When exactly was Mike Tyson's prime?

see that i why i believe that he is the most overated boxer to ever live. yes more overated than calzaghe, marciano, all of them.

Heres tysons career in a nutshell

he beat some bums
won the title from a bum
beat some bums
beat a 40 year old larry holmes coming off 2 losses and a 2 year layoff
beat a lhw named michael spinks
lost to douglas
beat some bums
went to prison
came out
beat some bums
lost to evander twice
beat some bums
lost to lennox
beat a bum
lost to two bums
retired

Does that make you great? tyson fanboys think hes great. Nobody with half a brain would even consider putting him in the top 10 hw list all time.

the guy was very exciting and fun to watch………but thats about it

 

Actually, most folks would say it was thru 89, so throw in Bruno and Williams.

So, among current, former and future belt holders he beat Tucker, Thomas, Tubbs, Bruno, Holmes, Berbick, Spinks and Smith. 8 Champs against whom he went 8-0 (6). The one farthest from his prime was Holmes who was 6 years off his biggest victory and who would again be highly ranked years after his Tyson meeting. The rest were very close to, if not, prime.

In these terms his three or so year reign of terror absolutely destroys any similar period of Johnson, Jeffires, Dempsey, Marciano, Patterson, Liston, Frazier, Foreman or Holmes. But he was a very undersized heavyweight with a self destruct mechanism that only some around him were trying to delay. Hard partying and bad training habits caught up to him.

The fact that you score the Tillis fight for Quick really disqualifies you from any comment.

 

I'd say Tyson was at his very best from the fight with Holmes through the fight with Spinks began to decline afterward starting with his first fight with Bruno.

 

Rocky Marciano isn't overrated. He beat everyone and never lost. NO modern heavyweight has been able to do it since.

 

A bit silly. Take almost any HWd & look at 18 consecutive fights during their prime & you can find MANY holes. Tyson beat a bunch of very good fighters, a disproportionate # at least near their prime. And later dominance like Williams, Bruno, Ruddock-he often made them worse for future opponents. This even matches up decently with prime Ali, though Ali's past peak record of opponents & success obviously is greater.

Some mindlessly & uncritically love Tyson. Others are reactionary & disdainful without cause.

 

Garbage.

There is cause aplenty. Either that or you have a selective memory. This goon was portrayed as the baddest man on the planet, the meanest Heavyweight who ever lived, blah, blah, blah.

And that assessment was based on him beating those guys in the OP's list. Tell us how many of those guys were cokeheads, crackheads, or alcoholics? How many of them were A class fighters in their prime?

By the way you are more than welcome to throw in Bruno, Williams and Berbick, if you think they help Tyson's cause.

 

87-88 is Tyson at his very peak.

 

He turned pro at 18. Became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time, unified the title and compiled a 37-0 record all by the age of 23. He later regained two belts despite being off for 4 years. Had some emphatic wins. Beat several men who held belts at one time or another. He makes my top 10.

 

86-91. Peak was 87-88.

Perhaps no one gets more overrated AND underrated than Tyson.

Pretty much everyone with a big name is both, but seemingly none so much as Tyson, as people are pretty ridiculous on both ends.

 

I have always said the same thing.. Those who like him, will pick him to beat Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Lennox Lewis, etc. and say it with surprising conviction. Those who hate the guy's guts will simply say that " anyone who could stand up to him will beat him." I think the truth falls somewhere in the middle.

 

Its not the fact that he beat them its a fact at how he beat them and the way he looked in those fights that was impressive. At this time Tyson was still a very good technical fighter and student of the game to go along with being a extremely devastating puncher. After he split with Kevin Rooney and things began to go out of control for him he began to get away from the little things that made him effective and began to focus almost 100% on getting the KO instead of setting it up properly with the jab and other punches, movement, and his great defense which a clear decline was present even as early as his first fight with Bruno.

Tyson was a great fighter in his prime but I do agree Tyson is very overrated he never did beat any truly great fighters when they were at their best.