Finally, a fight worth discussing. Were talking prime 80s Tyson here. And no Tyson would not walk through him.

I wouldn't count a prime and focused Tyson out of a fight against any HW ever, but I don't think Vitali would be a very good matchup for Mike and Vitali is as tough as nails. I don't know. In a 10 fight series I think Vitali would probably win around 6 or 7. So yeah, slight edge to Vitali.

I see Vitalis shit defense catching up to him as he eats flush shot after shot, losing a UD12. Not everyone is as slow as SAM peter.

Hmmm, this is a very good match up.

Vitali has a great chin, 80's tyson would decision vitali.

Hmmm, this is a very good match up.

Vitali has a great chin, 80's tyson would decision vitali.

Vitalis also a lot taller, Tyson would have a hard time landing really effective shots when he has to fire so high. Hence UD12 for Tyson.

Tyson by Early TKO imo

If a Passed it lewis can cut him up so bad, a Prime Tyson would be too much for him imo

Vitali wins this one in my opinion, I love the guy, He's a hard man, can take a punch, can dish out a punch, has huge height, is pretty quick and skillful and has an intimidating nature, he wouldn't take Tyson's BS and that would be mikes downfall. I see this fight as Jab, Jab, Jab, Right hand, over and over until Mike cant stands no more.

I see Vitalis shit defense catching up to him as he eats flush shot after shot, losing a UD12. Not everyone is as slow as SAM peter.

You make a solid point. As tought as Vitali is his defence is not great and he would give Mike some chances to land.

This is a really interesting fight. I'm still just leaning toward Vitali though.

VK would win. Too damn tall for Mike.

Tyson wouldn't be able to hit Vitali without leaving himself open to return shots, and I think in a shoot out Vitali wins, Tyson had a good Jaw but Vitali has barely ever been wobbled, even after eating monster uppercuts from Lewis, however Prime tyson had been down several times.

Tyson wouldn't be able to hit Vitali without leaving himself open to return shots, and I think in a shoot out Vitali wins, Tyson had a good Jaw but Vitali has barely ever been wobbled, even after eating monster uppercuts from Lewis, however Prime tyson had been down several times.

Prime Tyson was down ONCE, against Buster Douglas after ten rounds of eating hard right hands.

Poet

Prime Tyson was down ONCE, against Buster Douglas after ten rounds of eating hard right hands.

Poet

Who would you pick Poet?

Who would you pick Poet?

Tyson. I like Vitali (not his little sister Wlad), but he's too damn easy to hit and that's a bad recepiet against a fighter who throws as much hard leather as Tyson.

Poet

Tyson. I like Vitali (not his little sister Wlad), but he's too damn easy to hit and that's a bad recepiet against a fighter who throws as much hard leather as Tyson.

Poet

Yeah, when I was first considering this matchup I just immediately thought Vitali but the more you look at it, as good and as tough as he is, he gets hit too easily. I know he is tough but I'm not sure anyone can have defence that leaky and beat a prime and focused Mike.

I dont understand the people saying Vitali is so easy to hit..

Vital is pretty hard to hit, he keeps his hands low but that doesnt mean its easy to land on his head, Lewis landed on him but Lewis also has a reach and height that most fighters (especially Tyson) dont have. Outside of Lewis how much did he really get hit? Sanders is pretty tall with fast hands and outside of the first round he didnt hit him much.

Tyson should try to go to the body, no one ever really attacks Vitali's body. He does have a decent style to beat Vitali, I heard Steward make a comment before that its a terrible idea to try and outbox Vitali from the outside, Lennox was loosing rounds on the outside and thats when they switched it up to going on the inside, Tyson is an inside fighter so that would work well for him. It will still be hard for him to land on Vitali's head with his reach and the way Vitali stays tall and out of reach, but he should try going to the body on the inside and Vitali is like most euro fighters and wont tie him up, just like Wlad was before steward, so that is Tysons best strategy and he can win no doubt, just Vitali isnt as easy to hit as some of you are saying.

I dont understand the people saying Vitali is so easy to hit..

Because he's easy hit.....period. His opponents have always been able to land a solid percentage of clean shots on him. He can't spell defense. Any other way I can put it that you'll understand?

Poet

The first 3 times Tyson faced a guy that wasn't petrified of him, he lost. Once to a journeyman and then twice to a great, but very small HW. If guys like Tillis, Green, Ruddock, Smith and Tucker can last the distance with "prime" Tyson, then Vitali certainly can. And I just don't see Mike winning a decision.

The first 3 times Tyson faced a guy that wasn't petrified of him, he lost. Once to a journeyman and then twice to a great, but very small HW. If guys like Tillis, Green, Ruddock, Smith and Tucker can last the distance with "prime" Tyson, then Vitali certainly can. And I just don't see Mike winning a decision.

The first time Vitali faced an opponent with a pulse he bled all over the ring and lost. BTW, I'm really getting sick of this size obsession some posters are having with Heavyweights.

Poet

The first time Vitali faced an opponent with a pulse he bled all over the ring and lost. BTW, I'm really getting sick of this size obsession some posters are having with Heavyweights.

Poet

Here's a partial list of guys that would beat prime Tyson. Size doesn't have much to do with it.

George Foreman
Sonny Liston
David Tua
Ike Ibeabuchi
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Riddick Bowe

Here's a partial list of guys that would beat prime Tyson. Size doesn't have much to do with it.

George Foreman
Sonny Liston
David Tua
Ike Ibeabuchi
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Riddick Bowe

George Foreman - No doubt
Sonny Liston - See above
David Tua - Could go either way
Ike Ibeabuchi - Not enough fights to make that determination
Evander Holyfield - Yes
Lennox Lewis - Questionable, maybe Lennox wins 4 out of 10
Muhammad Ali - Of course
Larry Holmes - Absoulutely
Riddick Bowe - See Lennox

But notice no Klitschko is on the list.

Poet

George Foreman - No doubt
Sonny Liston - See above
David Tua - Could go either way
Ike Ibeabuchi - Not enough fights to make that determination
Evander Holyfield - Yes
Lennox Lewis - Questionable, maybe Lennox wins 4 out of 10
Muhammad Ali - Of course
Larry Holmes - Absoulutely
Riddick Bowe - See Lennox

But notice no Klitschko is on the list.

Poet

Fair enough. It's all speculation and personal opinion. I used to be a huge Tyson fan, bought into all the hype, and thought he was indestructible. He was, without a doubt, a very quick, hard hitting, evasive fighter that could string combinations together and was excellent at finishing people off once he had them hurt. I probably have a tendency to underrate him these days, due to the extreme hype I still see on these boards.

I probably wouldn't bet a ton of money on the matchup, but I stick by my prediction.

Fair enough. It's all speculation and personal opinion. I used to be a huge Tyson fan, bought into all the hype, and thought he was indestructible. He was, without a doubt, a very quick, hard hitting, evasive fighter that could string combinations together and was excellent at finishing people off once he had them hurt. I probably have a tendency to underrate him these days, due to the extreme hype I still see on these boards.

I probably wouldn't bet a ton of money on the matchup, but I stick by my prediction.

I have a reputation around here for being extremely tough on Tyson. The truth is it's his KoolAid drinkers that I'm tough on. I never bought into the hype (I never do, I'm a "show me" person) and have little tolerance when I'm confronted with it. I know Tyson's strengths and weaknesses. I have every fight of his (except the Sims fight). The problem is that nuthuggers refuse to acknowledge he has any weaknesses.

Poet

Here's a partial list of guys that would beat prime Tyson. Size doesn't have much to do with it.

George Foreman
Sonny Liston
David Tua
Ike Ibeabuchi
Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Muhammad Ali
Larry Holmes
Riddick Bowe

I agree with that list except for Liston/Bowe/Lewis are debatable for me.

Because he's easy hit.....period. His opponents have always been able to land a solid percentage of clean shots on him. He can't spell defense. Any other way I can put it that you'll understand?

Poet

Very generous punch stats from Vitali's most recent opponents:

Peter 19% 73 total
Williams 23% 44 total
Sanders 22% 51 total
Johnson 14% 09 total
Lewis 46% 102 total

What's your definition of solid exactly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Y23QzY5E4

Some of Danny Williams' landed punches? Vitali blocking and slipping in slow motion.

Though not frequently tested Vitali's defense has been fine; outside of his sloppier moments in the Lewis fight after the cuts and roughhousing we simply haven't see him get tagged clean very often. He looks wide open and stationary but he does some smart subtle things to make fighters miss. His busy jab and power punching also helps keep fighters off of him.

And while many of his opponents were terrifed of him Sanders and Purrity were at least aggressive offensively to the very end; still couldn't find him though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pffSDq0xjAI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8sFwwLG5iU



Of course this all goes out the window against Tyson. I think if Mike gets to him it would be with counters over the jab. Not because Vitali is easy to hit but because Mike is really ****ing fast and lunging over big men's arms to score with quick lunging hooks is what he does. I say Vitali goes out like Bruno in a game effort or he drags Tyson into a long frustrating fight where anything could happen. The more tested Iron Mike would have to be the favorite though.

I see Vitalis shit defense catching up to him as he eats flush shot after shot, losing a UD12. Not everyone is as slow as SAM peter.

Well, when Vitali fought Peter he was already past his prime:)
IMO he was much slower, less endure and so on...

In fact Vitali had pretty good defense. His body movement was very good, and when he was young he was hard to hit, even though he was so big...
(read: hard to hit, not untouchable)

Thread: I think couple of things would play here in Vitali`s favour:
He is second biggest HW champ of all time... Tyson had problems with tall opponents...
Vitali had a great chin (in one of the threads it was revealed that he was down only once, sometime in a kick-boxing match). Tyson could take a punch, but when he caught many of those, he used to stand still, and eat whatever his opponent was throwing...
Both guys were gasing out quickly...

So i think in the early rounds Tyson could land some good shots, but he would get caught by some Vitali`s either... He dominates the opening rounds, but starts to slower down in the middle rounds, with Vitali landing more of his own punches... Fight ends in 7-9 rounds with Vitali`s lo-o-o-o-ong combination (like the Williams`s 27 punch combo) that floors Tyson.

Tyson chances: Vitali gets cut/ injured. Tyson is landing his combo body-head, Vitali gets wobled, Tyson is landing big combinations, which makes referee to stop the fight...

60/40 - Vitali

Because he's easy hit.....period. His opponents have always been able to land a solid percentage of clean shots on him. He can't spell defense. Any other way I can put it that you'll understand?

Poet

He is easy to get hit, when he punches his opponent, with a counter punch...

But, overall, i don`t know where did you get that from:)

Vitali would lose way worse then when hes gonna lose to haye.

it took Vitali 8 rounds to make a stationary punching bag quit, with Mikes head movement in his Prime, Vitali would be hit 5-1 in terms of landed punches. I see Vitali being too tall for Mike to KO though (hard to get leverage) so Vitali loses by UD.

were talking a prime tyson in the 80's? the guy who knocked out every motha ****a who got in the ring with him, weather they were tall, small, fat, in shape. if thats the tyson were talking about, then yea, tyson runs over em'

were talking a prime tyson in the 80's? the guy who knocked out every motha ****a who got in the ring with him, weather they were tall, small, fat, in shape. if thats the tyson were talking about, then yea, tyson runs over em'

Yeh especially he ran over two guys in his unification bouts...

OMG, why did i tell that?

Prime Tyson destroys Vitali. Prime Tyson destroys nearly anyone.

Prime Tyson destroys Vitali. Prime Tyson destroys nearly anyone.

You should amend that to read "Prime Tyson destroys nearly everyone who isn't an ATG.

Poet

were talking a prime tyson in the 80's? the guy who knocked out every motha ****a who got in the ring with him, weather they were tall, small, fat, in shape. if thats the tyson were talking about, then yea, tyson runs over em'

Steamrolling the Trevor Berbicks of the world isn't an accomplishment.

Poet

Tyson TKO imo

Prime Vita vs Prime Tyson.. Vitali via tko. Vitali's height, charged punches and good chin plays good role there. especially mentally he won't give shit to Tyson's trash. it would have been funny .. they woulda fight on press conferences )

Prime Vita vs Prime Tyson.. Vitali via tko. Vitali's height, charged punches and good chin plays good role there. especially mentally he won't give shit to Tyson's trash. it would have been funny .. they woulda fight on press conferences )

Sigh. Height is the most immaterial stat in boxing. Tyson's punches were more "charged" than Vitali's, and Tyson's chin was just as good. Next?

Poet

Sigh. Height is the most immaterial stat in boxing. Tyson's punches were more "charged" than Vitali's, and Tyson's chin was just as good. Next?

Poet


wtf, i cant tell weather u think tyson would win, or vitali. lol

wtf, i cant tell weather u think tyson would win, or vitali. lol

I picked Tyson, rather easily in fact. I just won't go ga ga over him like the inverate nuthuggers do.

Poet

Mike Tyson imo

I picked Tyson, rather easily in fact. I just won't go ga ga over him like the inverate nuthuggers do.

Poet

and how doyou think Tyson would win ? brake vit's bone.. so fight stopps..may be. i dont see any way of Vitali going down or get knocked out.

and how doyou think Tyson would win ?

How about inflicting so much punishment on Vitali that the referee has to rescue him? Tyson isn't going to have any problems finding Klitschko: The dude isn't exactly mobile. A prime Tyson is much faster straight ahead than anyone Vitali has faced, with faster hands and a much higher work rate. The only person Vitali's been in the ring with with hitting power on par with Tyson's is Lewis and Lennox didn't exactly set a brisk pace at that point in his career. Vitali would get nailed with hard power shots coming in bunches. At the same time Vitali isn't going to crack Tyson's chin and he doesn't throw enough punches to seriously batter Mike.

brake vit's bone.. so fight stopps..may be.

Why do I get the feeling the only Tyson fights you've seen are the ones after he turned into a side show late in his career?

i dont see any way of Vitali going down or get knocked out.

You miss the point: Vitali doesn't have to be knocked down to be stopped. Regard the referee ready to wave things off when Vitali's been rendered helpless.

Poet

I don’t actually think this would be a very good fight I don’t see there styles making for a good fight, I would say Tyson by a close UD at his best he was very good at slipping the jab and as Vitali is very stand up he is always exposed to body punches on the inside.

80s Tyson wins by knockout (maybe TKO) fairly early on I think. Lennox might not have knocked him down, but that uppercut still had him lumbering around clinging for dear life. Prime Tysons power > Old Lennox's. I think Tyson would be way too fast and would land way too many punches on Vitali, I could even see him ending it with a combination to the body.
Tyson (T)KO Round 4