Was Tyson-Spinks fixed?

[Sugar Adam Ali]

No dive..

But spinks was scared and mentally crapped his pants... But can u blame him.. He fought the peak version of boxing's biggest terror

[Mugwump]

It was the Spinks fight which injected the first dose of doubt into my perception of Tyson.

Up until that point I was convinced he was the scariest fighter I'd ever seen. The guy was a force of nature whose terrible wrath seemed to spring from some unmentionable place you might associate with a fallen deity.

Oddly enough I had no criticisms of Mike. He did what he had to do in the least amount of time possible.

No, the thing that bothered me was the premise Tyson's camp never missed an opportunity to make: This is a competitive bout between two boxing superstars at either end of their careers. Now, we can debate the condition of the retiring Spinks at his age and after all his accomplishments.

If people want to say his knee was busted. I can accept that and I would never hold such against him. Ditto to those who say he lacked fitness.

But looking at his face as Tyson marched to the ring you'd swear Spinks had never fought with the constant threat of serious injury and death throughout his time in the professional ranks.

Sure, he was too small to be up in the heavies. Sure, he was a long way shy of his prime.

But for a man with Spinks' accomplishments - a CHAMPION - to be practically shaking at the knees BEFORE a single punch is thrown against a largely untested and very raw opponent is wrong on every level.

Once the fiasco was over I immediately began questioning my assumptions. Was Spinks all the Tyson camp painted him to be? Or was I missing something important about Tyson?

Seriously, if somehow you could have put a severely blown up Duran, or Hagler - hell even a modestly gifted guy like Micky Ward - all of whom knowing they were hopelessly outgunned - in there does anyone think they would have capitulated in such empty fashion? Does anyone seriously think any of them would have accepted defeat without being carried out on a stretcher?

From that point on - even if I couldn't criticise Iron Mike - the question always nagged at me - were Tyson's trainers over-hyping opponents because there was some thing about him they were desperate to keep under wraps?

Looking back now I think the answer was obvious.

[LacedUp]

Fixed by Tyson's fist maybe.

This.

End thread.

[Dynamite76]

@mugwump, very good obervation.

[Derranged]

You never know but I highly doubt it. As others have said, Spinks practically crapped his trunks in fear. Hard to fight if you're that anxious.

[Larry the boss]

Tyson ****ed that boy up

[Spray_resistant]

Nah, he was beat before the bell rang, was probably terrified so props for him getting in there knowing he was going to be obliterated by this monster who loved beating the piss out of people.

[Mugwump]

No champion "craps his pants" to such an extent - regardless of the opponent.

Sure, they will be scared. But the customary fear all top tier fighters experience is not what Spinks manifested that night.

Besides, all champion fighters know intuitively to avoid giving their opposite number a significant psychological advantage by showing fear. Wear a huge hood, sunglasses, dance on the spot, ignore the other guy completely - ANYTHING but hand him what might be a fight-breaking edge.

Spinks wasn't facing anything scarier than Ali did in his first bout against Liston. Or Sugar Ray going up against Hagler. Or Holyfield tackling Tyson.

No. If the great Michael Spinks seemed almost to pee his pants then maybe he wasn't so great in the first place.

A champion fighter is submissive to no man. Even in defeat. I'm sure some will retort with Duran's "no mas". Although I would point out Duran more than made up for such taking on some of the baddest men on the planet despite being naturally smaller. Yet even his achievements ONLY JUST compensated for that single black stain on his career whilst other fans think even that isn't enough.

[Mintcar923]

No way this fight was fixed.. Mike Tyson himself said afterward how furiously Spinks fought.. Yes, I agree he may've been a little timid looking.. But, then so was Holyfield in the ring walk to Tyson I.. I personally think Spinks wanted to get his respect early by brawling a bit with him.. But, Mike simply overpowered him and was just too sharp at that stage.. And, virtually anyone would have been knocked out by a prime Tyson uppercut to the temple..

[Feint]

No, Tyson just dominated him both physically and mentally.