Who was prime Tyson's best opponent?

you guys and your Tyson threads. Let's get the facts straight. NOONE was in a perfect division. There is always some premier fighter who is going to beat the current flock of contenders.

This was Tyson. Every1 thinks HW is so boring now, it is the goddamn same as it ever has been. A few guys rule the roost, the rest talk about getting to that point but when they step up it's just "talk". Tyson is an ATG like it or not. He sold fights too.

 

On paper Larry homes, most hyped spinks, best opponent in the ring? Tony Tucker...

 

On paper and by measuring past accomplishments it's Holmes but Tysons hardest fight was Bruno who did more to Tyson in the first 9 minutes of their fight than all the fighters who'd faced Tyson up to that point.

No one who the punch and strength and had the balls to stand and trade with Tyson had done it before and Bruno was just one or two solid shots away from dropping him.

Having sent Tyson to Disneyland had big Frank jumped on Mike and let the leather flow he may well of pulled off a very unlikely victory, he hit hard enough!

He didn't take his chance and the rest is history.

 

That may be due to the fact that tyson had just fired his trainer, was training himself, had a years inactivity since the Spinks fight, suicide attempts, mood altering drugs, marital strife, car accidents amongst other stuff, all at the age of what 21-22?

If Bruno is Tysons best fight....Tyson is the GOAT

 

Spinks and Holmes were still viable fighters when Tyson defeated them.

Guys like Biggs, Tucker, Bruno, Ruddock, Williams, and Stewart were in the prime of their career and good solid records and opposition.

Thomas, Berbick, Smith and Tubbs were seasoned veterans that still were competitive top contenders in the division.

Tyson diminished a lot of these guys by blowing them out, but look what a guy like Alex Stewart for example was doing to fighters like George Foreman and Evander Holyfield around the same time Tyson destroyed him in one round.

 

At the time he fought them, Tucker or Ruddock. Then Spinks and Holmes (his greatest moment and biggest name).

 

Nah, Mike's chin was cast in iron. He couldn't be knocked out early from a few blows. At his best it took many rounds of punishment to stop him. Bruno did the best he could. Mike would never lose to Bruno, Bruno's own chin was not solid enough to withstand Tyson's attacks to outlast him past the middle rounds.

For me Douglas was his best opponent. He was a man possessed that night in Tokyo and used all his advantages over Mike to the best of his abilities. He gave Mike the biggest whooping he ever took until he was way past it. I think a focused Tyson may have struggled with him.

 

Evander Holyfield.

 

tyson was and still is so overrated
he was a mediocre but aggressive fighter with some very good charismatic intimidation skills
a decent fighter not intimidated knocks tyson out every time or makes him take an ear

 

then Holyfield is the ultimate GOAT for nearly winning whilst virtually having a heart attack in the ring vs Moorer. People need to stop being so defensive over Tyson. He is an ATG and on the boarder of top 10 heavyweights of all time but in the biggest fights of mikes career you think of the loses rather than the wins which is why I'd consider him lucky to be any higher than 10 on people's top 10 heavyweight list

 

Hard to disagree with logic, good post

 

Agree that he's overrated however not fir the reasons you've given. IMO he had the potential to be the GOAT however he didn't live up to his natural abilities and potential. If Tyson was around today we'd be calling him a hype job and he actually fits that criteria (supposed to be the best thing to hit boxing since Ali etc) however he got KTFO by buster Douglas. I still believe he was a hype job but there's no doubt he's an ATG and around about 10 in the ATG heavyweight rankings.

 

There's no debate, it's Buster Douglas. Don't tell me that wasn't a prime Tyson, 24 years old, undisputed Champion and 37-0 going into the fight, and this was before he went to prison. If he didn't train properly then that's his fault, but he was in his prime no doubt.

Buster produced an ATG performance that night, even Holyfield at that time couldn't have beaten Mike as well as Buster did that night (I think Holyfiield would have beaten Mike had they fought later that year as scheduled).

 

Spinks is Tyson's best win.