Your Honest opinion Of Mike Tyson?

Good post. I would say Mike Tyson did live up to his potential. He won the title and cleaned out the division. He even unified the title belts. Tyson took the sportsworld by storm.
There was really nowhere to go but down from there. He didn't maintain his perch like Joe Louis did but he reached rare air.

 

Look how boxing is now without Tyson ... In terms of popularity

He's the most important figure in the sport with Ali

 

He was an exceptional combination of speed , strength, power and skill during his short but dominant prime , Berbick through Spinks .. he lost focus after that, conditioning followed and he was still very dangerous for many years but not the same .. at his best, a top five all time great and perhaps the most dangerous H2H of any of them ..

 

Of course there wasn't more he could do in terms of accomplishments after capturing all the belts. What I mean is he had potential to beat more great fighters. Prior to prison he had only beaten average to "good" fighters for the most part aside from Spinks and old Holmes. His resume was basically quantity over quality.

Guys like Bowe, Lewis, Holyfield, Mercer, Moorer, etc, had yet to truly make their mark around the time of the Douglas disaster. It's hard to argue that he couldn't do more if he didn't go to prison. If he had beaten even a handful of these guys, I'd have him in my top 3-5.

 

Tyson is over 3 decades removed from his prime and is still probably the most well known combat sports athlete who is alive.

People watched him in his 50s fighting Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition ... And it was the biggest PPV event of 2020.

Tyson Fury is named after him.

I remember they showed footage of previous heavyweights and they introduced them during a Klitschko bout ... And Tyson got the biggest ovation.

He's a top 10 heavyweight on the all time list and H2H I have him in the top 5 ... And the Tyson of the Spinks and Berbick fights ... I don't see many beating ...

You had people in other countries literally believe that he was made of iron.

Tysons ring walk literally looked like they let a monster out of his cage to slaughter some poor soul

 

Lol he would shut down social media if he fought today.

He would double Ronaldo's IG following count

Imagine Tyson just cutting through this crop of tall, lumbering heavyweights at the height of 5'10" .... Fury, Joshua, Wilder all have over 6" of height on Tyson ... And he would wreck them all ... And I don't think Fury could get the decision over a focused Mike ...

Just look back at his ring walks ... It's like a monster from your worst nightmares that has been chained is released to devour someone for your viewing pleasure

 

Fury is the only legit boxer among them ... But the rest are honestly not that good

Usyk is not beating Mike either

 

Mike Tyson's record speaks for itself.

Some overrate him. Some underrate him.
But his record is actually very easy to assess and decipher. He is not difficult to rate among the ATGs. It is clear that some greats are clear above him. And it is clear that he is clear above some greats.

 

Top 5 to 10 all time heavyweight. Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Lennox Lewis and Larry Holmes are the only guys I can rank over him without second guessing.

H2H is probably the best heavyweight ever along with Ali, Holmes, Lewis, Holyfield and maybe Fury.

Yes Tyson did have stamina issues, his punch input went lower and he at times would look lost when clinching and wait for the referee to break It up. But getting through the 4-5 rounds with a focused Mike Tyson without getting knocked down/out or having to constantly clinch on to him is damn near impossible. Who could of boxed Tyson with very little to no clinching? Maybe a David Tua, George Foreman and a Joe Frazier but that doesn't mean they would win and I don't see at least two of them men not seeing the final bell if they fought Tyson like that. Guys like Joshua, Wilder and Klitschko would of held on to Tyson for dear life, the Wladimir that fought Povetkin would of been disqualified if he fought Tyson.

Many like to say Tyson didn't like it when people fought back or that all his opponents were scared of him but I don't believe that personally. He walked through some awesome shots from Ruddock like they were nothing and Ruddock didn't back down. Guys like Tony Tubbs, Tony Tucker, Jose Ribalta, James Tillis, Trevor Berbick, Francois Botha and Pinklon Thomas didn't appear scared at all. Guys like Frank Bruno, Bonecrusher Smith, Bruce Seldon, Marvis Frazier and Michael Spinks on the other hand...



Would be even more popular today in the era of social media. MMA promotions would be trying to get Tyson to have one fight and I believe he would possibly have one MMA fight.

 

He is rated pretty fairly. Overrated by a few (top 4) underrated by a few (outside of the top 10), but for the most part in the 5-10 range by most.

I rate him around 8, one of the most exciting HW’s I have seen. He would be hell for anyone during his short prime, and still a tough night during his post prison years.

 

He's often overrated by casuals, often underrated on here. He was such a combo of physical gifts and physical deficits, and far too influencable by those around him, which led to his peak not lasting long. Had he stayed with Rooney and away from Givens/King, we might have seen a 90s where he's trading the belt on/off with the other 3 elites in his era. Had he been born back in the day when his lack of height and reach wouldn't have been as much of an issue, he could have had a long reign.

Regardless, he has a special place in boxing history as being the biggest personality other than Ali, and has a special place in sports history in general as being the most well documented icon.

He's also my H2H wild card pick for time machine fights.