When did Tyson's prime end?

[DreamFighter]

He admitted that after he came out of jail he didnt care about boxing, he just wanted to make money

just another celebrity forced to make money out of their previous name.

[OctoberRed]

just another celebrity forced to make money out of their previous name.

When you're broke you do what you gotta do.

[DreamFighter]

When you're broke you do what you gotta do.

I'm glad I've never been there, though I've never been crazy with my money either, fortunately.

[OctoberRed]

I'm glad I've never been there, though I've never been crazy with my money either, fortunately.

That's why Tyson started doing standup shows, wrote a book, began doing comedy movies.

[uncle ben]

Tyson was unusual in that he was still in his physical prime but not in his fighting prime. Tyson when he was with Rooney and training a specific way and when his head was in the game, was IMO, on his best night, a H2H nightmare for any ATG heavy.

Because of his training habits, he was still dangerous, but starting to go downhill after Rooney.

[Willy Wanker]

Tyson got to a point where he could have been much better but simply went the other way, hence he never hit a prime.

Interesting, I've also always thought that Tyson never lived up to his full potential. He was 24 when Douglas beat him. And he didn't take a career ending beating either.

He could have camd back stronger I believe, but he needed the right guidance and never had the discipline on on his own.

And like OctoberRed mentioned, Tyson's passion for the sport was gone after his prison stint and he just wanted paychecks. He basically just coasted on what was left of his natural talent.

[billeau2]

Interesting, I've also always thought that Tyson never lived up to his full potential. He was 24 when Douglas beat him. And he didn't take a career ending beating either.

He could have camd back stronger I believe, but he needed the right guidance and never had the discipline on on his own.

And like OctoberRed mentioned, Tyson's passion for the sport was gone after his prison stint and he just wanted paychecks. He basically just coasted on what was left of his natural talent.

Perhaps

A couple of things to consider would be that Tyson's style, was not made for longevity. Dempsey who Mike studied had a similar situation... You have to keep the body moving, the head, the shoulders, the legs, there is no magical angles, no use of a feeler, like a jab used for that purpose. It was easy to observe Mike starting to use less movement...what is not so easy to ascertain is why he slowed down.

The Douglas fight was psychologically brutal for Mike. It may have had more impact than originally thought because of when it happened, despite Mike's age.

There is little doubt that MIke's alienation from his people, brought on by such opportunists as Don Satan King, had a material affect on his progress as a fighter. But a certain kind of fighter with a certain mindset sometimes faces a kind of inevitable self loathing crash to earth...George Foreman for example, a man who was willing to trade the years for the maturity and was able to be a champion because of it, and yes a weaker division was helpful lol. Tyson was always a bully and his own worse enemy. The question would be could he have overcome that with the right combination? guess we will never know.

[Willy Wanker]

Perhaps

A couple of things to consider would be that Tyson's style, was not made for longevity. Dempsey who Mike studied had a similar situation... You have to keep the body moving, the head, the shoulders, the legs, there is no magical angles, no use of a feeler, like a jab used for that purpose. It was easy to observe Mike starting to use less movement...what is not so easy to ascertain is why he slowed down.

The Douglas fight was psychologically brutal for Mike. It may have had more impact than originally thought because of when it happened, despite Mike's age.

There is little doubt that MIke's alienation from his people, brought on by such opportunists as Don Satan King, had a material affect on his progress as a fighter. But a certain kind of fighter with a certain mindset sometimes faces a kind of inevitable self loathing crash to earth...George Foreman for example, a man who was willing to trade the years for the maturity and was able to be a champion because of it, and yes a weaker division was helpful lol. Tyson was always a bully and his own worse enemy. The question would be could he have overcome that with the right combination? guess we will never know.

Yeah that is the question and we can only speculate. Tyson never had the mental fortitude that guys like Foreman, Holyfield or Lewis had.

I'd like to believe that with right combination of guidance and not having toxic personalities like King and others, Tyson would have had a few more great years left.

Regardless, you're correct about fighters like Tyson not having a long prime. A lot of people blame prison, but it's likely that Tyson would have already been past it at age 28-29 if he was actively fighting, maybe even sooner.

[billeau2]

Yeah that is the question and we can only speculate. Tyson never had the mental fortitude that guys like Foreman, Holyfield or Lewis had.

I'd like to believe that with right combination of guidance and not having toxic personalities like King and others, Tyson would have had a few more great years left.

Regardless, you're correct about fighters like Tyson not having a long prime. A lot of people blame prison, but it's likely that Tyson would have already been past it at age 28-29 if he was actively fighting, maybe even sooner.

The guy is really an enigma. With the lack of education he had he was a brilliant student of the game. Mike studied tape, could discuss the methods and technical game of the greats, etc. Im glad he is doing well these days. he would probably be a great coach as well. It definitely would have been great to see a few more great years from Iron Mike.

[Mr.MojoRisin']

His prime ended after the Golota fight. He stopped being at his best after the Spinks fight.

His short time being at his best brings him down in terms of legacy. After '88 he lost that x factor that made him 50/50 against atgs.