I think alot of people who only saw his later fights tend to underestimate him. In his prime he was not just a fighter with tremendous KO power. He had good endurance and excellent head movement. Up until his decline, he took very few solid punches.
People say prime to differentiate Tyson before and after prison. He was a much different fighter after prison...
Pretty much.
I think that most boxing fans will admit that you could actually date this to about a year/a year and a half before his prison sentence.
In fact, I think that its just as fair to say that his prime revolves around Cus D'amato's death and Kevin Rooney's training of him.
2 different mikes thats what it is. reason why they said that. I have to admit ali changed his style up and after the exile and they dont classify him differently.
Alot of boxing historians say the highest point of his carreer was the Michael Spinks fight.
I'd agree with that. Though Tyson's 'Prime' was brief, i think he'd test any heavyweight in history at his best, and as i've previously posted, although Spinks was a blown up heavyweight, Tyson would have matched anyone on that night.