Reality Hit Home Regarding the GREAT MIKE TYSON Story

[JonesJrMayweather]

Tyson was and always will be nothing more than a well promoted HW that could hit hard with both hands. Don King should be in the HOF for the way he built up those stiffs thrown into the ring with tyson...

Don King had the craap version of Tyson.

Its really hard for people to admit Mike was awesome, not just awesome but a force of nature, he had everything, speed, power, stamina, resiliance, balance, and some of the best defence and offence the sport has ever seen.

Like I said, name a heavy weight fighter post tyson that has beaten 5 defending champions?

Not even Holyfield.

name a HOF fighter Tyson beat that was a legit Heavy and prime?

[Drago]

i agree it was a bad area for quality but tyson went thru them like butter! i probably wouldnt have tyson in my top 10 of heavys of all time tho.

i understand wot u are saying that people see his reign thru rose tinted glasses, but i wanna remember it as good times as look at the fkin state of the heavyweight scene now

tyson would decapitate haye tho

[oakleyno1]

Tyson was and always will be nothing more than a well promoted HW that could hit hard with both hands. Don King should be in the HOF for the way he built up those stiffs thrown into the ring with tyson...

Don King had the craap version of Tyson.

Its really hard for people to admit Mike was awesome, not just awesome but a force of nature, he had everything, speed, power, stamina, resiliance, balance, and some of the best defence and offence the sport has ever seen.

Like I said, name a heavy weight fighter post tyson that has beaten 5 defending champions?

Not even Holyfield.

name a HOF fighter Tyson beat that was a legit Heavy and prime?

im pretty sure spinks would have been if tyson didnt knock him out - he beat (controversal i know) holmes twice, but even beating him one out of two times would put him right at the top.

I dont think many other fighters would have knocked out berbick in his prime in 2, spinks in 1, a prime bruno in 5 ( lewis took 7 about 7 years later), even a rusty old version of holmes who took ''great'' evander holyfield 12 rounds 7 years after in four etcetc

[JonesJrMayweather]

Tyson was and always will be nothing more than a well promoted HW that could hit hard with both hands. Don King should be in the HOF for the way he built up those stiffs thrown into the ring with tyson...

Don King had the craap version of Tyson.

Its really hard for people to admit Mike was awesome, not just awesome but a force of nature, he had everything, speed, power, stamina, resiliance, balance, and some of the best defence and offence the sport has ever seen.

Like I said, name a heavy weight fighter post tyson that has beaten 5 defending champions?

Not even Holyfield.

name a HOF fighter Tyson beat that was a legit Heavy and prime?

im pretty sure spinks would have been if tyson didnt knock him out - he beat (controversal i know) holmes twice, but even beating him one out of two times would put him right at the top.

I dont think many other fighters would have knocked out berbick in his prime in 2, spinks in 1, a prime bruno in 5 ( lewis took 7 about 7 years later), even a rusty old version of holmes who took ''great'' evander holyfield 12 rounds 7 years after in four etcetc

Tyson could hit harder than most heavies and was very quick and styles might have something to do with how the kayos happened vs against other fighters...

[Drago]

tysons speed was incredible

[The Promoter]

There is some truth to the original post:

Mike Tyson was handled very well, he had a great television contract that got him exposure from very early into professional career. His style was exciting, with freakish handspeed and a come forward style it turned even the casual observer into a fan. He was fed a steady diet of good fighters that would complement his style making him appear invincible. Tyson was a Cus D'Amato trained fighter always coming forward never taking a step back, as a matter of fact he can't punch moving backward...never could, so certain fighters were avoided.

Wonder why he never took a fight with George Foreman, Ray Mercer, or even Tommy Morrison? These would have been the largest grossing fights of his career, fact is these fighters would have pushed Mike backward and exposed his weaknesses (I believe George would have beaten him pretty easily). Lou Duva was calling out Tyson (with Holyfield) from the get go because Lou knew how to beat him with Evander.

While I won't go so far to say Tyson was smoke and mirrors I will admit that he was carefully handled to make his physical gifts appear more dominant than they actually were...imo.

[Beanflicker]

Here's the big thing with Tyson: there seems to be no middle ground. People either overrate him, or blatantly underrate him.

Severely washed up Berbick? Trevor was only about 30 years old when Tyson beat him.

Tyson whipped a lot of stiff opposition. He was the real deal in the ring when he was in his prime, no one can take that away from him (but people still try for some reason).

[ross]

Tyson was and always will be nothing more than a well promoted HW that could hit hard with both hands. Don King should be in the HOF for the way he built up those stiffs thrown into the ring with tyson...

Don King had the craap version of Tyson.

Its really hard for people to admit Mike was awesome, not just awesome but a force of nature, he had everything, speed, power, stamina, resiliance, balance, and some of the best defence and offence the sport has ever seen.

Like I said, name a heavy weight fighter post tyson that has beaten 5 defending champions?

Not even Holyfield.

name a HOF fighter Tyson beat that was a legit Heavy and prime?

Spinks, he flattened him.

Now do the same for Lennox and Evander

Both got beaten while in their supposed primes and neither beat a "HOF fighter that was a legit Heavy and prime" but when Mike was training and with Rooney he was as close as you can get to unbeatable.

[Master]

I think the heavyweight Spinks could probably beat Haye. Spinks beat an old Holmes twice on disputed decisions and stopped Cooney in 5.

[ross]

I found this yesterday on youtube, someone has put up a whole series of programmes surrounding the lead up to, the fight and after fight interviews about Tyson V Spinks.

Its very good, Larry Merchant presents it and keeps refering to Mikes "brute skill" He interviews among others, Kevin Rooney, Bill Cayton and Mike Katz. This gives younger boxing fans an idea of how massive Mike was and how highly regarded he was.

One thing that bugged me was when asked by Merchant who could have beaten Mike and how good he is, Mike Katz said, "id have to see him in a fight first".

This piisses me off because if he was being realistic and was asked, how well could Tony Tucker or Tony Tubbs done against Ali, or any heavy from history, they would have to reply with at least "they could have held there own and given a good acount of themselves". The thing is Mike beat them easily, so Mike would have to be given the same grace, that he would have at least given them problems but people dont like stepping on the toes of their heros. Mike Katz seems to have an axe to grind with Tyson even back then, before Mike was seen as trouble.

Mikes placings among the greats always comes down to the fact that people have rose tinted glasses on the past. Marciano for instance wouldnt have survived the first round against Mike and Marciano rates highly on everyones list.

Heres the link to the youtube users account, I have no idea how to find which order the videos go in?

YouTube - bigwills9thchnl's Channel

[El Kabong]

ross, it's easy for people to look at Rocky Marciano and see the flaws it's easy for them to take a step back and see his defense wasn't great, he wasn't a big guy, and all that stuff but the thing they fail to see are the intagibles. Rocky had a big heart, he had a solid chin, he had big time power, and he NEVER gave up. Mike Tyson had no heart how many fights where Tyson got dropped did he get back up to win? 0! How many times when Mike was in trouble did he dig deep and win? VERY FEW, against Bruno and Smith are the only ones I can think of and in the Smith fight he was only in trouble when Bonecrusher FINALLY threw and landed a punch.

Mike Tyson was a great fighter I believe that, but he's not in my top 10 because his being effective vs top teir opponents was 100% dependent on Tyson's ability to intimidate them. Marciano gutted out wins, Foreman was intimidating but he wasn't dependent on it especially when he was older.

I try to be realistic with my views on 'Iron' Mike, but it's hard because he had a very easy early road to the titles and only after the loss to Douglas did he eventually have the chance or take the chance to fight guys like Holyfield, Lewis, and to a far lesser extent Ruddock. Why no Riddick Bowe? Why no Ray Mercer? Why no George Foreman? Hell he could have at least fought Moorer, Morrison, and Briggs.

[Scrap]

I think what Beat Tyson, was the Goodhiding He took from Givens.

[ross]

ross, it's easy for people to look at Rocky Marciano and see the flaws it's easy for them to take a step back and see his defense wasn't great, he wasn't a big guy, and all that stuff but the thing they fail to see are the intagibles. Rocky had a big heart, he had a solid chin, he had big time power, and he NEVER gave up. Mike Tyson had no heart how many fights where Tyson got dropped did he get back up to win? 0! How many times when Mike was in trouble did he dig deep and win? VERY FEW, against Bruno and Smith are the only ones I can think of and in the Smith fight he was only in trouble when Bonecrusher FINALLY threw and landed a punch.

Mike Tyson was a great fighter I believe that, but he's not in my top 10 because his being effective vs top teir opponents was 100% dependent on Tyson's ability to intimidate them. Marciano gutted out wins, Foreman was intimidating but he wasn't dependent on it especially when he was older.

I try to be realistic with my views on 'Iron' Mike, but it's hard because he had a very easy early road to the titles and only after the loss to Douglas did he eventually have the chance or take the chance to fight guys like Holyfield, Lewis, and to a far lesser extent Ruddock. Why no Riddick Bowe? Why no Ray Mercer? Why no George Foreman? Hell he could have at least fought Moorer, Morrison, and Briggs.

Tell me how many fighters Marciano defended his title against, 5 I think? and Foreman, 3 I think?

Marciano is big time over rated. As for him having a solid chin, an old light heavyweight put him on his ass Mike would slaughter him!!

Tyson was going to fight Ray Mercer as a warm up before he fought Lewis but Lewis went to court and stopped it from happening, he didnt want Mike sharpening up!!

This is what gets me (as well as all the other kids that post on forums who dont know much about boxing), you didnt obviously know that Mike had a signed match with Mercer in 02, so you either havent been following boxing very long, or havent been paying attention, either way youv proved your opinion should be taken with a pinch of salt

[El Kabong]

Tell me how many fighters Marciano defended his title against, 5 I think? and Foreman, 3 I think?

Marciano is big time over rated. As for him having a solid chin, an old light heavyweight put him on his ass Mike would slaughter him!!

Tyson was going to fight Ray Mercer as a warm up before he fought Lewis but Lewis went to court and stopped it from happening, he didnt want Mike sharpening up!!

This is what gets me (as well as all the other kids that post on forums who dont know much about boxing), you didnt obviously know that Mike had a signed match with Mercer in 02, so you either havent been following boxing very long, or havent been paying attention, either way youv proved your opinion should be taken with a pinch of salt

Allow me to explain this to you.....

#1 If title defenses mean anything (and obviously they do) then JOE LOUIS is KING! And because of that I have Joe Louis as my #1 All-Time Greatest Heavyweight with Marciano and Ali following respectively.

#2 Marciano = UNDEFEATED.....FACT

#3 Marciano wasn't far from being a light heavyweight himself, the most he ever weighed for a fight was 192 vs Keene Simmons in 1951 but he mainly stayed at or around 186-188....FACT

#4 It wouldn't matter if Tyson had a fucking time machine he would NEVER have beaten Lennox Lewis ditto re: Evander Holyfield

#5 So Mike Tyson wanted to fight Ray Mercer in 2002....Wlad fought Ray in 2002, demolished him and he gets no credit for it so why would Tyson have gotten credit for it? I'm talking Mercer in the mid-late 1990's specifically right around when he beat Morrison and when he barely lost to Lewis.

#6...so you're a rabid Tyson fan, I have nothing against the guy I just like to reasonably and rationally look at the guy's career that's the difference between us