What would Tyson's career look like if he had more discipline?

If Tyson had remained focused and continued to do road work, kept Rooney, didn't take on King I think he could of lasted until about 93 before a loss. His build was never going to last long term without picking up a loss along the way. Lot of work is required to defeat so many elite larger men while being an attacking fighter.

 

He certainly would have accomplished more, but in the state of the division he beat everyone. Holyfield was mentioned as a potential opponent down the line but he was a small cruiser at the time. There wasnt much after Spinks besides the usual suspects he was running through. You started to see a different fighter once his defense started to decline and he became more "hittable" Then those usual suspects started hitting him and appearing competitive. Who knows what Holyfield would have done had they fought. Holyfield liked to fight like Tyson and he didnt have the firepower of Tyson at that time. Tyson was also in better condition and more equipped to outslug Holyfield who, lets face it looked like he was ready to fall over in the latter stages against the punching bag he fought in 96. It took all his effort to best Tyson and Tyson was not in good condition when they fought. So in reality it would have taken a big man like Lewis or Bowe to really challenge Tyson and I think Tyson was better than both of those guys because of his speed defense and chin.

 

Yeah I think someone like Bowe would've had the best chance. It's conceivable that had Tyson remained true he would've gotten past Holyfield, Ruddock, Foreman, Damiani and maybe Mercer or Morrison before taking on Bowe. That's a tall order to say the least since the division was heating up fast.

 

Even the not on all cylinders firing Ruddock Tyson had to be a decisive favorite over fossil Foreman, Damiani, Mercer and Morrison. If in similar shape than for Ruddock he should have no problem with the above.

But even for Ruddock he was going off the rails, he had a decent camp for the first encounter and was fairly focused but King had him on the string for the re match, it was on /off/on/off/on and he literally signed the contract in a Vegas strip club about a month before the second fight, so roughly he prepared for 4 weeks and even the fight commentators mentioned despite all the knock downs that Tyson's legendary finishing abilities had declined aka he could not pull the decisive trigger when he had some one in trouble.

 

he would of been a lot better if he had been more disciplined.

when Tyson was young he was far more agile and as soon as he lost his agility he became a much cruder power hitter only.

 

Every fighter would have been a lot better if they had been more disciplined...

 

Yes indeed. The Tyson who came into the first Ruddock fight in shape was still the best heavyweight in the world. I believe it was KO magazine, or maybe Ring, where the cover story read "Tyson ain't what he used to be, but it's not gonna matter!"

 

Tyson in his autobiography claims he was partying and messing around with hookers 2-3 weeks before Ruddock 2. Don King forced him on a crash diet to make weight in time but it weakened him, made him feel dehydrated due to which he was not able to throw combinations as the fight went on.

 

Obviously you'd never heard of Evander Holyfield at that point of your life...

 

What would Tyson's career look like if he had more discipline?

Worse than if Lewis had a better chin, but better than if Holyfield had more power.

 

:rofl:rofl

 

Here we go again, Tyson should change his autobiography to The Book Of Excuses...

 

What excuse is he making? It's not like he lost the fight. He is just narrating a true summary of his activities around the specific time period.

 

He's just trying to make himself look better by saying "look I even kicked Ruddock's **** whilst in **** poor condition."

 

Only a Tyson hater and lenni nut hugger would draw that conclusion. I wonder what are your thoughts on the excuses Lenni makes for being dropped like a girl i.e. acclimitization issues to the South African altitude.