Where does Tyson stand among the best heavies

[Quasar44]

He is below Ali from the 60s
He lost twice to Holyfield

He was eviscerating the best in the world until Buster then jail

How does he compare to the best
Ali , Frazier , Dempsey , Joe L, etc
Don’t forget Tyson fury , L Lewis
Big George , Holmes, Norton

 

[Devils_Advocate]

He is below Ali from the 60s
He lost twice to Holyfield

He was eviscerating the best in the world until Buster then jail

How does he compare to the best
Ali , Frazier , Dempsey , Joe L, etc
Don’t forget Tyson fury , L Lewis
Big George , Holmes, Norton

He is below Rocky, so not the greatest boxer and not even in the top five for me…

Rocky Marciano - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Quasar44]

Top 10 ???

Tyson best win was against 40 yr old Holmes

 

[Devils_Advocate]

Top 10 ???

Tyson best win was against 40 yr old Holmes

I wrote top five because I didn’t want to list ten better fighters than him but I am for sure he is not in the top ten either.

 

[katsteve2012]

He is below Ali from the 60s
He lost twice to Holyfield

He was eviscerating the best in the world until Buster then jail

How does he compare to the best
Ali , Frazier , Dempsey , Joe L, etc
Don’t forget Tyson fury , L Lewis
Big George , Holmes, Norton

Tyson, just like Marciano, fought in an era of weak competition, so he steamrolled most of his opponents early in his career. The big difference was that Marciano was relentless when he faced adversity, and that enabled him to prevail when he was in trouble.

Tyson was technically much more sound when Cus D'mato trained him.
After Cus died, he appeared to have lost his edge and his desire.

As he aged, it also became obvious that he was easily frustrated when an opponent was not intimidated and made it into the later rounds. His matches against Douglas and Holyfield revealed that.

There is no doubt that he was a great puncher with power to spare in his prime, however to be a GREAT fighter, in any division requires the following:

*Conditioning
*Discipline
*Quality opposition
*Ring generalship(ability to adjust to different styles)

I would rate Tyson at his best somewhere below the top 10 among all heavyweight champions.

JMO

 

[Polishprince]

The fellows from earlier generations like Dempsey and Louis were a lot tougher IMHO. The reason , in my view, is that there really wasn't as many alternatives for athletes back then as compared to today to make a living. Pro football and basketball just didn't pay that much. Ditto with golf and tennis The popular sports where people could earn a big buck were baseball, boxing and wrestling. President Ford was good enough, but passed on an NFL career to go to law school. Ernie Ladd quit pro football to concentrate on professional wrestling. Bruno Sammartino declined an NFL contract in favor of wrestling because of the money.

Nowadays, its a different story, men can be tremendously wealthy in football and basketball. Even bench warmers in the NBA are milionaires. Why enter pro boxing?

 

[rightwinger]

To be the best, you have to beat the best

Ali beat Liston, Patterson, Frazier, Norton, Forman
Tyson never had any top rate competition. Not his fault but
I wouldn’t put him in the top five

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Mike Tyson is the Bo Jackson of boxing. Not a long career at his peak, but when at his best he could probably beat anyone

 

[rightwinger]

Mike Tyson is the Bo Jackson of boxing. Not a long career at his peak, but when at his best he could probably beat anyone

One of the most devastating fighters I ever watched. You could see the fear in his opponents

Ali fights were actually boring to watch

 

[Rocko]

Not many boxers could beat prime Tyson if any, however his peek was very short, so in terms of best career he’s not close

 

[katsteve2012]

Not many boxers could beat prime Tyson if any, however his peek was very short, so in terms of best career he’s not close

Indeed. He took off like a rocket, then crashed and burned for personal reasons. I believe that he was a victim of his own immaturity and poor decision making.

Boxing is actually just as much mental as it is physical, and Tyson experienced numerous issues with mental fragility and lack of discipline when he should have been in his peak years.

 

[rightwinger]

Indeed. He took off like a rocket, then crashed and burned for personal reasons. I believe that he was a victim of his own immaturity and poor decision making.

Boxing is actually just as much mental as it is physical, and Tyson experienced numerous issues with mental fragility and lack of discipline when he should have been in his peak years.

Once Cus D’Amato died, he had nobody to tell him no and Don King was calling the shots

 

[katsteve2012]

Once Cus D’Amato died, he had nobody to tell him no

Correct. Cus was a master at teaching displine, and was the only real father figure that Tyson ever had.

When he died, Tyson was lost and became fair game for leeches and opportunists, like that scumbag Don King.

He never cared personally about the fighters that he promoted.

 

[lg325]

I agree with a lot that has been said so far. But Tyson in his prime Could have beaten any one of the great heavyweights of the past. He was fast on his feet. Hard to hit and quick hands and devastating knockout power. I agree his prime was short. I doubt Holifield would have beaten him if they had fought when Tyson was at the top of his game.

 

[rightwinger]

Regardless of where Tyson stands among the all time greats, he was the most “must watch” Heavyweight fighter in my lifetime.

That includes Ali, Frazier, Forman, Holmes, Lewis and any of today’s Tomato Cans

 

[DGS49]

While Tyson was unbeatable for a few years, he lost his mojo in Japan and never recovered. Who knows why?

I would pay a lot of money to see Tyson in his prime against George Foreman at his best. Foreman would not have been intimidated, and I think would have taken him out. Also Tyson against Ali would have been excellent to watch. Ali dodged everyone's shots, but he never fought anyone as relentless as Tyson.

All just speculation.

 

[Rocko]

While Tyson was unbeatable for a few years, he lost his mojo in Japan and never recovered. Who knows why?

I would pay a lot of money to see Tyson in his prime against George Foreman at his best. Foreman would not have been intimidated, and I think would have taken him out. Also Tyson against Ali would have been excellent to watch. Ali dodged everyone's shots, but he never fought anyone as relentless as Tyson.

All just speculation.

I think the key to beating Tyson was having a great jab. Prime Lennox Lewis and prime Tyson would have been an interesting fight. Although I personally would rank Holyfield above Lewis overall.

 

[rightwinger]

Ali dodged everyone's shots, but he never fought anyone as relentless as Tyson.

Tyson would have been like Joe Frazier, constantly boring in and not giving him space but Ali had a way of figuring how to win

 

[katsteve2012]

I think the key to beating Tyson was having a great jab. Prime Lennox Lewis and prime Tyson would have been an interesting fight. Although I personally would rank Holyfield above Lewis overall.

Most great fighters possess a great jab, because from an orthodox stance, most combination punches start off of a jab. Fighting while moving backwards was not Tysons strength, his strength was moving forward and throwing fast combinations, and not many could weather his onslaught.

Top fighters that could use the jab to disrupt an opponents balance and timing, would be the ones to give Tyson the most difficulty, IMO.

 

[DGS49]

I watched most of Ali's fights before he was banished and a few of them after. The punch that knocked him down was the first time I ever saw anyone hit him flush. He ALWAYS dodged the punches, and I don't remember anyone whose jabs were more effective.

Larry Holmes was the boxing equivalent of Chrissy Evert. He beat people up but never knocked anyone out (TKO's don't count).