Why did Tyson have such a short prime?

"I burn my candle at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends,..
It shines a lovely light."

 

Besides the prison explanation, did you not know about his psychological instability, his skilled team departing, Robin Givens, her Mother, & The Monster Don King?

But let us examine your premise.
Tyson's prime was not "so short".
Look at other boxers, & the most fair thing to do is HWs.
There average prime was similar or not much longer.
Who do you see whose PRIME is say even 6 years?

 

Even Holmes' prime was under five years.

 

Because he wasn’t as good as he was made out to be?

 

I have thought about this a lot. Mike had to be exact in his physical movements to avoid punches of bigger guys -to slip inside and work the body and then to go to the head to use that explosive inside punching to land his great power to the head. He had to be exact and work 100 percent for his style to be successful. He didn't have the size to fall back on where he could get sloppy at all. He had the power, but he needed that energy to get inside being shorter and not be hit. Once he is hit he might cut up or swell and there goes the concentration which leads to being hit more and a loss.

Some of his flaws were visible even with Bonecrusher. We can blame Bonecrusher for that fight and say he held, but Mike was not effective getting to the body and breaking down Smith. So that flaw there showed his ineffective style with someone bigger who could punch. Mike was a little tentative to get hit, so he was clinching also at times. Bonecrusher went for the clinch but Mike fell into it. So if a Mike in shape could be nullified a little, if he slipped more defensively things could go badly. And that happened gradually with other variables.. Later he slipped in training and took things for granted and that was part of it.

If I had to blame anyone it was Mike because of immaturity and not focusing on boxing 100 percent, something Cus warned him about- but he was young and was influenced. He was too young not to be changed by all which was happening. Don King's influence was not good on him, and neither was Robin Givens, yet Don King to me was one of the best promoters in the business. But with Mike he influenced Mike too much, and that affected the Tyson success machine and what got him to the top of boxing with the win over Berbick. Don King wanted part of the success.

So, Don King is there with the heavyweight tourney and Mike goes right to him, and he controlled him slowly and somehow the great organized machine with the guys Mike was with since Cus (Bill Cayton, Jim Jacobs. and Rooney -knowing all the numbers and combinations) were losing their influence. Guys who were part of the initial core. Guys who focused only on Mike and Mike only on them and what they had to do. This was a plan and it worked only if each of them focused. So the Tyson machine was gradually being replaced by Don King and also Robin Givens and her mom Ruth Roper.

Eventually Don King had so much power-and that hurt Mike- and then other guys came up who were yes men-guys like Jay Bright and Aaron Snowell later on. Guys who were not at the high level. So, Mike was on his own to dictate what he wanted to do and Mike's judgements were never that great. He had great knowledge, but not great judgement. So Don King with Robin Givens were a big distraction which took Mike away from the machine and concentration which was needed to be successful. Jacobs died at the time, which probably had an affect on Mike, since I know he liked Jacobs probably more than Cayton.

Once his core was gone then he slipped in training just enough to lose his edge and he was hit more and there was the loss in 1990.. And since that time he focused on power and slowly he lost more and more.

 

Drugs booze & women. After Douglas he more or less dropped the peek a boo & became a more conventional fighter. I often wonder if he'd managed to win the title back from Holyfield would he have put together another significant run or just burned out.

 

The main reason he fell off was Robin Givens. Boxing style had perhaps 10%. The rest was all Givens. She did the heavy lifting, she deserves the credit. Before anyone says Kevin Rooney remember she is the one who got rid of him.
I'm tired of Ms Givens being overlooked. She accomplished alot in a short period of time. The ***** fed Mike a 40 ounce Lithium BigG and put him on National TV next to Barbara Walters. Who's prime could survive that?
Over on the Gold Diggers website she has Sugar Ray Robinson respect.

 

In another post someone commented that it was remarkable that Floyd Patterson was highly ranked and beating top-10 contenders from the mid-fifties to the early-seventies.

Tyson, while not at his absolute peak the whole time, was highly ranked and beating top-10 contenders from the mid-eighties to the early-2000s. He lost to two guys in a 17-year period. It wasn't like he fell off drastically after just a few years at the top, like say John Tate, Pinklon Thomas, or Riddick Bowe.

In heavyweight history only Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Evander Holyfield, as well as Patterson, can compare. I suppose that possibly George Foreman and Larry Holmes could be included, too. That's some pretty good company for someone with a short prime.

 

I remember that. It was unbelievable how Givens took over-and her mother. He was almost stoned in that interview. Givens and her mom really wanted to control Mike, but they were not around much longer after that. He divorced her, but the damage of the distraction was done. Mike talked a good talk about the dangers of dating and all that, but then he fell for everything Cus warned him about.

 

That's an interesting take and is actually quite solid.