Would Cus have tried to protect Mike from any fighters?

Or he could have lost to Buster Douglas.

Tyson had fought like 11 or 12 fights by the time Cus died. All were pretty much soft touches. So Cus definitely protected him early in his career, and in a good way. Any good manager or trainer will protect a fighter at least to a degree while they are developing.

 

Even if Cus could have kept Tyson from unraveling, that scenario is unrealistic.
That would make him the greates ever by a quantum leap.
You are talking about a 15-20 year run as undefeated HW champ. Facing a long line of killers and beating all of them without a slip up.

 

Tyson had the potential. Maybe he would have lost displine if Cus were alive also, but Tyson claims things would have been a lot different if Cus had of lived. Its not realistic but either are fantasy fights vs Liston or prime Foreman.

One thing that is true though is Tyson had a lot of room to grow as a boxer but instead he lost his focus. He could have been even better as the years went on instead of deteriorating. Now If Tyson became technically better I think he would be a strong favourite over almost anyone, prime Ali would have the best chance.

 

No George Foreman for Mike Tyson. No. No! NO!

 

e<<<<<<<<<<<---------- Who? This guy?

They'd have nothing to worry about unless Foreman fought a top 10 guy too early.

 

Foreman was always in Tyson's plans. Bill Cayton was brokering a deal with Tyson to face Foreman in China during the "Tyson World Tour" that starts after the Spinks fight.

First bout would be against Frank Bruno in England, then Francesco Damiani in Italy, Razor Ruddock in Canada, Adilson Rodrigues in Brazil, A SuperFight with Holyfield in Las Vegas and Foreman in China somewhere in the mix.

So George Foreman was definitely on the radar and had Tyson stayed with his original team then I'm positive a Tyson-Foreman bout materializes around 1990.

 

Cus said Tyson, bar distractions, could go down in history as the greatest heavyweight champeen of all times. He held Tyson in high regard and even spoke giddily to those close to him claiming, "I finally found my Liston!"

Comeback Foreman would be another squashed bug on Tyson's windshield. Team Tyson had absolutely nothing to worry about. They'd worry if a huge heavyweight with power, speed and agility was on the chess board, someone like Bowe or Lewis. Worried yes, protected no.

Cus knew Tyson aye no Patterson.

 

I just know you bought the grill!!!!!

 

it's actually kind of hard to say with Cus because he was pretty grandiose with a lot of things he said, I remember reading somewhere that he once said Tyson could not beat Foreman or Louis, but at the same time Cus did have the vision of Tyson being an invincible force

I thought the Liston Patterson thing had a lot to do with Liston's mob ties too

the Tyson that blew away Spinks, in the 60's-70's would be interesting to say the least, even Tyson has said no one beats Ali, but Cooper basically did, and Frazier definitely did, Tyson had a really good left hook and arguably more finishing potential with big uppercuts and rights than Cooper or Frazier

 

But hasn’t it been revealed in at least one documentary that Cus, before he passed, was beginning to lose absolute control over Mike - which was a concern for Cus?

Suffice to say, a LOT of fighters, bar this, that and the other distraction, could’ve gone on to much greater achievements than they did.

Just give Buster Douglas Tyson’s earlier career dedication and focus - how much further could he have gone?

 

D'Amato was a thinker and a plotter and a known paranoiac. He would have considered every potential match carefully, always with the focus on what would have been good for Mike. If a foe presented too much danger, Cus would have sought to avoid or delay a match with him. His sole responsibility was to his fighter, not to the public. That's why he had Patterson fight Jackson, Moore, Rademacher, London and McNeely while avoiding Liston, Machen and Folley. He knew none of them would be too difficult for Floyd. Early in Patterson's career Cus had put him in the ring with the ring wise Joey Maxim and Floyd lost a controversial decision. But Maxin wasn't a puncher so Floyd wasn't going to get hurt and the defeat didn't damage his career. Cus gambled on Floyd fighting Johansson and Ingo fooled everyone. Floyd went into the first Ingo fight with a poor game plan. Cus had to bear some responsibility for that knockout loss. After that, Cus's resolve not to take on Liston must have hardened. He surely knew there was no way that his fighter could beat Liston. The three bouts with Ingo served the purpose of making Floyd unavailable for two years, thus quieting the public's demands for a Liston match until an embarrassed Patterson finally pushed for it.

 

And, first port of call was to see Mike become the youngest HW Champ, so, at least on the way there, avoidance of any higher risk would’ve been even more pointed I would imagine.

Ultimately, it seems Cus did a disservice to Patterson, impeding his development, whether the result was a projected win, lose or draw.

Patterson did very well after they parted ways but by that time, Floyd was past his physical prime though Floyd maintained tremendous conditioning - even in ‘72 aged 37 yo, Patterson looked and performed well in defiance of his years.

 

You know what, my brother actually did. And it was pretty awesome for the time!! It's around somewhere, collecting dust and cobwebs...

 

Yeah your brother, riiiiiiight hahahahaha

I used one for a while on one of my fitness crusades. It was pretty good to be honest. The loot he has made out of it is insane.

 

Perhaps cus wanted him to avoid a couple contenders when he was young, but I'm certain he would never hold back a prime Mike Tyson