Who Was A Fighter You Expected To Give M Tyson An Hard Fight..?

In retrospect? Tony Tubbs. Atleast as skilled as some of the other guys that gave Tyson trouble, but Tyson was peaking, boxed on even terms with him and knocked him out with one shot, before Tubbs extra weight even became a factor. Tokyo Tyson with less sharpness and fluidity, just looking for the big bomb, has all kinds of trouble with him

 

I thought the tough, rugged, and awkward Berbick would at least last maybe 6-8 rounds and give it a good go. Had seen footage of him before watching the title fight and was surprised how quickly he went down over and over. It wasn't even slightly competitive. Tyson was on a mission and executed a superb seek and destroy mission with good timing, accuracy, and finishing ability.

 

I first started following boxing in the mid 90s and knew nothing about it when I saw Mike Tyson's weigh -in against Bruce Seldon. Wow, I thought, this Seldon guy LOOKS tough.
Obviously I was mistaken.

 

I wasn't self-aware at the time but if I was, I would think Spinks would have given Tyson a run for his money. Spinks was mobile, fast and had a good jab. I would have likely guessed a late round stoppage or a UD for Tyson in a competitive fight. Instead, we all know what happened.

A lot of people dismiss this win for Tyson but not only did he give Spinks his first loss, but he legit knocked Spinks cold. In the overhead replay of the second knockdown, Spinks's eyes are rolled up in his head. It has to be the most dominant win over a lineal champion in history (closely followed by Liston's destruction of Patterson).

 

Tyrell Biggs. Olympic star, and although he’d already got some bad scar tissue and had drug problems,he was unbeaten, tall and a good mover…I thought he’d at least be competitive. I think that first loss pretty much finished him, though he did have some moments in other fights.

 

Marvis Frazier.
Given the resistance James Tillis and Mitch Green put up that year; I thought Marvish would take longer.

 

Holmes and Biggs I thought had a good shot.
Both were tall, had great jabs and could move.
But age and inactivity hurt Holmes.
Drugs and being rushed in to soon hurt Biggs.
Another one I expected a better showing from that had all the physical traits of Holmes and Biggs was Tony Tucker.
He seemed to have it all, he'd be considered a "superheavyweight" in today's game with his size.
But it seemed he only wanted to survive to hear the final bell. His efforts were lackadaisical, though it was said he broke his hand in the fight at some point.
I saw the fight live. Personally I thought it was lack of effort.

 

At the time I thought Spinks had enough boxing skills to take it into 6 to 8th rounds but I never thought he'd win. . But watching the fight with some fighters they all to a man said Spinks looked like he froze.

 

If you want to go way back, Donnie Long was supposed to be Tyson's first 'real' test and, on paper, that made sense. Donnie Long was an up and coming guy in his own right until Tyson stopped him in less than 2 minutes.