The Myth Of Mike Tyson

[The Iron Man]

The overall point being, you can't use that as an excuse for Tyson because Douglas had just as big of a distraction in his mind. The only difference is Douglas overcame it, Tyson did not.

Dont worry you obviously dont understand what i mean

[Hawkins]

Dont worry you obviously dont understand what i mean

I could say the exact thing

[Hawkins]

I think we're looking at it all wrong here. Some of Tysons problems may have stemmed from his divorce, but at the time of the Douglas fight it was his overall life style that put him in the position to be beat. Tyson was just doing what he wanted at this point. He should have known he was on the path to self destruction but it looks like his false sense of security blinded him to what was inevitable. Without someone there to push him and guide him the way he needed, he deteriorated into what you seen in Tokyo. Had he not knocked Williams out so fast, this deterioration might have been evidenced in that fight, because it's not something that just happens over night. I have always thought he didn't look 100% in the first Bruno fight, which was his first fight without Rooney. I think Tysons problems were a hole different story than Douglas' problem or distraction. I think it's safe to assume Douglas' religious beliefs were in line with most Americans in that he thought his mom was watching him from heaven. His mom knew he was training to fight Tyson and I'm sure she wished him luck and told him he could do it. (Please bare with me I know this all sounds corny. lol) In life, for most people, there can be nothing more motivating than accomplishing something for your mother that just died, knowing she's watching. Not everyone would have, but this helped Douglas rise to the occasion and focus on what he had to do to win. It's too bad for Douglas that Tysons situation aided him in winning the fight. Tysons situation was totally different, he was expected to win the fight easy. There's no reason to rise to the occasion when your living with a false sense of security. Larry Merchent used to say "the only one who can beat Mike Tyson is Mike Tyson", and on that night, Mike tyson beat him self.

I don't think I have disputed any of that. Ultimately, in context, everything bad that happened to Mike Tyson can be traced back to Robin Givens & Don King. I won't go into that whole issue again, but they are the both the doorway to Tyson's downfall.

The people Tyson surrounded himself with started his ball rolling on the path of self destruction. I also agree that you could see an immediate difference without Rooney. Without Kevin Rooney Mike was a one dimensional fighter.

Anyways I've never disputed any of that. The only point I was trying to make was the where Tyson had distractions in his life prior to the fight, Buster Douglas did too. You can't say well it's different. Because emotional pain is emotional pain.

I've known plenty of people who have used divorces/break ups as motivation to do something positive. I've also known plenty of people that use adversity as a means to persevere. To Mike Tyson's credit he never fostered the blame, Don King did. Tyson did not.

Sadly we were robbed of a rematch. Could Tyson have regained the title? It's very possible given the way Douglas weight/training issues came to play in regards to the Holyfield fight. On the other hand given the way Tyson's life had spiraled out of control it could have went the same as the first.

One of the only intelligent things I've seen from Tyson's then trainer Aaron Sowell was when he told Tyson, "The way you've ben training and living your life means your headed for a butt whupping." And he was correct. Too bad Tyson couldn't see it.

[Jim Jeffries]

Tyson couldn't even KO an OLD James Smith that had already been KOd by Larry Holmes.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

The only point I was trying to make was the where Tyson had distractions in his life prior to the fight, Buster Douglas did too. You can't say well it's different. Because emotional pain is emotional pain.

I don't think Mikes problems were emotional pain. That's why I say it was different. His divorce had been over a year prior to the Douglas fight. If he had been the kind of person that stayed at home all day, then maybe it would still have been really effecting him. But, he had so much going on, so many other girls that I'm pretty sure the pain (if any by that time) wasn't enough to distract him. Tell you the truth, I don't think he was distracted at all. I think he was losing interest in the game. He's said in more recent interviews that boxing was fun when Cus and Jacobs were around. When you think about all the problems that fallowed after their deaths, you can see how his outlook on the entire situation could have changed in a negative way. Kind of like saying "man, **** this" I believe the mindsets between Douglas and Tyson were incomparable. And like I said in my previous post, Douglas had all the reasons in the world to rise to the occasion in this fight. He also had something to prove, if your aware of his career, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now, in a rematch, Tyson would have every reason to rise to the occasion. I'm not really trying to debate you, I just want to make it clear why I think their mindsets were completely different from one another. It's just my opinion but who really knows what was going on in Mikes head at that time. Whatever it was, he didn't seem to be focused like he had been.

[Hawkins]

I'm not really trying to debate you, I just want to make it clear why I think their mindsets were completely different from one another. It's just my opinion but who really knows what was going on in Mikes head at that time. Whatever it was, he didn't seem to be focused like he had been.

No I wasn't questioning any of what you said, I was just trying to point out that there was extenuating circumstances on both sides. You can't point out one and totally dismiss the other.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

Tyson couldn't even KO an OLD James Smith that had already been KOd by Larry Holmes.

Smith actually fought Holmes and held Tyson. There's a big difference between the two fights. Had Smith fought Tyson like he said, he would have got knocked out early. I'm not going to go look into it right now, but it appears the fight was stopped on a cut. Whatever the case, Smith was still standing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FkHR9Q1hDE

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

No I wasn't questioning any of what you said, I was just trying to point out that there was extenuating circumstances on both sides. You can't point out one and totally dismiss the other.

I agree with that.

[them_apples]

Yea smith wasn't anywhere close to winning that fight anyway, Tyson was just chasing the coward around the ring the whole time, he even put in a well placed taunt. It's not hard to tie up a guy smaller than you, its a cowards way out. Holy field did this combined with head butting, and in the second fight still think Tyson would have won, if he could have held himself together.

[Jim Jeffries]

Yea smith wasn't anywhere close to winning that fight anyway, Tyson was just chasing the coward around the ring the whole time, he even put in a well placed taunt. It's not hard to tie up a guy smaller than you, its a cowards way out. Holy field did this combined with head butting, and in the second fight still think Tyson would have won, if he could have held himself together.

Tyson knew he had no chance of beating Holyfield in the second fight, that's why he took the COWARD way out.