What if Tyson and Douglas had a rematch?

[El Kabong]

Chino GIVE IT UP Tyson got the shit kicked out of him in that fight.

When Razor Ruddock is "more consistent" than you then you know you're in bad shape. I know he couldn't rematch EVERYONE he lost to, I just made the point about Holyfield because Tyson obviously didn't want to get KO'd again.

I still think fights with Mercer, Bowe, and Briggs would have been very entertaining

[Hulk]

Chino GIVE IT UP Tyson got the shit kicked out of him in that fight.

When Razor Ruddock is "more consistent" than you then you know you're in bad shape. I know he couldn't rematch EVERYONE he lost to, I just made the point about Holyfield because Tyson obviously didn't want to get KO'd again.

I still think fights with Mercer, Bowe, and Briggs would have been very entertaining

And Douglas WAS in bad shape. lol

Mercer might could have beaten post-prison Tyson. Bowe and Briggs were scared of him I'd imagine and would have gotten their asses kicked. Briggs would have for sure anyway.

[El Kabong]

And Douglas WAS in bad shape. lol

Mercer might could have beaten post-prison Tyson. Bowe and Briggs were scared of him I'd imagine and would have gotten their asses kicked. Briggs would have for sure anyway.

Well yes Douglas was out of shape there was no point of a rematch with him unless it was immediate.

Mercer could have beaten him, Bowe would have made it interesting just because he had very good skill when properly motivated. And as for Briggs you're right and that's 100% why I would have loved to see that fight

[Hulk]

Tyson, Bowe and Briggs are all from Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Briggs has the build and the talent to be great, or least he did, but I don't think he ever trained hard enough, and he def was lacking mentally.

Still the beating he gave that Abraham Okine guy a few years back on FNF was fuckin HILARIOUS.

[rjj tszyu]

And Douglas WAS in bad shape. lol

Mercer might could have beaten post-prison Tyson. Bowe and Briggs were scared of him I'd imagine and would have gotten their asses kicked. Briggs would have for sure anyway.

Well yes Douglas was out of shape there was no point of a rematch with him unless it was immediate.

Mercer could have beaten him, Bowe would have made it interesting just because he had very good skill when properly motivated. And as for Briggs you're right and that's 100% why I would have loved to see that fight

Personally I think Tyson would have smashed Mercer to pieces. Mercer liked to display his granite chin too much and against Tyson the granite would have been smashed into dust.

[ross]

I remember Lewis going to court to stop Mike from having a warm up bout with Mercer a few months before their bout.

Mike had his busiest year in 2000 ending with Golota, he said it was going to be his last fight when interviewed before hand, he wanted out then.

Then he has a fight scheduled against David Izonreti in 2001 but it falls through for whatever reason, he signs to fight Lewis and wants a warm up as he wouldnt have fought for nearly 2 years and had only managed a few minutes of action in 2000, he has a fight arranged with Mercer but Lewis stops it, you could say Lewis was worried he might lose but its also a possibility (given Stewards reprimanding of Lewis between rounds how Mike is still dangerous and he needs to get him out of there and then after the fight praising Mike up) that Steward didnt want Mike sharpening up and getting fit.

In 2001 Mike went up to Catskills looking for Rooney and Steve Lott, neither were around, Steve found out and contacted Mike, they met up and Steve spoke with Mike about the possibility of joining up and training with Rooney again and taking a few soft touches and doing a few fights round the world to lift his profile and get him sharp then see how they get on skills wise before any title challenge, Mike was interested but as soon as he left the leaches that were around him at the time, inluding Finkel would not have him leave their fold, they were even screening who contacted him, they then pushed him in to a fight he knew he wouldnt be ready for.

All up to that fight you could see Mike knew he wasnt ready from the scuffle at the press conference, to the forced grin on the scales and timid ring walk, he didnt have the arrogant confident aura he gave off when he had that team around him, he knew he had words of wisdom, reassurance and tactics to fall back on when returning to the corner after a difficult round, instead of the fools that had to resort to rubbing a johnny full of water over his face in the Douglas fight, he was living on his power and chin alone after that.

Mike went to Catskills to get that team and try and do things right before the lewis fight.

[Master]

Tyson was unpredictable, he needed to stay busy but just not dedicated or motivated which is why he fought sporadically. He would get out of condition but had he stayed busy, he would have been a force, even then.

[ross]

Hold on a sec, I completely forgot about the fight Mike had with Brian Nielson!! That was the first fight that Mike looked fat!!

He came out like an animal that First round and credit to Nielson, he took some nice shots but in the end sat down in the corner between rounds, round 8 I think, Mike didnt erally have much steam left either from what I can remember, he was out of shape for this and held alot.

[El Kabong]

Tyson was unpredictable, he needed to stay busy but just not dedicated or motivated which is why he fought sporadically. He would get out of condition but had he stayed busy, he would have been a force, even then.

Pressure fighters like Tyson age out of the game quicker than most. Look at Floyd Patterson, look at Jose Torres...those guys peaked and bang they were done.

Mike Tyson was NEVER going to be better than he was when he was young, he was NEVER going to beat Holyfield, he was NEVER going to beat Lewis and yes even with proper training he would have still struggled with guys like Ruddock(whom he did struggle with a bit in the rematch).

Manny Steward wanted Lennox to cement his legacy by punishing Tyson, they weren't afraid of him. Manny just wanted Lennox to end the fight with a bang instead of dragging it out.

Had Tyson never left Rooney, things may have been different but I doubt he would have held on much longer than he did. Holyfield was just after Douglas and I just think Evander's attitude, chin, ability to fight on the inside and fight dirtier than Tyson without getting caught would have always had the upperhand in that match up....just my opinion though. Some people like to think Tyson was invincible but that peekaboo style has it's flaws, all another fighter needed to do was be brave enough to stick to the game plan Holyfield and Lewis were brave enough and smart enough to do it at pretty much any point in their careers.