When exactly was Tyson's prime?

But he wasn't a mandatory.#3 to #5 does not gurantee a title shot... Tyson's obligation was to fight the men who were rated by the sanctioning bodies. Williams, Bruno and Spinks were the top challengers within that time frame.

Incidentally, following Holyfield's destruction of Dokes, Don King approached Dokes with an offer, but the purse was unsatisfactory, so the fight was never made.

 

Uh, wrong.

This actually happened in the locker room before the HOLMES FIGHT. Not Spinks..

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1127013/index.htm

 

Until someone posts a picture of that hole in the wall I wont belive it. :bartnono

 

I actually read that in a doctor's waiting room in 1988. Funny how I can't remember to tie my own shoe laces sometimes, but I have the tendency to recall that ****...

As for the tired wave comment, I don't know. I didn't go back and read the whole thing again.

 

I am so sick of hearing people claim tyson ducked spoon. Does anyone realistically think Spoon would have lasted any longer than thomas and tubbs did vs tyson? lets face it, spoon never established himself better than tubbs/thomas level of ability.

 

SPINKS looked scared when he entered the ring, but as soon as the bell rang he tried the right tactics to win. he was trying to hit and move

 

No one with any credibility is claiming that " Tyson " ducked Witherspoon. He was blackballed from ever getting a title shot, as a result of a very bad fall out with a promotor who had a bad hair cut.

A well trained and motivated Tim Witherspoon, as opposed to a heroine addict in Thomas and deconditioned Tubbs, could have lasted longer.. Yes..

On what basis do you make this claim?

Tim Witherspoon defeated more quality opponents than Thomas or Tubbs combined, has the only claim among the lost generation to being a two time alpha titlist, and stayed more competitive into old age than either of the other two.. I will also add that since you're such a big advocate of Ring ratings, Tim Witherspoon was in the ring's top 10 for a full decade - considerably longer than either Tubbs or Thomas.

 

86-87

 

It happened in the Spinks fight too. I never heard about this happening in the Holmes fight.

 

BS. Tubbs was as good or better than Tim Witherspoon, and he came in excellent shape for Tyson, he had to according to his contract. What better fighters did Witherspoon defeat? He barely beat Tubbs and his biggest win is beating Bruno.
Stayed more competitive in his old age? He lost every fight he was in against a name opponent.

 

Was typical for Tyson to punch holes in the walls before fights. When Butch Lewis went to the dressing room thinking he could psyche Tyson out a little, he found him punching holes in the wall. He quickly left.