Witherspoon was a very good fighter, but the ko by Smith makes me doubt he'd take Mike much further. To me the best Tim ever fought was against Holmes, I never saw that kind of drive from him ever again. Still...hey, he was twice champ.
Tony Tucker was absolute prime. True he suffered inactivity and drug problems but that was after theTyson fight Bonecrusher was still pretty much in his prime Marvis Frazier was in his prime
Haha....what is this? Tucker was fighting regularly, in training etc...so lets just say he's 'healthy'. Prime? - yeah, probably true. Also true that Tucker's drug issues surfaced later...and I personally doubt he was using drugs at the time of his Tyson fight (he'd have folded in one or two rounds were that the case) - so true also. However "absolute prime" - sounds like your over-egging the pudding here. Boncrusher Smith - 'still prime'? After a three year run of almost as many losses as wins. He's only 'prime' if you are comparing him to the cadaverous old warhorse he became in the 90's. So lets just say he's 'healthy'. And that's without going into the fact he won his title off a fixed fight and the whole 'why' of the machinations as to why that occurred. Frazier - 'prime'? Is this a joke?...he was being mishandled completely by his father...blind freddy could see that Marvis' was not a tank. Many an undefeated fighter has developed a drug addiction or began to be trained by a moron....the effects are stark. Team Tyson saw and capitalized...but to suggest Marvis was prime is superficial.
Tyson also had an ear infection after falling off his pigeon coup and stopped training, which is also in his book. But these things happen in life so you step up and do your damndest to win.
This is it among other things. Tyson had been a professional for 14 months. Jame's previous losses were to good contenders or more recently touted prospects. He certainly turned back the clock against Tyson and fought his heart out. Tyson's inexperience and Tillis's canniness were obvious. It was a big step up for Tyson and a perfectly chosen fight from which to learn and learn fast. Even a mere 7 months later Tyson would have made much shorter work of him. He come so far so fast with all those assets of his.
I think so, too. I do wonder how the Tillis who kept Mike Weaver at bay for 15 rounds five years earlier would have fared against this early version of Iron Mike?
Tyson would have got him early. Tillis was a disgrace that night and never made any serious attempt to win. He ran all night and made what, two offensive flurries all night? He didn't keep him at bay he just ran. Weaver was exhausted chasing him and had ring rust to boot. Poor Dundee had to scream at him all night trying to get him to throw punches and fight. Tyson cut the ring off far better than Weaver and would catch him. It was huge guys that hugged that Tyson had more trouble putting away once he hit his straps.
Tucker beat Douglas in 1987 so when the hell was Tucker`s prime? Smith was nowhere near Tyson`s level despite hurting him in the final round of that snoozefest.
