Quote Originally Posted by nuggetdotcom View Post
There have been two all time great heavyweights since the war, Joe Louis and Cassius Clay. Unfortunately Rocky Marciano does not deserve to join them because he was never tested against serious opposition (most of his opponents were over 40 years old), bit like Joe Calzaghe but that's for another thread.
The best that Mike Tyson can hope for, if we exclude the cheating and fouling in the ring, together with even worse behaviour outside, is that he is compared favourably to Joe Frazier, a fighter of similar style, an Olympic Champion but still not quite an all time great.
The worst that we can remember about Mike Tyson is that a generation of dangerous dogs were named after him by phsycopathic nutters who beleived the 80's hype (some even named their kids after him!).
So lets get it in perspective, Joe Frazier acheived far more in his career than Mike Tyson, who has been humiliated many times since Buster Douglas sussed him out.
You cant simply narrow the scope and then broaden it depending on who the person is. The suggestion that there have only been two great heavyweights since WW2 is ridiculous and who cares whether some half wit punk names his pitbull after him or that Tyson was a dickhead? Guys like Liston, Ketchel, Benny Leonard, Walker and yes even Robinson to name but a few make Tyson look like a cub scout. And Joe Frazier and him really fought nothing alike at all unless you consider a hook conjoining their styles. A prime Mike Tyson would have been at the top of the pile in any era including Ali's. What he did or did not do outside the ring or how many people name their budgies after him is not a qualifier for his standing historically as a fighter.