To be fair to poor Williams, through no fault of Tyson, the fight was stopped kind of fast. Williams might have survived the round if he was allowed to use the good ol jab and grab strategy to tire Tyson out and slow the pace down. The ref technically wasn't wrong in immediately issuing a warning for excessive grabbing. Williams was completely outgunned and outmatched and his only avenue towards victory was cut off before he could even warm up. Bruno is a huge heavyweight, strong as an ox, and it was difficult for the short Tyson to land clean shots on such a big dude who was fighting to survive and grabbing him a lot.
Tyson--Spinks is categorically worse than Tyson--Douglas. Spinks was closer to top form and the beating was one sided. Frazier--Foster is also up there.
Salvador Sanchez vs Wilfredo Gomez was a violent dissection that had me in applause. To add dirty or not Zarate being cleaved to pieces by that dirty punk Gomez was one sided however disgraceful a turn of events. Ruben Olivares smiting Lionel Rose like the angel of death was nasty though circumstances considered not as impressive as it could’ve been. Moon monstered his way through Zapata. Luisito one shotted Khaokor Galaxy. Khaosai Galaxy was ran out of the ring every round of the Castro bout just about and should’ve lost a very, very clear UD unless you’re mentally impaired. Ruben Hurricane vs Emile Griffith was humiliating and I can’t stomach reviewing it. Jose Napoles going to the chop shop against Monzon… I considered Hagler vs Hearns way more one sided then most. I honestly think it fits here we knew who was going to win a lot quicker then what’s written on the tin. “Death Mask” being splattered by Nana Konandu was a difficult watch. Countless examples…
And, who exactly knocked Bruno out any faster than 5 rounds? Ever? Except Tyson. Several years after being stopped by Tyson, Bruno lasted longer against Lennox Lewis for Christ's sake. Tyson still looked quite formidable against Bruno. Maybe a tad reckless and overconfident. But, it didn't take long before it became a one way beating.
I'm not quite sure I understand the question. You ask for an ATG whose best years were far behind them but still in good form. Then, as an example, you say Floyd Patterson. Patterson was only 27 when he lost to Liston and he was the reigning champ. His best years were still happening at the time of the fight. A lot of the answers in this thread seem to have the same problem. I think Danny Green's 2009 1st round stoppage of Roy Jones Jr. would be a much more accurate example, given your parameters.
Chavez's dismantling of Camacho and Rosario. Hamsho mugging Benitez. ( Maybe not , Benitez may have been past it at this time) Duran's massacre of Moore. ( Moore wasn't great, but he certainly had potential) Hearns destruction of Cuevas and Duran. Nelson's victories over Fenech and Gomez.
I think this depends on how you define beatdown. For me, that's a systematic round by round dismantling, rather than an abrupt destruction. So, I would discount Hearns-Duran, Liston-Patterson, Foreman-Frazier, Frazier-Foster all as being too brief. Instead, I'd look at maybe Pryor-Arguello, Sanchez-Gomez, Douglas-Tyson, Qawi-Muhammad (maybe not prime Matthew but not far off) or Chavez-Rosario (the beatdown on Camacho was nearly as bad but Hector's best days were behind him by 92. Julio was the master of a sustained beatdown.). Louis-Schmeling fits my bill except for the timeline. Joe wasn't quite there yet.
I don't know about you guys, but I love to see underrated mexican knockout artist Jose "El Huitlacoche" Medel beat the living crap outta Harada. And I've seen the fight plenty of times already.... It never gets old
Yeah, but that was a KO, not a beatdown. As far as I know (though I might be mistaken), a beatdown means getting hit and bloddied all night long.
