Rocky Marciano VS Mike Tyson.

[SuzieQ49]

smasher are u implying mike tyson was in his prime in 1996 after a 4 year layoff?

[smasher]

smasher are u implying mike tyson was in his prime in 1996 after a 4 year layoff?

I'm implying that the 23 year old Tyson who had the **** kicked out of him by Buster Douglas was...

[pug1986]

what are you talking about Tyson never had a tough fight? what do you call Tyson vs. Ruddock? Those were one of the all time heavyweight slugfests

[Yogi]

I'm implying that the 23 year old Tyson who had the **** kicked out of him by Buster Douglas was...

And that's an opinion that I could certainly agree with.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

if mike tyson hadn't trained by having sex,drinking, and partying in tokyo then James Buster Douglas wouldnt' have been Champion IMO

though that was Busters best

[Hydro]

Tyson beats the Rock.

You can frustrate Tyson by nullifying his offense by boxing and moving and clinching, but Marciano can't do that being 5'10 with a 71' reach. Tyson is also 30 pounds heavier, and faster.

[hemichromis]

difficult these are both great fighters with powerful punches whoever connects solidly first would win. i really cant call it!

[Mike Tyson77]

You gotta love those Tyson fans Yogi.

Larry Holmes, winless in 3 years, inactive for 2, previous 2 fights are losses against a light-heavyweight and comes out of retirement at 38 years of age all of which qualifies Larry as barely past his prime.

All the while Tyson as an active undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion wrecking ball is supposed to be noticeably past his prime at 23....

There's a HUGE difference between a 20 year old Tyson and a 23 year old Tyson. At age 23, Tyson didnt train hard, was drinking and partying the night before the Buster fight. And in that fight and his past two with Bruno and Williams, he didnt look like the Tyson of old. No head movement, no combos, or any help from his conner.



And no one knocked out holmes before or after this fight. Not even holyfeild. Holmes went 21-3 after this fight, and his 3 losses where against HW Champs.

[SABBATH]

There's a HUGE difference between a 20 year old Tyson and a 23 year old Tyson. At age 23, Tyson didnt train hard, was drinking and partying the night before the Buster fight. And in that fight and his past two with Bruno and Williams, he didnt look like the Tyson of old. No head movement, no combos, or any help from his conner.



And no one knocked out holmes before or after this fight. Not even holyfeild. Holmes went 21-3 after this fight, and his 3 losses where against HW Champs.

The Williams fight? He knocked The Truth out in one round! How much better was a prime Tyson going to do? Knock him out at the weigh-in?

As for Holmes going 21-3 after the Tyson fight there is a big difference. Holmes came back and fought regularly against journeymen and trial horses much in the manner that George Foreman did building himself back up fight by fight. Holmes gradually adjusted his style to suit his diminished stamina, reflexes and footwork by becoming more proficient and comfortable fighting off the ropes and conserving his energy.

Against Tyson he entered the ring after 2 years of inactivity and with no warm-up fights.

Holmes looked terrible in that fight. Holmes had no legs, no accuracy, no timing and no jab. About all Holmes did was throw one punch at a time and clinch.

[Brassangel]

Larry Holmes was certainly not in his prime, or barely out of it when he fought Tyson. That's obvious. He did have experience and a splash of ring savvy, but let's face it: stick a 38-year-old man in the ring who hasn't been there in years, with a guy who was in tip top fighting condition and had 20-year old legs...well, enough said.

As for Douglas vs. Tyson. *Ugh* I think we can avoid this fiasco of an argument. Everyone who hates Tyson claims he just got stomped, and everyone who chews Tyson's ball hair claims his world came crashing down before the fight occurred. I like to find that happy medium where we know that Tyson failed to prepare properly and dropped as far out of his comfort zone as he had ever been by that point; while Buster Douglas got in the best shape of his life and used his advantages against Mike's poor choices to beat the crap out of a troubled young man.

NO, Mike was not in true Mike Tyson form that night. Period. Mike Tyson at 20-21 would have beaten Douglas somewhere during rounds 1-4. However, it's his own fault for handling his life, and this fight so ******ly.

YES, Buster Douglas looked fantastic on that night, and really took it to Tyson. James probably would have taken it to almost anybody that night given the circumstances. But, like Tyson, Douglas handled his next fight like a moron, and it cost him.

Everybody needs to stop plugging their ears like a little kid and look at the fact that a whole slew of strange and unusual circumstances came together to make one of the most memorable moments in sports history. Nothing about Tyson or Douglas was "typical" that night.

Back on topic.

Tyson was quicker than Marciano, heavier than Marciano, had a better reach than Marciano, and could put punches together better than Marciano. He had better head movement, and 30 pounds of muscle that says he had greater power. Give Rocky gloves that were 10 oz. heavier and cushier like Mike had to use, and he won't be sending reverberations through Mike's chin any time soon. Mike wins this one in round 4 or 5. Rocky would definitely fight back, and he could take a beating, so it's not like it would be completely one-sided.