Your Honest opinion Of Mike Tyson?

Steward is a good man. Don't necessarily agree with some of his statements. This is a great interview Rummy.

 

I can't find a legit reason to put Marciano over Tyson. Both top 10. I think Tyson did a bit more. Beat better fighters, better longevity even.

 

I'd agree but you can't overlook 49-0. And it's not a 49-0 against cabbies and window washers. Ok, maybe the first 35 are against subpar opposition!

Send me your Heavyweight ATG Top 10 if you can.

 

Like everyone else mine would probably change every other day but today

1. Joe Louis
1b Muhammud Ali

3. Lennox Lewis
4. Larry Holmes
5. Jack Johnson
6. George Foreman
7. Mike Tyson
8. Joe Frazier
9. Rocky Marciano
10. Evander Holyfield edges Sonny Liston.

Honorable mention
Liston, Charles, Norton, Patterson, Bowe, Dempsey must be mentioned for impact.

I mostly go on accomplishments, dominance, quality of oppp,longevity, impact to the sport. Just H2H only if it's close and that is totally subjective.

 

Tremendous list. Thanks for doing this. Mine is similar sans Marciano.

I love lists and numbers, so these rankings mean a lot to me. My criteria is very similar to your's: accomplishments, dominant reigns, opposition, H2H etc. I believe they're justified.

There are some questions with my list. Is Lennox Lewis really #7? How is Holyfield not Top 10 but Tyson is? And how did Dempsey make it over Holyfield? All questions to discuss at another time because you and I both know changes are unavoidable, like death and taxes!!

1.) Joe Louis
2.) Muhammad Ali
3.) Larry Holmes
4.) Jack Johnson
5.) Rocky Marciano
6.) Mike Tyson
7.) Lennox Lewis
8.) George Foreman
9.) Jack Dempsey
10.) Joe Frazier
11.) Evander Holyfield
12.) Sonny Liston
13.) Wladimir Klitschko
14.) Floyd Patterson
15.) Ezzard Charles

 

Wladimir Klitschko can't even get an honourable mention but Riddick Bowe and Floyd Patterson do? I'm much more confident on Bowe beating Klitschko than Klitschko beating Bowe but I don't think either Bowe or Patterson should be mentioned before Klitschko.

 

The fact that Tyson hasn't ended up punch drunk, got back in shape and that he looked better than Roy Jones Jr after 15 years out the ring compared to Jones who has been much more active added more to the aura of Tyson.

Still to this day Tyson carries a reputation of one or the baddest men on the planet to the average person. Guys like Joe Frazier, Ali, Foreman, Louis, Holyfield and Lewis didn't keep that kind of aura around them in the later years past retirement like Tyson has.

 

I probably should have included him if not for my own personal bias against him. He was borderline unwatchable particularly after Steward got his hooks into him. The 1-2 then fall onto his opponent like a Grizzly Bear shot in the a$$ by a sedative dart. Rinse and repeat. If the heavyweight division had died Wlad would have been the first suspect hauled in for questioning.

 

Had the speed ,power, killer instinct , and skills to be considered the G.O.A.T
But something was missing. Determination and will to win. We saw some of
it when he had tough fights in his prime.
It really showed after his prison stint and his skills deteriorated. When the fights were tough. Attempting
to break one fighters arm, pushing referee's ,biting off both of Holyfield's ears, elbowing multiple opponents , threatening
and trying to intimidate everyone including media. All that type of behavior indicates a real fragile man mentally,
His mind was his biggest weakness. And that's any fighters most important attribute.

 

Tbh he said he didn't care about boxing anymore after 1990

If you don't care then that's it ... even if you're the absolute best at something ... If you don't care about that something anymore, your performance at it will decline

Rooney and his camp wanted to him to keep going and break Marciano's 49-0 record and retire as the GOAT ... But Tyson was young and didn't have the drive to do that ... It's hard to keep someone hungry after they already achieved everything at a young age

 

Overrated?
By casuals

Under rated?
By hardcore fans

ATG?
Yes

Good for his time nothing else?
Him from 86-88 is good anytime

Would have beaten most past and present champs?
Depends who he's fighting

Lost to Buster Douglas...!
Douglas was great that night

Only man to ko Larry Holmes!
Tyson was in his prime, Holmes wasn't


Your opinion?
Great fighter in his prime who really only loses to other atgs with the right styles

 

An ATG HW for sure but i think he's overrated by some.

 

My honest opinion is Tyson was the result of an experiment that was a full time job for a lot of people.

I credit Tyson for being a great talent in his own right…but he did not do it alone. his own team, then the whole of the boxing industry, governing bodies, top promoters and the money from TV bent over backwards to ensure Tyson realised his early promise more than just about any other world champion.

They decided on him. Long before he got there.

Yes he had to deliver. But it was all laid on for him. All in place.

After his fall from grace, the imprisonment, he deserves more credit than he gets for his comeback.

But he really benefited from being the biggest thing in boxing. He really did.

 

He had reached the top of the sports world and he was what 21? 22? I think everything that happened people forget Mike Tyson was a kid. Anyone reading this think back to when you were 19 years old. Mike was a big kid. Cus had brainwashed him all those years everyday. Positive affirmations. Then just as they set out on their course Cus is just gone
Just like that he's gone. If Mike was truly mentally weak he couldn't have went on and accomplished what he did.
Then Jacob's dies, just like that he's gone. Now what? It's heartbreaking. Then as if that wasn't enough here comes Robin and her mom.
Honestly nobody whipped Mike Tyson's ass until Robin Givens came along. At the time everybody in America knew she was gold digging cent Mike.

That was just too much for anyone to cope with at that age.