Thread: Why was Mike Tyson so popular?

Originally Posted by east end bob

He was a no nonsense, get in the ring and get the job done fighter. He did it with great efficiency until Cus went. He was also very respectful until then. I was impressed by his deep knowledge of the sports history and analysis. The leeches around him after Cus ressurected his old demons and brought him down. Never forget the awesome spectacle of a Tyson fight. Very few fighters have even come close to that. It was sad to see such a great fighter go down so quickly.

Originally Posted by beenKOed

KOs, Sir! He was young, seemed to live for boxing, didn't talk about much of anything except boxing. Did I mention KOs.
We knew he came from a single parent household, had gotten into some trouble, but seemed to being doing great with boxing as his main focus.
Had a close relationship with Cus, trained hard, spoke with hi pitched voice that didn't seem to fit in with what he did on the ring.
He kept KOing bigger, more experienced fighters with ease. He seemed to gain confidence with every KO. His life turned into a KO highlight reel.
That's why I liked him. I'm interested in what everyone else has to say.

Tyson was also, is also far more intelligent than given credit for too. He is actually quite emotional I believe as well. He is human after all

People forget that.

Very few fighters could have withstood Tyson at his best. That is a fact!

I think it was a perfect storm of events and happenstances.

Firstly, boxing was ready for a saviour. The 1980s heavyweight titles had been split and they were being passed around to various fat and uninteresting boxers ..... All of whom were never allowed to become interesting or make any money as they all worked for Don King. Fights were boring, lengthy and pretty low skill to be honest

Along comes this young force of nature (ridiculously Young) who was just blowing people away like in a new video game. Tyson was the first fighter whose management produced a highlights reel and sent it to all the press and that was a master stroke.

With a Hollywood type back story, and regal links to the past in Cus D'Amato, Tyson has all the credentials. His media image paid homage to the greats of the past, and it was if he had been created for the sole purpose of knocking people out .... Which, in a sense, he had.

He rescued heavyweight boxing, let's not forget that, and ushered in the PPV era. Later on, his train wreck of a life and mental problems playing out on the public stage was just media gold. The prison terms and press reporting later playing nicely into the establishments's fear of the 'feral black man' (controversial, I know!)

However, and most importantly, Tyson was an electrifying a performer as had ever stepped into a boxing ring.

Originally Posted by smashup

Originally Posted by Mark TKO

Can't add any more than Smash said

Young, vicious and invincible (for a time) - someone who dominates and is apparently invincible brings the casual fan on board

Will never forget the shock I got got up early to check telext in 1990 - 'Tyson Knockout Sensation'

Good times in boxing

Teletext

hahaha i remember my mum letting me stay awake till 3/4/5am to listen to Tyson v Bruno on the radio

I'd put him up there with Michael Jackson in terms of fame for a good few years.

He was everywhere in the late 80's

Ceefax to be precise - page 301 if my memory serves me right !

I did the same for Tyson Bruno - I actually thought Bruno had decked Tyson with the radio commentary in first round !

get in there Frank !!

Originally Posted by Mark TKO

Originally Posted by smashup

Originally Posted by Mark TKO

Can't add any more than Smash said

Young, vicious and invincible (for a time) - someone who dominates and is apparently invincible brings the casual fan on board

Will never forget the shock I got got up early to check telext in 1990 - 'Tyson Knockout Sensation'

Good times in boxing

Teletext

hahaha i remember my mum letting me stay awake till 3/4/5am to listen to Tyson v Bruno on the radio

I'd put him up there with Michael Jackson in terms of fame for a good few years.

He was everywhere in the late 80's

Ceefax to be precise - page 301 if my memory serves me right !

I did the same for Tyson Bruno - I actually thought Bruno had decked Tyson with the radio commentary in first round !

get in there Frank !!

I wanted Tyson to win but when he knocked Bruno down in 10 seconds I felt sorry for Bruno.

Then Tyson got hurt in the first round and my true senses said Tyson should be champ.

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

First, Muhammed Ali was hated by more people in his day than Broner.

As for Tyson, he was what people wanted in a heavyweight champion. He seemed like a caged animal that was only let loose on fight night. And he went in there to destroy. Then when he was allowed to be in the media he was a train wreck. Train wrecks are both horrifying and compelling. A wreck doesn't have to obstruct a road to cause a traffic jam because everyone wants to get a good look.

There will always be a bit of intrigue with Mike, how we can never know what might happen at the next moment.

Ali withstood the test of time. Ali was hated only by the establishment, but deep down they were closet Ali fans- and looked for him, and to this day he is still the "man".

We all know Don King was the snake that destroyed him. We all know that.

Don King never had any fighter worth a tinkers damn since he destroyed Tyson's life and shortened the impact of his career.

They simply couldn't trust him... name one fight of note post-Tyson that Don King had and that we can say was worth their salt? No one!

Mayweather= NO
Oscar DLH= NO
GGG= NO
Shane Mosely= NO
Manny = NO

etc, etc, etc...

One word to describe Tyson...Ruthless

Originally Posted by Tam Seddon

One word to describe Tyson...Ruthless

His downfall came when he was no longer ruthless.











Robin Givens' mother was Ruth, geddit
Badum-tish

Tysons downfall was himself. His original management team hid the issues and did not deal with them early. King and the rest used him for all the money he was worth.

However Tyson was the one that got into the rape situation, blew his money and had the endless relationship failures and substance misuse issues.

Simple!! Because he punched with incredible force, he went out there to finish pretty much every fight as soon as he possibly could and he was a little bit crazy so you never knew what was coming next from him. Those little factors there put bums on seats and breed excitement.

Awww he was misunderstood, a quiet spoken lad just looking for love in the gutter of life wading aimlessly through blood sweat and pain after serving out a few well deserved beatings on sum fuckers.
Very human qualities.

He was never popular.

He just had a very good publicity machine.

And, when he made some big money, the leeches latched on to him.

Originally Posted by Andre

Awww he was misunderstood, a quiet spoken lad just looking for love in the gutter of life wading aimlessly through blood sweat and pain after serving out a few well deserved beatings on sum fuckers.
Very human qualities.

LOL Well....

Since you put it that way....

Originally Posted by Bill Paxtom

He was never popular.

He just had a very good publicity machine.

And, when he made some big money, the leeches latched on to him.

Was never popular? Just had a good publicity team?

I would say Tyson made his own publicity...

Give it up Paxtom! LOL