Was Frank Bruno the first ever to trouble Mike Tyson??I believe so!

[El Kabong]

Tillis, Tucker, Thomas, old Larry Holmes, Spinks, Smith and Bruno were his competition during his prime...hardly the greatest collection of fighters.

[BIG H]

Tillis, Tucker, Thomas, old Larry Holmes, Spinks, Smith and Bruno were his competition during his prime...hardly the greatest collection of fighters.

True, but now do the same exercise for the opposition of: Dempsey,Liston,Louis, Marciano, Holmes Vitali & Wlad to name a few

[El Kabong]

True, but now do the same exercise for the opposition of: Dempsey,Liston,Louis, Marciano, Holmes Vitali & Wlad to name a few

Not sure why you want all those guys but ok I'll humor you

Dempsey: Jess Willard, Georges Carpentier, Tommy Gibbons, Jack Sharkey, and Gene Tunney

Liston: Floyd Patterson, Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams....this is probably the weakest era listed

Louis: Joe Walcott, Schmelling, Jack Sharkey, Jim Braddock, The Baer Brothers, Billy Conn, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano...he fought guys like Marciano, Walcott, and Charles when he was well past his best but still managed some wins

Marciano: Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Rex Layne, Roland LaStarza....pretty much all old and shot, but Rocky never lost

Holmes: Earnie Shavers, Renaldo Snipes, Tim Witherspoon, Trevor Berbick, Bonecrusher Smith, Michael Spinks.....honestly I rate this era pretty fucking weak because what true champion in his prime fights a boxer that has 10 total fights?!!?!

Wlad: Chris Byrd, Sam Peter, Ruslan Chagaev, Lamon Brewster, Jameel McCline, Tony Thompson

Vitali: Lennox Lewis, Corrie Sanders, Sam Peter, Cris Arreola...though he lost to Lennox he more than held his own in that fight

....still doesn't make me see Tyson's era in the best light. Tyson's era had all the guys from the Holmes era (only older) and none of the guys from the Holyfield/Bowe/Lewis era yet. So you have guys who are decent power punchers and guys who were decent boxers but no one was overwhelmingly powerful or a super slick boxer and the guys who could punch couldn't box and the guys who could box couldn't punch.

[BIG H]

True, but now do the same exercise for the opposition of: Dempsey,Liston,Louis, Marciano, Holmes Vitali & Wlad to name a few

Not sure why you want all those guys but ok I'll humor you

Dempsey: Jess Willard, Georges Carpentier, Tommy Gibbons, Jack Sharkey, and Gene Tunney

Liston: Floyd Patterson, Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams....this is probably the weakest era listed

Louis: Joe Walcott, Schmelling, Jack Sharkey, Jim Braddock, The Baer Brothers, Billy Conn, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano...he fought guys like Marciano, Walcott, and Charles when he was well past his best but still managed some wins

Marciano: Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Rex Layne, Roland LaStarza....pretty much all old and shot, but Rocky never lost

Holmes: Earnie Shavers, Renaldo Snipes, Tim Witherspoon, Trevor Berbick, Bonecrusher Smith, Michael Spinks.....honestly I rate this era pretty fucking weak because what true champion in his prime fights a boxer that has 10 total fights?!!?!

Wlad: Chris Byrd, Sam Peter, Ruslan Chagaev, Lamon Brewster, Jameel McCline, Tony Thompson

Vitali: Lennox Lewis, Corrie Sanders, Sam Peter, Cris Arreola...though he lost to Lennox he more than held his own in that fight

....still doesn't make me see Tyson's era in the best light. Tyson's era had all the guys from the Holmes era (only older) and none of the guys from the Holyfield/Bowe/Lewis era yet. So you have guys who are decent power punchers and guys who were decent boxers but no one was overwhelmingly powerful or a super slick boxer and the guys who could punch couldn't box and the guys who could box couldn't punch.

Well the reason I picked those guys is becuase they were all the guys that dominated a weak era

I see all of those eras being as weak (or as strong depending how you look at it) as each other, especially when you look at all the factors, such as Dempsey fighing Charpenier who was know more a heavyweight than Lefty Lee is...and you can't even attempt to say that Marciano beat a valid version of Walcott, Moore or Charles. La Starza is probably his best win and in his own words his toughest fight.

I'm not for one minute saying Tyson's era was strong, I'm just saying the heavyweight divison has seldom been strong and through history has usually had 1 supreme fighter and a bunch of also rans - except fro when Frazier, Norton Ali and Foreman were all prime together and the era of Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis

[Spicoli]

I dont think there is any doubt that Tyson reigned in a somewhat weak era but he did what you should do in that case,sweep it up and clean house.Guy should be given a medal for giving it some sense and order.Tucker,Tillis and Smith not bad fighters...but they didnt exactly get blown apart by the baddest man on the planet.Cant think of a soul he ducked,say what you will about two Holyfield delays,one of which he couldn't help.The other I guess he hurt a rib.um.I do think we are quick in hindsight to throw a superman mystic on him and when doing "best vs best" I wonder how Tysons dodgy mental makeup would have held up facing a Marciano,Ali,Foreman, etc in comparison to the ones faced when blazing a path in prime.