The Debate: ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson.

Compiled by Jim Cawkwell.

The Mike Tyson saga has descended further still, from mediocrity to a despairingly bleak point in what was once the most celebrated career in heavyweight boxing history. Tyson is not a man who stubbornly refuses to accept the ravages of time that have depleted his abilities as a fighter, he openly acknowledges them and might have been able to leave this sport with a degree of dignity, if not for his sizeable responsibility to his debtors.
Clearly, Tyson’s dramatic fourth round knockout loss to British heavyweight Danny Williams represents the most unbearable of professional failures he has suffered; perhaps the only saving grace to take from the fight was Tyson’s attempts to fight through a terrible knee injury that occurred in the first round, considerably hampering his performance. However, I doubt any of us thought they would ever see the day when Mike Tyson would have to chase a rematch with Danny Williams in order to secure some vindication. Despite what appears to be an overwhelmingly depressing scenario facing Tyson, incredibly, he retains the respect of many fans worldwide and their hopes for his return and ultimate success in the ring remain strong. Opinions certainly differ on the subject of Mike Tyson, so read on and enjoy those of our regular readers here at saddoboxing.com.

Meunouk: I don’t see all the fuss about his loss to Danny Williams. Mike can make a comeback, he wouldn’t have to fight anybody who is a threat and could still make a few million and get a title shot. Once Danny knocks out Vitali Klitschko in December, Mike is going to get his rematch. Whether or not he beats Danny second time round I can’t say at this point in time, but I wouldn’t bet against him as with 1 punch he can turn the whole fight around! If the stories on his leg are to be believed, then unlucky Mike! He looked great in the first round. If for some unknown reason Danny loses to Klitschko in embarrassing fashion, then I think Mike could go to town on the elder brother, working the body and going upstairs is what Mike does best, apart from getting into street fights and spending large sums of money of course!

Metpt176: Being a former Tyson fan I can without a doubt say that it is time for Mike to head for acting. He’d be a perfect B.A. Barracus for the A Team movie that’s coming up. In my mind…Tyson is done for three reasons. #1:) Tyson is only in it for the money. All that hunger bulls*** & I missed the ring…it’s just bulls***. He pretty much gave up in the fight against Danny Williams who everyone said was…a no one. He, like Evander, has’nt realistically performed worth a damned in the last few years. #2:) Age & his body has caught up. Tyson looked good against Williams…when he looked good, but if Williams was a tune up…Tyson is totally broken & it’s going to take a lesser tune up to fix his situation. #3:) Another reason I say he’s finished (or should be…) THE MONEY!! He’s bankrupt folks!! How is he going to get out of that debt if people start losing interest in him fighting. If he aint winning…he’s losing & losers don’t put asses in seats.

Memphis: With the passing of the Williams fight (injury or not), more and more people are beginning to accept that Mike cant cut it anymore, looking good in the gym doesnt neccessarily mean looking good in the ring. That should mean that the audience will drop, but it wont, people will always want to watch, not always for the right reasons but they will ( I bought the Williams fight and Im glad I did, it was an event if nothing else).

Mike will continue to fight, weather it be Queensbury or K1 it doesnt matter, he has to fight, what else can he do?.

It wouldnt surprise me to see him win a world title, hell it wouldnt surprise me to see Holyfield win one, but with Tyson it isnt really about the title’s, he mightsay differently but we all know he is still around to resolve his financial situation, I hope he can achieve what he has set out to and retire with dignity and be square with the house, I’d hate to see him become a punching bag for young upstarts not fit to carry his kitbag.

Even then he’d sell out the arena.

Britkid: I freely admit I loathe the man. He is a black eye on boxing. I have had no time for the bloke since after the Spinks fight.

I guess with hindsight, he always was too good to be true. The signs were there in the Green, Tillis and Smith fights, he was not as good as we initially thought. And certainly Larry Holmes foresaw Tyson’s destruction.

Ever since Spinks; the SECOND youngest Heavyweight Champion (behind Patterson), has been getting worse and worse. When he first burst on the scene, it was his awesome hand and foot speed, that made him look so good; the power was merely a great bonus. But ever since Spinks, Tyson has relied more and more on his undoubted heavy hands, and an excellent chin. But slowly even these “tools’ are not good enough, even in today’s pitiful Heavyweight division. I know it is hard for Tyson fans to believe, but he is finished. He is at the stage of his career, like Ali was when he was fighting Holmes and Berbick. After all Tyson lost to a man with a loss to Julius Francis on his record! Surely that is the sign to give it up?

Iluvenigelbenn+chriseubank: Check out what Lewis told, it’s interesting stuff. (Lewis article is submitted after this response).

Here is my opinion. Mike Tyson is the most exciting fighter of all time for a reason, he burst onto the scene as the highest standard young heavyweight ever, there was no heavyweight of the past (or since) who would of handled Tyson if they were both young (if you know what I mean), the Spinks fight was Tyson’s last ever fight, that was it, he was FINISHED after that!
The real Tyson(the original Tyson) only lasted a couple of years, before money and fame got to his head.. Tyson was no more after the Spinks fight.. he could of cemented himself as THE best boxer ever if things had worked out differently – if Jimmy Jacobs hadn’t of died, if Cus would of spoke higher of Bill Cayton instead of only pointing to him as Jimmy Jacob’s side man, if Kevin Rooney wouldn’t of f***ed off..
It’s interesting how Tyson’s old handlers(the good guys) DONT seem to blame Tyson at all for turning his back on them, they all know that Tyson was vulnerable and it was Don King’s sweet talking that fooled him bigtime.. when Tyson went with King that was it, end of an era.

Ofcourse he was still knocking mother f***ers the f*** out, but he would of been EVER BETTER and it’s to my belief that he’d still be undefeated today and that he would never of even hit the canvas, he’d be retired by now and the biggest sports legend of all time.. if things had worked out differently.. he would of been a hero figure..
When that b**** Robin Givens screwed him out of all those millions (she was only with Tyson for the money) it f***ed his head up bigtime, he was also on anti-depressants and was heart-broken.

He had no real trainers from 1988-1991, Kevin Rooney knew more about the Cus D’Amato ways than anybody and he wasn’t around anymore, Mike suffered, he was only looking for the one big punch rather than throwing combinations now.. his great strength in the early days (84-87) was his ability to keep his body swaying from side to side whilst moving forward, he wasn anything but an easy target back then and he was, in my opinion, at his sharpest, the best heavyweight ever – in other words, he could of knocked out any heavyweight ever when he was in his youth (19-22).. and would of been even better than that if he’d of stuck with Cayton and Rooney.

Tyson was binge-drinking, getting high with his mates and sleeping with prostitues from 1988-1991, no s***! Then he gets accused of raping some little b****, wrongly accused, she wanted to get with Tyson and Tyson only wanted a f***, so she accused him of rape out of frustration, and 4 years in prison f***ed him up physically and mentally… after the Holyfield ear-biting incident in 1996 people thought very very low of him and he couldn’t handle the pressure so he just turnt into a monster and decided to f*** everything and not give a toss anymore.. he was also mixing with the wrong crowds in his personal life..
There you have my Tyson story..

As for the Danny Williams fight, well the doctor said he was shocked how Tyson was even able to stand up for the second round, that’s how bad the knee was, I think Williams should of finished him earlier than he did and it wasn’t Danny’s best performance.. we all know Danny had more potential than Lennox Lewis as a fighter but didn’t have it mentally, it was no suprise he beat Tyson, I predicted it!

As for Tyson only boxing for the money nowadays – get real! He’s close to being the most famous man in the world, he could earn millions from acting, wrestling, commercials, anything he wants.. yes I agree a part of why he still wants to fight is because of the money, that’s obvious, but that’s not the only reason, certainly not, he still has some love for the sport and openly admits he messed up.

Oh and I can’t thank Iron Mike enough for saving a dying sport!

Lennox Lewis statement about Tyson: “I remember my stay at the Catskills clearly, I was about 17 at the time, I’d recently won the junior world championships that Mike Tyson was tipped to win but he had pulled out at the last minute for reasons I don’t know. So naturally his mentor Cus D’Amato wanted to see how he’d do against me. In terms of personality and attitude, Mike was the opposite back then to what he is now. He wasn’t the out-spoken lunatic you know today, actually he was very softly spoken, polite, well mannered, modest, he was just very nice back in those days. To be honest, he was quite shy, it took him a while to get intimate with me, he was nervous meeting me, I’m not kidding. But when he came out of his shell he couldn’t stop chatting! Mike bored me to near death with non-stop boxing talk (laughs). He was a student of the game, obsessed with watching films of old-time fighters, he also adored his pigeons and would spend hours with them. We spent quite a lot of time together, we jogged together in the morning, we ate together, we trained together, we hung out together, we even shared the same room, he sometimes told me about how he was bullied on the streets when he was a kid.

I have to say I was shocked at how aggressive he was when we got into the ring together and sparred because that really wasn’t his nature outside the ring when he was a teenager, it was like a Jekyll and Hyde because when the sparring was over he was acting all nice again. But these days he’s not just an animal inside the ring, but outside the ring too. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t suprised at the way he behaves these days and the way he talks, that isn’t the young Mike I stayed with, the guy has lost the plot somewhere along the line, I think his problems started when Don King entered his life because that’s when he lost discipline outside the ring, his marriage break-up wouldn’t of done him any favours and being sent to prison wouldn’t of either. I don’t know what’s up with the guy, but I do know that I’ve lost all respect for him!”