How Lewis Broke The Mike Tyson Mystique: Part 1

[MickyHatton]

Mike Tyson was not the same by the time Lewis met him in the ring. Tyson's shelf life was shorter than that of Lewis. He peaked early, in his mid 20's and pretty much leveled out and went down hill when he left his old D'Amato team.

Sorry Lewis, you missed out on a prime Tyson.

I dont think Lewis cares, his legacy is pretty much cemented including the win over Tyson. The records will not show if Tyson was pre prime, prime or past prime.

[TopDawg]

Lennox Lewis owned Mike Tyson, plain and simple.

[Benny Leonard]

I saw that clip in the 'Fallen Champ' documentary (highly recommended bio of Mike) and it was disturbing to think that this young successful man only had a boxing writer to vent his pain with. That is a sad commentary on his friends and those close to him at that time.

I agree with the prime being a relative thing. Some mature young, others late. Personally I think a fighter's prime is ideally when his body is at its best and he has repeated all the moves so many times in the gym they just flow naturally.

Lewis' physical peak cam early but his overall peak came against Morrison and then he hit another peak as an older fighter who could negate the other guy.

It is all relative and you have to know the fighter well to ascertain it. Hopkins is a problem but for me he was physically and mentally at his best around the Tito fight, pity he pissed it all away by taking non-fights in the aftermath of that one.

I see Tyson as a Davey Moore type who peaked early due to his physical gifts and who never truly learned the boxing game in the way a guy like Hopkins does. That is why Hopkins can win beyond his physical prime. I actually give him a very good chance versus Calzaghe, but that is another story.

Ps Is that the Minoan boys boxing painting in your signature? That is a blast from the past! I used it to illustrate an article on Ringside Report a few years back.

It's basically, what Cus D'amato said {and it is something on these lines} "I'm not successful when I make a Champion, but make a Champion that is independent of me"

The plan was probably to get Tyson to 25 with their help and from there Tyson should have been alright since 25 tends to be where you start to get the hang of things as a “Man”, although 25 is still young, but good enough.

Tyson still blew it by getting rid of the one guy that could keep him on track, although maybe there were things going on that we don't know about.
I've always said, if he really felt like he had enough of the b.s. boxing/celeb life provided, he should have retired after Spinks like he threatened. That would have been something.


Oh well. To much to fast with to much lost on the way.

Best resume is still Ali, especially considering he was abe to stay mentally strong for a long time, despite losing valuable "prime" years, rusting away. Ali needed Dundee, but nothing like Tyson did with Rooney. Even in the Spinks post-fight interview with Larry Merch., Tyson is somewhat guided by Rooney and says this is what Kevin told me to do (describing which punches to throw). Tyson was more machine even at that point.


Hopkins definitely learned from his “troubles” and it is a credit to him he straightened himself out. Technically sound fighter.

Lewis is a product of his mother (and his own identity). Later helped by Emmanuel Steward, but it is still Lennox's intelligence that was always key in his victories besides his 6'5, 240+ pound frame and power.



And yes it is the Minoan picture of children boxing.

[TheGreatA]

Not often this happens but I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this. I respect you and your knowledge and nearly always agree with you but not this time. I think his physical peak was real early on in his career 1992-1994 at that time he was at a great fighting weight and very fast and powerful but technically he wasn't the fighter he became a few years later under steward.
Between late 1995-1998 he was quite a bit heavier but still fast and his boxing skills were at their best and he was so much better technically. After that he was too heavy and slow too be considered in his prime, he may have been a little more technical in terms of boxing knowledge and what he had learnt from steward and his experience but in fighting terms his body was not able to carry out what it had done a few years before. His reflexes were slower, his speed had diminshed slightly along with his stamina and he wasn't able to throw combinations like he used to.

If he had the technical ability he had learnt under steward, combined with his size, speed and power he had in 1992 when destroying Ruddock then that would have been a better Lennox Lewis than we ever saw. It would have been the perfect heavyweight.

Yes he was a better pure athlete in the early 90's. I think 1995-1998 was when Lewis was at his best as a boxer with a great combination of size, speed, power and skill.

And when Lennox got older, he might've detoriated physically but his boxing skills got better and better as he got more experienced. He wasn't at his best anymore but very capable.

Lewis didn't become like Tyson who detoriated both physically, mentally and technically as a boxer when he got older.

[Benny Leonard]

I dont think Lewis cares, his legacy is pretty much cemented including the win over Tyson. The records will not show if Tyson was pre prime, prime or past prime.

So you are a stat person, not a info/story/history person?

You don't learn anything from just looking over stats....you need to know the entire story.

Take Napoleon at Waterloo: why did he lose?

[Enayze]

Lewis was almost 37 when he did so, he 9 months older than Tyson, whats your point???

Lewis was 36 years of age and heavyweight champion, and certainly not over the hill or shot.

Tyson on the other hand was shot after his fight with Holyfield, when he returned to fight Botha.

Point is that each fighter is different and when Lewis fought Tyson of 36 at 36 he was a much better and complete fighter at the time, Tyson was way past it. If it had been Tyson from the 90's I doubt the outcome wouldve been the same.

[Mike Tyson77]

The records will not show if Tyson was pre prime, prime or past prime.

With that type of thinking, that means Larry Holmes best win was over a 37 year old Ali.

[THE REED]

Oh well. To much to fast with to much lost on the way.

Thats how i see it... 20 years old? 100 million dollars? most famous and feared person on the planet at the time? no family, trainer and only real family died... he was doomed from the start

[CottoBreaksMen]

Pre Douglas Tyson was a beast... would have Ko'd Lewis. Pressure? Talk to Razor Ruddock about Tyson's response to pressure.

[nortguy]

Some good points throughout this post. A few other points on Tyson:
- young physical prime (was alegedly adult size at 13)
- fighting prime was greatly shortened by loosing/firing team/support group
- lost 'will-to-win' following Cus' passing and unification of belts
- alure based on 'potential.' Tyson was not all hype. Hype is for the masses but back in the day, boxing experts were almost unanimous in praise of Tyson
- Size differential with some of the better heavyweights too much to deal with (comparable to Frazier with Foreman)

Tyson's potential was still apparent during fight with Lewis. In particular, Lewis was very careful not to engage Tyson in the first round . Stewart also aluded to this during the later rounds when he was vehement with Lewis to take care of business rather than get caught. Post-fight, Stewart also praised Tyson's accomplishments.

Nortguy