Tyson of 1988 versus Lewis of 1999

[Master]

Tyson had been in jail for 3 plus years when he faced Holyfield, he had been out of boxing for various reasons for 5 plus against Lewis. Those wins don't mean all that much as Tyson was done. Tyson had years of skills erosion, whilst those other two were refining their craft. They never met at equal junctures in their careers. Tyson beats both of them prime on prime.

Revisionanist history much Hindsight is a wonderful thing but ya just can't have it both ways. After a "shot" Holyfield who was being called a walking dead man going in, then yes, Tysons skills had hastily eroded.

I'd have loved a prime for prime Holyfield vs Tyson...if only Mike had not backed out years earlier.

Yeah, many people were worried for Holyfield's life because he didn't look that good in the Bobby Cyz fight. Holyfield was considered to be a shot fighter with stamina and heart problems going into that 1st Tyson fight. Also Tyson was quickly regaining his aura of invincibility after knocking out 2 hw title holders in Bruno and Seldon in spectacular fashion and had 2 of the 3 hw titles.

Here's a fun fact. Jose Torres and Floyd Patterson gave the opinion that Mike Tyson would always lose to a Evander Holyfield no matter when they would have fought because Holyfield had the right style and tools to beat Tyson. 2 Cus Damato fighters said that.

You are forgetting that Tyson was avoiding fighting Lewis and relinquished the WBC title so he could fight Holyfield because he thought Holyfield was an easier option and it also implied that Tyson felt he was not able to beat Lewis. Tyson was not the same fighter when he came out of jail, he had manoeuvred his way to get a title but he had nothing left.