TYSON,the most over rated fighter of all time,what did he ever do?

[OumaFan]

Tyson did as much as he could during his prime....better than Calzaghe has done, I mean wait until you get to the end of your career to step up to someone....what a jip.

the difference is that people don't talk about Calzaghe like they do about Tyson, it's not even close. Tyson is a legend, the question is did he do enough to deserve it, Calzaghe is no legend

[El Kabong]

Well Calzaghe had the oppertunity...he beat Eubank (the guy who held the torch as the best nonheavyweight UK fighter) and there were numbers of people from 160-cruiser that he could have fought and showed us all he had but nope he's a chump and he fought bums and now he's gonna get his ass kicked

[OumaFan]

that's not my point, Joe might be overrated but he's not thought of on Tyson levels, who is? Nobody but the Ali's, SRL's, Hagler's, SSR, Hearns, and Tyson, who out of that group doesn't belong there? Tyson.

and what did Tyson really do to be thought of that highly, that's the point of being overrated, you're thought of as being on a level when your accomplishments haven't proved that you've deserved to be that high

nobody thinks of Calzaghe that highly, Tyson's a freaking icon, Calzaghe couldn't be farther from that status. Neither of them have done enough to deserve it but Tyson has reached that status, that's overrated.

[undefeated]

of course he's 1 of the greatest-think of the past greats--which ones could actually beat him--

foreman and ali--thats it

[drgoodlooking]

I agree that Tyson is somewhat overrated, he was just the most exciting.

[yoitsdan]

Tyson goes down in history, as the BADDEST MAN ON THE PLANET. He's not just a man, flesh and blood, he's an enigma, a legend, and none of us with the privelage of seeing him live on TV, win or lose, will forget it, apart from his last 2 fight . Seriously, he's a legend, why does everyone on the western world know his name, plus many who live outside the brainwash culture ofTV!

[Gandalf]

No-one had the speed, the power, the great defence etc etc that he had. He beat most of the dangermen at the time and the only way anyone lasted with him was if he was testing his own stamina or if they did the Bonecrusher style of holding 90% hitting 10% Had he been able to stay focused and stay right mentally, he would still be crushing opponents,Mike at his peak was phenomenal. A specimen. I have not seen a HW ANYWHERE near him in terms of the above mentioned attributes. Guys like Lewis who made their names of beating Tyson would not have lasted 6 rounds with peak Tyson.
  The decline began when he split from the Catskill connection, you can see how lazy he looked in the Douglas fight and coupled with Douglas being AMAZING on the night, you can see why he lost. I would not say Tyson laced testicular fortitude(it was more mental breakdown!) He showed plenty of heart in the first Holyfield fight and in the fights with Rodduck. I just wish he had remained stable and we would be discussing an all time great right nowÂ

ive stayed out of this thread because im a little tired of saying the same things about tyson....

so instead the game for a very convincing argument...

[El Gamo]

Watch the beyond the glory of Mike Tyson, I think that is the best documentary I have ever seen on a person and it is not biased, showing all perspectives,highly recommended.

[drgoodlooking]

Watch the beyond the glory of Mike Tyson, I think that is the best documentary I have ever seen on a person and it is not biased, showing all perspectives,highly recommended.

Tyson just went through so much in his life! Him, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, and Allen Iverson are a few people that just went through some hell in life and especially for Tyson, I think it was just so hard for him to handle all of the pressure.

[El Gamo]

Yeah Doc,usually I don't really care about these famous people and their documentaries which tend all to be based around their hopeless lilly livered jellyfish lies about how they were homeless and "lived in the ghettos" etc but this time,his sis dying,mum dying,violence,abuse,Cus,Jim Jacobs,being used,mental frgaility etc etc
By the way CC for the CC you gave me earlier.

[drgoodlooking]

Don King, Robin Givens, Desiree Washington.. etc.

[BIG H]

I don 't subscribe to all the crap about Tyson being overrrated, I just think everybody has short memories and remembers him for fights when he was already a shot fighter i.e after 89. It's like remembering Ali against Holmes or Berwick. I know Tyson was still at prime age, but he was ravaged by his own demons and almost certainly drugs! What he has become should not detract from what he was and had he retired after knocking out Spinks everybody on this site would have him as a top 5 all-time heavyweight.

People will now say... who did he beat? Well who did Demsey, Louis, Marciano or Jack Johnson beat. The heavyweight division has always been dominated by one or rwo fighters who were far superior to the rest!! Apart from the Early -Mid nineties and the early seventies, I think Tyson's era is as good as as bad as any other - so I don't subscribe to the "poor opposition" argument either

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the guy, but even our resident expert Mr Britkid has previously said that during the late eighties he would've had Tyson up there as one of the all-time greats, but now he doesn't. You should rank people based on their prime or else Muhammad Ali, Ray Robinson, Roy Jones, Larry Holmes, Eric Morales (and just about every other fighter that didn't know when to pack it in) is overrated!!!

[Boxing Game Maker]

Saying apart from being the youngest heavyweight champion in the world is just foolish...

Thats like saying aprt from breaking the 4 minute mile what did Roger Bannister do for athletics? Or apart from being the first man on the moon what did Neil Armstrong contribute to space exploration?

He was the youngest heavyweight champion (the ultimate sporting accolade) in the history of the world! Thats a f***ing great achievement and bestows greatness upon him.

Seriously his record will probably never be beaten.

now thats the cleverest thing i heard all day !! well said
what else did he do?
knocked out over 20 of his opponents in the first round now that takes some doing i challenge you to get in the ring with him now while hes old and watch what happens? tyson is a boxing legend

[El Gamo]

I don 't subscribe to all the crap about Tyson being overrrated, I just think everybody has short memories and remembers him for fights when he was already a shot fighter i.e after 89. It's like remembering Ali against Holmes or Berwick. I know Tyson was still at prime age, but he was ravaged by his own demons and almost certainly drugs! What he has become should not detract from what he was and had he retired after knocking out Spinks everybody on this site would have him as a top 5 all-time heavyweight.

People will now say... who did he beat? Well who did Demsey, Louis, Marciano or Jack Johnson beat. The heavyweight division has always been dominated by one or rwo fighters who were far superior to the rest!! Apart from the Early -Mid nineties and the early seventies, I think Tyson's era is as good as as bad as any other - so I don't subscribe to the "poor opposition" argument either

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the guy, but even our resident expert Mr Britkid has previously said that during the late eighties he would've had Tyson up there as one of the all-time greats, but now he doesn't. You should rank people based on their prime or else Muhammad Ali, Ray Robinson, Roy Jones, Larry Holmes, Eric Morales (and just about every other fighter that didn't know when to pack it in) is overrated!!!

cc well said mate

[VictorCharlie]

man it seems like this is discussed weekly. I have very mixed feelings about Tyson's placement in history. Tyson's wins are against mostly average fighters. Not that this is his fault and not that many fighters(marciano, Louis,holmes etc) don't have the same dilemma in regards to their legacy. I think quite often it wasn't who he beat but the electrifying way he did it. I often ask myself if Tyson was a defensive master who out pointed and embarrassed fighters would we feel the same way? If he was the pernell whitaker of the HW era would he have such a fan base? Tyson embodied what we as fans want in our champion. I think people quite often get wrapped up in the sheer entertainment value of Tyson. His wins over Berbick, Smith, Tucker, Ruddock, tubbs, thomas, biggs etc are impressive in that he cleaned out a division and in the manner he did them but the actual opposition is really just slightly better than average. Tyson has two great wins: the destruction of Spinks and Holmes. Although Holmes went on to several more decent wins I don't think anyone will argue that he was the same man who himself had cleaned out a division. And I don't think we will ever know why spinks gave such a sorry performance. The biggest problem with grading Tyson's career is that his "prime" was so short. He didn't face any truly good HW's in their prime until late in his career. Obviously Tyson's management decisions and personal demons had a lot to do with his decline as a fighter, but this is a part of who Tyson was as a fighter. He simply didn't have the dedication and focus of other great HW's. I look at him alot like Bowe. They both had all the skills to be ATG's but couldn't capitalize. I don't judge Tyson's career after the Lewis fighter b/c it was obvious he didn't care. That being said whether or not he came in poorly prepared he was beaten soundly by douglas, holy, and Lewis. Great fighters rise to the occasion and Tyson didn't. When he met fighters who weren't intimidated, were bigger, had a decent jab and could back him up and tie him up he was definately frustrated. Tyson is one of the greatest power punchers ever, and arguably the most exciting fighter ever. He will stand as an icon in boxing of what might of been, but in my personal oppinion not an all time great fighter .