These people that talk smack about Mike Tyson...

[El Kabong]

Regardless of prison and drug use pressure fighters (which is what Tyson was) have a short time at their peak. 27-30 years old is just about the time they start to fall apart. Now Tyson had more power than most pressure fighters but again the way he was successful using that power was by being a pressure fighter, forcing his opponent to make a mistake, and throwing volume at him where a big shot was bound to land after a while.


Tyson never had many late stoppages and fighters eventually learn how to survive and once they learn that they'll try to win the late rounds, and once they do that, they'll try to win the early rounds and throw Mike completely off his game. Tyson's style couldn't adapt easily when guys started forcing him to work harder to get those punches in.

[Beanflicker]

Tyson never had many late stoppages and fighters eventually learn how to survive and once they learn that they'll try to win the late rounds, and once they do that, they'll try to win the early rounds and throw Mike completely off his game. Tyson's style couldn't adapt easily when guys started forcing him to work harder to get those punches in.

That's a lot easier said than done to survive Mike's punches and throw him off his game. And I think big heavyweight punchers in general don't have many late stoppages. Other than Moorer, it was rare to see a Foreman KO past the 5th round.

Guys survived the early Tyson rounds by being durable and going into a completely defensive shell, and thereby gave the rounds away and lost wide decisions.

[El Kabong]

And there's the problem with your argument 1. I never said it was "easy" 2. I never said Mike Tyson wasn't an amazing fighter 3. Foreman was never a pressure fighter and he COULD carry his power late.


The point I'm trying to make is that after seeing Tyson for a while, and stopping being intimidated by his speed and power (most difficult thing to do to begin with, the mental preparation) and you got down to just surviving the first few rounds....Mike Jameson goes 5, Jesse Fergusson goes 6, James Tillis goes 10, Mitch Green goes 10, Jose Ribalta goes 10, Bonecrusher Smith goes 12, Tony Tucker goes 12....you can start to see more weaknesses in a fighter's style the more rounds you see of them. ESPECIALLY the pressure fighters.

You see your questions answered, they begin to ease your doubts...
"How many punches can this guy throw per round for 12 rounds?"
"How does his power carry late?"
"Is he still moving in the 12th like he was in the 1st?"
"Does he adapt to different styles?"


You start to see the guy as a MAN and not some machine over 12 rounds....over 12 rounds everyone has vulnerabilities. And guys just learned how to fight Tyson and adapt to him and Tyson eventually had no plan B.


Again, Tyson was a great great fighter, but every style has it's drawbacks and the Cus D'Mato style is no different. People eventually saw enough of it and enough of Tyson to do the math and beat him. Over 12 rounds there's not much you can hide....good or bad

[Master]

I do not think it was because fighters learned and adapted more so Tyson was not the same force he once was and reaching the same intensity/heights in the ring after Spinks.

That Tyson would have done better against Douglas and Rudduck.

[El Kabong]

The more rounds a guy has the more likely you are to spot a weakness...just law of averages. Plus it's just common sense pressure fighters gas out....UNLESS they like Joe Frazier build up steam as the fight goes on instead of shooting off like a rocket the first few rounds.

[Beanflicker]

And there's the problem with your argument

What argument, I just offering up friendly conjecture