well past his short boxing prime.