Why was Tyson's prime so early?

I've read a lot, and spoke to people about it.

 

Your trying to diminish the 80's, and in all fairness there was a lot of that stuff going on, but it wasnt only in the heavyweight division. The 80's produced some of the greatest fights and fighters in the lower weights as well.
The bottom line is the 80's were filled with a lot of highly skilled fighters accross the board, and that cant be denied, regardless of how lazy and uninspired they were at points in their careers. As boxing moved into the mid 90's you certainly started to appreciate those underachievers a lot more.
Whether you think they all came unprepared and on drugs to face Tyson, is your opinion. Guys like Berbick and Thomas prepared with Angelo Dundee, Tubbs, although still heavy trained with Lou Ferrigno, Spinks was with Eddie Futch, so I think a few of those "underachievers" even past their respective best, took Tyson somewhat seriously.

 

Another point is that Tyson fought a lot more frequently when he was younger. Once he became champ he fought maybe twice a year. His style was complimented by regular fighting, staying in shape, staying fresh and switched on. The longer lay offs between fights, and ultimately his prison sentence diminished his physical skills, not to mention his mental state.

He fought 29 fights in his first 2 years - then his next 29 fights took him 18 years...

 

I'm not trying to diminish the 1980s.
Maybe you missed what Seamus was saying in his post - that the 1980s heavyweights were "real professionals", and implying that guys from earlier eras were not. That's a crock of ****. He came out flat out insulting other eras, and boosting the 1980s, so I responded by pointing out that actually the guys from some of those other eras behaved more like real pros (ie. they were fighting more regularly, and not taking years off to do coke or whatever) that a lot of the 80s guys (who have even been dubbed "the lost generation".
I'm NOT saying the 1980s guys were not "real pros", they were. But they had their fair share of guys who went AWOL for long periods or went years looking quite bad and had personal issues and management issues, and conditioning issues.
All of which is true, and contrary to the rosy picture Seamus painted.

The 1980s heavyweights were not terrible, but not particularly great either. And everyone at the time welcomed Tyson's arrival precisely because the division's top fighters had gone to seed or were unreliable performers.
Still, they were decent enough heavyweights.
But seamus is wrong to contrast them with an imaginary crop of palookas on breadlines who allegedly dominated the division in years gone by.
Truth is, champions like Joe Louis had to fight a full crop of real highly-trained professional fighters too.

 

Ok sorry for misreading that. I agree to some extent although I find it impossible to compare eras unless you grew up through it, especially when you consider what the Olympics and Amatuer programs brought to US boxers during the 80's which was at it's pinnacle, something Seamus points out as a factor that's overlooked when comparing it to the blue collar eras of boxing.
Personally I don't know enough about Louis era to fairly comment.

 

Only 1 man stood a chance against him 15 years earlier and it was George Foreman . Tyson would have done 2 whatever version of Ali what he did 2 mature Holmes , Spinks & young Carl Williams , a matter of style . Their style was **** .

 

By d time Tucker fought Tyson he was an unproven prospect who happened 2 have a belt , he beat no1 outside of Douglas , whom wasn't more than a journeyman himself by d time he fought Tucker .
Tyson's win over Tucker was only slightly more impressive than Orlin Norris' "loss" 2 Tucker .

 

Fair enough. :good

I agree with Seamus' point about the US amateur program only to a certain extent.
I don't dismiss the value of it, BUT ....

Tim Witherspoon and Pinklon Thomas had about 9 amateur fights between them. Witherspoon started boxing around age 19 or 20, I think, and learned his craft in the "old school" environment of the Philly gyms, as far as I can gather. He had about 6 amateur contests I heard.
Thomas had about 2 or 3 amateur contests.
Bonecrusher Smith started boxing in his mid-20s, in the army, not an extensive amateur career at all.
Mike Weaver was a much improved low-level journeyman, in old school style. I think he started out in the marines too.

These men kind of suggest that the extensive amateur programs, well-sponsored and groomed from a young age (guys like Page, Tubbs, Dokes, and Tucker I think) don't necessarily produce superior fighters at all.

 

Tyson was simply one of the most physically gifted fighters that ever lived ... his combination of chin, strength, speed and power were second to none in heavyweight history. It was not that his peak was young, it was that is was short because he was a weak person and lost himself. He was such a valuable commodity that he was easily exploited and his weak underpinning as a person allowed him to crumble ... post Spinks he ceased as a full time fighter and was never the same ..

 

You can disagree but as a group the 80s were more skilled boxers though, bigger, stronger and quicker. Maybe Walcott/Schmelling aside

 

like others have said. Speed and timing was the advantage of his style. And only a young man in perfect shape and reflexes can succeed with that style.

 

It's also worth pointing out that several of Joe Louis's opponents did have considerable amateur experience, though I seriously doubt there was much sponsorship or grooming for future stardom in the way 1970s US amateurs enjoyed. Just a ton of amateur fights and tournaments, as well as what used to be called 'the bootleg circuit'.

 

Yeah, I don't agree.
Guys like Smith, Berbick ... strong, but I wouldn't say particularly skilled or quick. Bruno was strong but just a bit slow. Tyrell Biggs appeared to have skills but never mastered the art of using them in the pros. They were decent heavyweights but I think they come in as average as a group of contenders.

 

A lot of people seem to misunderstand Tysons head movement, this wasnt a form of defense. This was Cus way of making up for Tysons lack of height, Tysons whole style was to stay low and come under the opponents jab. Its really hard fighting someone shorter than you, whose fast and coming under your punches.
THIS is the reason why his opponents were scared of him, because they couldnt hit him.

Larry Holmes once stated (regarding Tyson) "Hes hard to hit, and he hits very hard, now thats a bad combination"

 

For people with a problem on Tysons defense

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