Prime Mike Tyson: Best defense of any heavyweight?

Yeah 6'1 190 pound spinks is the same as vitali klitschko

I have doubts about Tyson against alot of the greats but if was young now he'd dominate this weak era.

Wow NSB is filled with boxing newbs today lol I was really impressed by tysons defense in the holyfield fights, he did a great job using his face to deflect evanders punches

his headmovement was awesome but i think ali had better footwork

I'm not sure he beats a prime Ali. He was much more reachable after his exile.

Skillwise, Mike Tyson under Cus D'mato could have taken any HW in history with maybe the exception of Jack Johnson. Tyson blows Johnson away, Johnson's defense relied mostly on parrying which as Tyson pointed out himself when analyzing Johnson is not nearly as effective against combinations as it is against single punches, clinching (May work for a bit, Quick Tillis used it well against Tyson I'm sure Johnson could) and footwork which I think was great but Tyson would cut him off eventually, Johnson's most effective weapon against Tyson would be his uppercut and inside work, but he would have to risk Tyson getting into his comfortable range first before he could do the damage. Different rules and what not back then, put Tyson in his times and it might be different but it's doubtful, he's probably one of the worst Heavies to match Johnson up with style wise imo.

when you consider the overall fighter he was at his best, I'd say yes.

I'm going with Jersey Joe Walcott.

His best defense was Offense. His prime was very very short but I will agree that a PRIME Tyson would beat ANY HW In history that came before him. I dont know what happens if he gets hit cleanly by Lewis or Vitali or if he can jump and connect against Wlad. Tyson was pretty short guy, he would have to be reaching a long way which leaves him open to a 1-2. Its a shame that he had such a short prime, he revived boxing. He's one of my favorite fighters despite him being a lunatic, but the best people are always the crazy ones (michael jackson, artists/singers, etc) Tyson rarely reached unless he was sure he'd connect. He bobbed his way without being damaged into position where he COULD reach, and he could do this against the very tallest fighters, some of Klitschkoesque stature.

I think it's probably more accurate to say, that maybe Tyson had the greatest defense while still fighting aggressively? :boxing: You have said just what I was going to say. I wrote about it the other day also. When Tyson was bobbing and weaving, he was also placing himself into position from which to throw any kind of punch, and, whether he hit or missed, he would already be in position-due to his footwork and body weight management, to throw on the return with the other hand. This is how he produced those phenomenal 5-6 punch lethal combinations. But, as someone mentioned, Jack Johnson, was not only invincable duting most of his career, he was a master of defence, and really toyed with his opposition, avoiding punches, tying up and carrying on ringside conversations at the same time. As I've written several times, everything that Ali could do, Johnson could do much better. It was only brutal racism which prevented him from getting his well deserved credit and praise, until after he was dead. As for me, I vary between peak Tyson and Johnson. Johnson fought all the top Black fighters that others kept away from, multiple times, and beat them all. He would often carry them for long fights to make sure the cash customer (white) got value for his money. Even Sugar Ray Robinson said that he often had to fight 20 rds..."10 for him and 10 for me.. meaning he had to carry them for the whole fight." Graziano, Fulmer and Basilio, all on that show, agreed with him.

Mike Tyson in his prime and at the height of his powers beats anyone period. He was such a devastating puncher most people never really realized he was smaller than all of his opponents, so what he lacked in size he more than made up for in defenses, speed and power. And in order for a smaller heavy like him to flourish as well as he did he had to be exceedingly good in the other categories. If there were a heavy fighting right now with half of the excitement potential that Tyson had back in the day, his PPV numbers would be staggering.

He ranks up there for sure. In his prime he had great head movement however his footwork was really superior. His footwork was such that he always kept himself in proper range to throw his punches after eluding his opponents. He was a great counter puncher. His prime was short but I believe at his peak he would have been trouble for anyone. Buster Douglas showed us the blueprint on how to beat him. 1. Have a good jab and use it to frustrate and outwork him. 2. Be athletic enough to move around the ring and strong enough to prevent him from mauling you inside. 3. Have the balls to stand up to him and fire off your own power punches when you have the chance to do so. I don't think Lennox Lewis or either of the Klitschko brothers would be too tall/big for Tyson to handle, he knocked out plenty of very tall/large fighters in his day and had no problem getting to them (in his prime he was a great body puncher who would destroy the body before killing the head). I feel all three of them had the jab to bother Tyson. All were very strong but I don't feel Vitali had the same level of athleticism his brother or Lennox had. I do wonder if all three would have the balls to stand up to him though. All three are/were very slow starters who really never started fights off with a bang and all of them were content to use their jab much more than their power punches. Having a great jab vs Tyson was a must to win against him in his prime but you also had to be willing to open up and deliver power punches to sap his strength (as Douglas did) throughout the fight. I wonder how Lewis and the Klitschko's would fare against an opponent who came out and was on their ass right away at the opening bell and stayed on them throughout the fight (like a prime Tyson would do). Would they get really aggressive and be able to prevail or would they be overwhelmed and cave in? I have no idea, none of them has ever faced a fighter who employed such a strategy and had the skills (head movement, footwork, aggressiveness, counter-punching ability and one punch KO power with each fist) Tyson possessed. One fighter who could win against a prime Tyson (he did beat him but I don't consider post-prison Tyson to be prime)was Holyfield. Despite not having a great jab Evander might have been successful against Tyson even in his prime because he was extremely athletic, had no fear, was very physical and got mad during his fights. Evander was the type of guy who would come right back at you in an aggressive manner if you hit him (thats how he was able to beat Riddick Bowe in their 2nd fight although this same aggressiveness was why he lost the 1st and 3rd fights in their trilogy, getting into a slugfest with a stronger, bigger man). Plus a prime Holyfield would have the advantage of steroids and HGH (had to throw that in their, he was a known user of both).

His best defense was Offense. His prime was very very short but I will agree that a PRIME Tyson would beat ANY HW In history that came before him. I dont know what happens if he gets hit cleanly by Lewis or Vitali or if he can jump and connect against Wlad. Tyson was pretty short guy, he would have to be reaching a long way which leaves him open to a 1-2. Its a shame that he had such a short prime, he revived boxing. He's one of my favorite fighters despite him being a lunatic, but the best people are always the crazy ones (michael jackson, artists/singers, etc)

I think it's probably more accurate to say, that maybe Tyson had the greatest defense while still fighting aggressively? :boxing:

tyson was a beast....i miss the excitement the HW division used to bring......

I think Tucker had better defense really...and Holmes also. Kenny Norton had a pretty good defense but it wasn't unpenetrable.

Tyson 86-89 crucifies both Klits in 2 rounds.

Jack johnson had good defense as well

I say Ali,gotta look at the people Tyson was fighting