I was digging through some old boxing videos the other day, and I have to say that in his short lived prime, Mike Tyson was, in my opinion, the greatest heavyweight to ever grace the squared circle. People think of him, for obvious reasons, as little more than an awesome banger, but he had so much more in his arsenal. His defence was fantastic, mainly through his reflexes and head movement. His footwork was great, his handspeed awesome. I honestly believe that, prime for prime, he would have KO'd Ali, Lewis, Louis, Marciano, Dempsey, the lot.
Unfortunately for Mike, a boxer's greatness is assessed over his whole career and not just over his prime. For these reasons, I think he must be rated behind a number of heavyweights who achieved more over the course of their careers. But if he could have kept his head straight - and have stayed out of prison - I think Tyson could have dominated for years. The guy was awesome.
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/2006/01/03/gallery.tattoos/tyson.jpg
Most people believe he was about to enter the second greatest era in Boxing. He could have had ATG names like a prime Holyfield, Lewis, Bowe, Mercer, Moorer etc on his resume. Wether he could have beaten most of them is debatable, but he could have been the greatest(Just look at how many people think he the G.O.A.T. even with his record) and sadly, we never really got to see if he was the greatest physical specimen in his prime, because you have to beat the best to be called the best. Like Ali.
Quite a few people got into boxing back in those days because of Mike, me included. He's still probably one of my favorite fighters to this day. Yeah he brought a lot of excitement by KO'ing pretty much everyone and was fun to watch, but I wouldn't consider him the best prime for prime.
I grew up watching Iron Mike Tyson, it was a big thing back in the late 80's, when you get together with your boys and watch Tyson put on a display of super quick boxing skills, and KTFO some dude that looked like they out weight him by 40 pounds! Mike Tyson even said it, and he wasn't being respectful and sincere, he said Ali was greater than he. Then Ali turns around and said Sugar Ray Robbinson was the greatest.
I dont think so but he is up there with the greast but no the best of the best.
There are many other guy who are really good like Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes...etc
many to mention
I;m not saying that he was greater than them in terms of his career, but that in his prime he would have beaten them all. However, his prime was very short lived.
I dont think so but he is up there with the greast but no the best of the best.
There are many other guy who are really good like Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes...etc
many to mention