Tyson’s Level of Competition?

Tyson is and will always be the boxer that got me 'going'. He was a ruthless animal at times. Being from England, at the time I didn't really hear/see the rumours/stories which have now become normal news in the Boxing world.. Like anything back then, all you got was propaganda and opinions mixed with bits of evidence... At his best, there was no competition for me....... As we know, it all went pear shape and pretty quick for several reasons...

Maybe the level of competition he faced wasn’t the strongest, but that was just the area he happened to come up in. The heavyweight division at the time of his prime was not the strongest. Tyson mopped the floor with the rest of the division. He beat most of the former champions from the early 80 with relative ease. While the names on Tyson’s resume are not the strongest, a lot of his opponents still had great credentials.

Champs of the 90s and early 2000s Tyson never fought: Riddick Bowe George Foreman Michael Moorer Shannon Briggs Hasim Rahman John Ruiz Vitali Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko Chris Byrd Lamon Brewster Corrie Sanders Ray Mercer Heavyweight champions Tyson beat: Trevor Berbick James Smith Pinklon Thomas Tony Tucker Larry Holmes Tony Tubbs Frank Bruno Michael Spinks Frank Bruno Bruce Seldon Frans Botha Former champs who beat Tyson: Buster Douglas Evander Holyfield (twice) Lennox Lewis

Lewis one of the best ever - lost easily. Holyfield - One of the best ever - lost easily - Bowe - A handful on his best night for anyone - Never fought. Spinks - A very good - Light Heavyweight who was in over his head against a very power HW. A few decent B/C Level wins. Tyson's hype way surpassed his actual ability. He was powerful, fast and talented, but very small for a HW and mentally weak. When the going gets tough, Mike gets going.

Tyson is a interesting case study because of his aura and unfulfilled potential. I cut Tyson’s career into 3 pieces: cus damato era pre jail Tyson post jail Tyson .i feel like pre jail Tyson would’ve beat Holyfield and Lewis but we will never know. The Tyson that fought Holyfield was a shell of pre jail mike and the Tyson that fought Lewis was a shell of the man that fought Holyfield lol. His best opponents were Bruno Spinks holmes and Douglas Pre jail and minus the Douglas fiasco handled them with ease. I think once you got past Mikes power there wasnt much left, I believe Ali would have embarrassed him in a shutout, Lewis was always too big, Holyfield would always out game him. Mike was really a bully and some guys you cant bully like Evander will always beat him, I believe Atlas saying Mike is a quitter underneath or something to that nature, I dont think Mike was very game, not like Holyfield Ali etc, he was like a rough pit dog that quits when its gets into the trenches.

Tyson is a interesting case study because of his aura and unfulfilled potential. I cut Tyson’s career into 3 pieces: cus damato era pre jail Tyson post jail Tyson .i feel like pre jail Tyson would’ve beat Holyfield and Lewis but we will never know. The Tyson that fought Holyfield was a shell of pre jail mike and the Tyson that fought Lewis was a shell of the man that fought Holyfield lol. His best opponents were Bruno Spinks holmes and Douglas Pre jail and minus the Douglas fiasco handled them with ease.