Your Honest opinion Of Mike Tyson?

His loss against Lewis was, I think, his greatest showing of grit. Talk about going out on your shield. If he couldn't handle someone who was unafraid of him, he'd have quit on his stool after the first round.

Side note: casuals who think he was invincible often haven't seen the fight. Show it to them. Their reactions are humorous. They start off cheering hm, and then by round 2 are like wait what's going on

 

People like to say Tyson lacked heart or that chin wasn't great which is absolutely not true. He took awful punishment off Holyfield, Lewis and Douglas before going down, took shots of Ruddock, Bruno, Tucker in the second round and Bonecrusher in the last round of their fight and took them very well.

Realistically Tyson had a better chin than guys like Marciano, Fury, Bowe, Liston and Frazier

Also there's a reason why he is brought up when talking about the best right cross and left hooks in heavyweight history.

 

He could have taken the likes of fictional characters, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger, Lol.

 

Hes remembered more for fights he lost then ones he won

 

That's nicely said Janitor, covers everything I was thinking. If you could survive Tyson early he really had no plan B.

 

Even money or better against any fighter that ever lived.

ATG ranking #6 behind #5 Marciano and ahead of #7 Lennox Lewis.

Head 2 Head #1 or #2, flip flopping with Ali.

 

Mike's still goin hard. I honestly like him better nowadays than back then.

 

I “liked” this post. Not because it was particularly good, but because you hadn’t received any likes yet as a new member.

 

With his short reach, what was his backup plan supposed to be? He couldn't exactly box from the outside and try to win on points. He really had no choice but to try to close and go for KOs.

 

Tyson proved he could go the distance and win fights via decision

 

Set traps. Try to outwork opponents by using the jab and throwing combinations. You don’t have to be long and tall to box — history has shown it’s possible, but he’d have had to humble himself to find a trainer who could teach him some new tricks and dedicate himself to learning them. He stuck with what he knew and thus had no answers when it didn’t work.

Tyson had a complacency about him if he didn’t get a guy out early. One or two punches then fall inside … and not work. Especially against big men like Tucker or even Blood Green or Bonecrusher. If you have a free hand you’re allowed to use it — Teddy Atlas (not my favorite guy but he does know boxing and definitely knows Tyson) talked a lot about his ‘silent agreements’ … where he’d fall inside and wouldn’t work if the guy was willing to clinch and rest with him. Often you’ll see him thrust both arms straight forward under the other guy’s armpits, surrendering to clinch rather than keeping them tight and throwing punches.

The big thing is the Ruddock fights (at least the first one IIRC) are the only times he faced adversity and really fought through it. I don’t mean getting hit by one punch and not falling apart. But while I don’t question his heart or his chin, I do question his ability to knuckle down and work through real rough patches to turn the tables.

Yes he landed one uppercut against Douglas but you don’t see anything after that to show it lit a spark under him — he wasn’t invigorated by this event, more like ‘damn he got up; oh well I tried.’

 

He was larger than life. He was far more than merely a champion boxer. He was a cultural phenomenon, much the way Ali was.
Some fighters transcend the sport. Tyson was one of them.

 

Great fighter with a great resume of course - no question -

However, possibly one of the most over credited/celebrated fighters of all time in the realm of hypotheticals, with more excuses, explanations and heavy qualifications afforded to him than any other ATG for the less outstanding performances and failures in his actual career.

Other ATGs who had their own impacting trials and tribulations to deal with seemed to be otherwise judged primarily for what they actually achieved during their careers, not what they shoulda woulda or coulda done.

For instance, we can muse over what Ali might’ve been, perhaps even greater, if not for the 3 1/2 year hiatus but Ali’s ATG rating rests firmly on what he actually achieved in spite of exile.

I’ll repeat that Mike’s resume as it was is more than enough to be getting on with and he did single handedly bring the HW div. back to life and conquer all before him for a time. Popularity wise he is right up there.

For those of us too young to have “felt” (in real time) the oft described numbing intimidation and auras of invincibility associated with the likes of Liston and Foreman, well, via his own brutal displays, Mike brought those intangible qualities well and truly back to life during his reign which a good many of us, no doubt, did experience.

Awesome stuff.

 

No plan B? Ever watch the Tucker fight? Ruddock rounds 6 & 7? Pinklon Thomas? Jose Ribalta?

Pink Thomas came back after the 1st round blitz and kept Tyson honest for the next 5 rounds. Would Mike be seen in a better light if he suffered a flash knockdown in round 4 before dropping the boom in round 6?

And against Mitch Green you can't dock Mike points for his complacency because he was in complete control and showed he could go 10 rounds. Any time Mitch got brave Mike would immediately turn things around in his favor. All fighters get complacent in fights, not just Mike.

Using this as a knock against Tyson is unfair. Similar to him never getting floored and coming back to win a fight. When has that been a barometer for measuring someone's greatness? It's not so different from getting hurt and fighting back to turn the tide is it?

You'd have an argument if Tyson was never hit hard in his career but as soon as he got hit he'd fold like a lawn chair.

And some of you still argue that if Tyson didn't knock you out in 5 he'd fold so fast he couldn't even attempt a Plan B.

I've said this before, if Tyson never went the distance some of you would claim he never could.

"If"...hate that word.

It was just a matter of time before Sangria the Legend broke loose...