Would Cus have tried to protect Mike from any fighters?

Cus would have had to protect the other fighters from Iron Mike Tyson.

 

Tyson would certainly have his work cut out for him

 

Oh Sangria. Did you hear that buddy? Liston vs Tyson. Ha Ha.

 

Tyson had some speed on Liston. I think a fight that you could use for comparison would be the frank Bruno match.

 

Tho Liston was a far superior boxer.

 

The thing about Sonny Liston is that he had that pole like left jab, very intimidating man that could box if he had to, remember Liston defeated Eddie Machen on points on Sept 7 1960.

 

Yeah mad respect for Listons jab. Foreman said he was the only guy who could back him up.

 

Was Patterson past his physical prime in 1965-68? Maybe.

 

Larry Holmes seemed to hold a special animosity for George Foreman. When asked if he used the Foreman grill, Holmes replied: "No, I like my burgers juicy."

 

I think Larry was just sore because his own lean, mean, peanut roasting machine didn’t take off like George’s grill.

 

Can’t say for sure hard and fast, but Floyd had been on the scene for a while and on average, some might view 30 as the speed hump after which a fighters physical prime might down turn. But accounting for both his physical condition and accrued experience/development it could be argued that during say 65-68, Floyd reached the maximum sum of his parts.

 

I agree. He fought and beat some tough guys during his post-title phase, just as he did as a middleweight during his early years. It was only when he became champion did it seem like he was cherry picking. That was Cus assessing the risks vs. the rewards.

 

The only person Cus would not have wanted Mike to face is Ali.

 

I'm not trying to sound down on Tyson, but I kind of see a fight against Liston as possibly the worst match in history for Iron Mike, with Big George a close runner up. Liston has everything needed to shut Tyson's offense down (minus George's shoving). I feel Sonny has the sharper, faster, better educated punches that are almost as hard as Foreman's. Liston has the superior jab which would give Mike a big problem. Sonny would step right to Tyson, his jab & hard, hurtful punches achieving their goal with a TKO 7.

 

IMO Liston would look similar to Buster Douglas when he TKO'd Mike but much, much, better.