Quote Originally Posted by THE THIRD MAN View Post
There is no doubt that the MIke Tyson from 1986-89 was an awesome sight to behold, like big George in 1973-74 he was almost indestructible, lifestyle, the pressures of immediate fame and fortune simply got the better of him. You cannot deny his complete domination of the division in this time, his loss to Douglas was the beginning of the end. You can only beat who they put in front of you and Tyson did that in spectacular fashion, is he a top 10 ATG Heavyweight? That remains open for debate.
I think he came back relatively well after Douglas, I think the real nail in the coffin was 3 years in prison. Tyson was a high action pressure fighter, you don't come out of jail doing exactly what you were doing a third of a decade earlier and Tyson though still immensely strong and relatively quick, was clearly never the same. I don't believe Holyfield would have had much of a chance against prime Tyson, jail brought Tyson down to the level of most of the other top fighters. Before that when fully prepared he was a level above. The only person that beat him prior to jail was himself. If you don't prepare for a fight, then you don't win and by all accounts Tyson did not prepare for Douglas. Douglas was in the right place at the right time and of course lightning did not strike twice for Buster Douglas. It was a one off. Tyson came back and beat up Ruddock and showed that he was still a force.