Mike Tyson rating all time

[powerpuncher]

Thinking about the other thread about Tyson, I’m wondering what this forum thinks about him. I know that to the casual fan, Tyson is one of, if not the best fighter of all time. Casual fans were excited about the knockouts and he was mega popular in his prime.

Obviously as knowledgeable fans, we know that he isn’t the best fighter ever. I’ve never seen him as #1 on any heavyweight list or really even top 3. The strange thing is that I think that Tyson was a great fighter, but he just never proved that he could be elite. He had the physical skills to be elite but not the mentality. He also didn’t have the will power to overcome his vices.

Making an all time list is tough because it constantly changes. I think that Tyson could realistically range anywhere from about 7-13 range on all time heavyweights. P4P wise, I’m not 100% sure he cracks top 100. It’s definitely possible but I have never made that big of list.

So while he was a great fighter, I don’t think he ever proved to be elite. What say you?

[Master]

Top 10 heavyweight of all time when he should have been top 5

[walrus]

He was a lot of fun to watch and brought a lot of people into boxing. He he been clean and straight instead of that time he spent in jail things could look a lot different

[Spicoli]

The biggest thing Mike did for the sport was to sweep up all of the clutter from a golden era and ground it again, center stage and world wide. Unfortunately after that he stagnated and was on the end of some pretty dumb actions by those he was surrounded by and himself. Lawsuits, firing brain trust, street fights, partying followed him into his only close to prime 'super' fight with Spinks that was anti climatic and a bit of a technicality after Spinks was stripped for going for the Cooney lotto. I like Tyson but he really gets a lot of excuses made for him. Biggest miss was blowing his eras super fight with young Holyfield not once but twice, but I'm more convinced as the years go that we would have seen the exact same outcome we eventually saw in 96.

[Mark TKO]

Just outside top ten for me.

Brought the casual fans in at a time when fights were on free TV channels and dominated for 4 years with his aura of invincibility. Were any opponents in that period really that great looking back? Yes they were ranked back then and you can only dominate the era you are in but many were forgettable.

As said in the other thread he never won a fight when the going got tough. If only Douglas had stayed down....

He was a great fighter but there are a dozen or so I would rank above him.

Really pains me too that younger casual fans belive him the greatest of all time. I remember a Facebook thread at the time Ali died when younger fans were saying tyson was much better than Ali.....

[Fenster]

I think Tyson is underrated by "hardcores." The millennial fans, glued to boxrec, have no idea of context and older guys always claim "they knew" Tyson was overrated. Anyone can rip a boxing record apart without context.

He unified the heavyweight division (WBC, WBA, IBF - the WBO didn't exist) in four fights within 12-months. Spinks (lineal champ) was "just" a lightheavy - he had four fights at heavyweight before facing Tyson, beat Holmes twice and Cooney. Holmes was an "old man," a 38-year-old who then fought Holyfield and McCall in competitive bouts and outpointed Mercer (who had murdered Morrison for the WBO title).

Imagine a heavyweight today unifying the division within 12 months? Are Wilder and Ruiz (belt holders) so far advanced from Tyson's opposition? Berbick, Tucker, Smith? Tyson beat more than a dozen world-class heavyweights in his era, avenged amateur losses, beat Olympic champions.

And finally, his impact on boxing shouldn't be underestimated. He is a genuine game changer, a genuine global superstar - in his prime, let alone now (name a current fighter more famous?). A convicted rapist, serial offender and in-ring "cheat" who never lost the adoration of the wider public, media, commercial and corporate.