Tyson's Heart

[boxingbuff]

I would say Tyson had an average to good heart.

He didn't have great heart like a Muhammad Ali,Joe Frazier,Joe Louis,Gene Tunney,and Rocky Marcioano.

[Benny Leonard]

Didn't Atlas have some interesting quotes about his heart?

Same Atlas that stopped training Tyson a 15. Same Atlas that had an inexperienced amateur boxer that needed to be broken down and rebuilt?
Same Atlas that has a big ego and may do things that isn't good for a person like Tyson...as proved with Tyson getting much better with a calmer person (although still a confident ego) like Rooney.

Atlas's view points are good as far as what Tyson was at that time but not what he became through training properly with the right trainer. Training isn't just about physical and technical conditioning...as it includes the Mental aspect made big by Tyson's mentor Cus D'Amato.

But what Tyson was at that time with Atlas should be noted because he started to revert back to what he was in the beginning when they found him as a youth after getting away from the program that set him on a path to the Title.

It was the Mentors, Trainers, and people around Tyson that helped him to get to certain points in his life...both good and bad. When he had the right people, he succeeded...and when he didn't, he failed (as far as the high standards set).

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He likes the Prizefighter concept where each fight lasting a maximum of three rounds and the idea of the underdog shocking the favourite.

Tyson added: “When I was 15 I remember travelling to Providence for a fight. It was a long ride for me and I was fighting this older, more experienced guy - he was 22 and everyone thought he was ’the man’.

“The place was packed and I was making a name for myself - but was just a kid.

“It was such a tough, great fight. I never stopped, I fought my heart out that night.

“The fight was too close to call and although they gave it to the hometown fighter it was the greatest fight of my life.

“I cried all the way home to Catskill. When I got home Cus D’Amato asked me why I was so upset.

“He told me how proud he was that I never caved in that night and kept fighting to the end. I will never forget that night.”

http://www.secondsout.com/uk-boxing-...es-prizfighter

[BKM-]

I remember for 2/3 years after the Mcbride fight you would not find a soul on this site that agreed Tyson had heart, and if you dared to claim such a thing you would be called a nuthugger. I'm glad to see that has changed now as time has passed on.
The answer to this old question is basicely out of Tyson's own words. In the Tyson movie he says that after he won the titles back he had the passion back, and the very last time he had that motivation was in the second Holyfield fight where he trained himself back to peak condition like his prime and he truly wanted to win the title back. After that he didn't really have heart anymore. Although the myth of Tyson never coming back to win a fight he was losing is untrue as he KO'd Botha while losing.

[mrboxer]

tyson had heart he just did not have the energy to get up from knockdowns,the people around him did not care about tyson and tyson started losing his mind,if mike had a better core of managers and trainers tyson would of gone out as probably one of the top 25 best heavyweight alltime,and that fight against douglas tyson should of won he had douglas down and it was a count over 10 seconds,how come the manager did not challenge the count and why was there no rematch,after that fight tyson was not the same,

[GJC]

if mike had a better core of managers and trainers tyson would of gone out as probably one of the top 25 best heavyweight alltime

Wow that high?
I'm not a huge Tyson fan but if you can name me 25 HW's better than him i'm all ears

and that fight against douglas tyson should of won he had douglas down and it was a count over 10 seconds,how come the manager did not challenge the count

One thing the count begins and ends with the referee not TV, not anyone in the crowd not someone timing it in front of their TV, the referee. Very simple rule.
Can't specifically remember whether his manager challenged the count but the promotor and the head of the sanctioning body did so Tyson had a fair few batting for him. Think it was pointed out to them that the count begins and ends with the referee not TV,not...................................

[The Iron Man]

He likes the Prizefighter concept where each fight lasting a maximum of three rounds and the idea of the underdog shocking the favourite.

Tyson added: “When I was 15 I remember travelling to Providence for a fight. It was a long ride for me and I was fighting this older, more experienced guy - he was 22 and everyone thought he was ’the man’.

“The place was packed and I was making a name for myself - but was just a kid.

“It was such a tough, great fight. I never stopped, I fought my heart out that night.

“The fight was too close to call and although they gave it to the hometown fighter it was the greatest fight of my life.

“I cried all the way home to Catskill. When I got home Cus D’Amato asked me why I was so upset.

“He told me how proud he was that I never caved in that night and kept fighting to the end. I will never forget that night.”

http://www.secondsout.com/uk-boxing-...es-prizfighter

I had never heard that story before! thanks for sharing!

[louis54]

tyson, average heart. for all of his knowledge of history and legitimate tough guys, it just shows how tough a profession boxing is; as much as he tried to have heart, boxing standards for such are just so high. holyfield had excellant heart.

[BritishBoxing92]

This is a Man who at the age of 20 Made Rag dolls of Trevor Berbick,Michael Spinks etc and got floored a few times from lewis so yeah he had a heart of a lion

[JmtRyan]

IMO he had a massive heart, the beating he took from Holyfield et al was incredible.

[Thread Stealer]

People like to exaggerate and say all you had to do with Tyson was "stand up to him", but it's more about having the right game plan and ability. Then Tyson could get frustrated, and too much look for one punch. Tyson could take a beating and his game plan would consist of looking for a punch to bail him out. Tyson's adjustment skills weren't very good, although he did adjust better with Rooney (not a great trainer, but Tyson and him had good chemistry).

He fought valiantly in defeat against Douglas I thought, dropping him in the 8th, and the ninth was a good give-and-take round which ended with Tyson getting dominated, and then stopped the next round. Against Holyfield he was completely confused. He was hoping his power would bail him out, and he went crazy in the rematch. Against Lewis, Tyson showed guts by taking a horrendous ass-kicking, although at the end he might've just done a Pryor-Arguello 2, Pacquiao-Morales 3 type thing and just stayed down, not that I really blame him after that beating. His confidence seemed to be pretty low throughout though. Again, taking his beating like a man, but probably not with that much confidence in winning and hoping simply to land a bomb while perhaps knowing in his mind that chances of that were very slim.

The last two losses, however, ugh.