Lennox's victory over Tyson: Proof of greatness?

[MANGLER]

I like the Legendary Nights thing about this fight. It's summed up well at the end when they're talkin about Lewis' era not even bein the Lewis era, but the "after Tyson went south era". No disrespect to Lennox tho cuz he was a beast and didn't need Tyson to prove his greatness. But that win just showed that in a fight between 2 guys in their mid 30s he wasn't as far gone as Mike was.

[abadger]

Tyson is one of the most overrated fighters in history. He got dominated by Holyfield twice, ktfo by buster douglas, lewis, williams, MCBRIDE!, jesus..

who did mike beat? hmmm old men, okay a bit melodramatic, but i really dont know which fighters can be considered great on his resume?

Lewis and Holyfield were the two best fighters he fought, he he lost to both of them. Lewis was no spring chicken when they fought either.

Granted, he had speed, power, and was a top notch finisher, but he was too metally weak and was very much a front runner, when the chips were down, so was tyson.

I agree with this up to a point. No doubt Mike had talent but his reputation rests almost totally on the impact he made in a relatively short period of time at the beginning of career, where he looked unstoppable, but perhaps a lot of his opponents weren't actually the top class heavyweights we sometimes think.

Its also true he has some incredible losses, Buster Douglas in particular since that was the one that fouled things up for him. You can't just look past a fighters losses as though they never happened.

Most praise of Tyson centres around what people think he could have been, rather than what he actually was.

[Thread Stealer]

Tyson is one of the most overrated fighters in history. He got dominated by Holyfield twice, ktfo by buster douglas, lewis, williams, MCBRIDE!, jesus..

who did mike beat? hmmm old men, okay a bit melodramatic, but i really dont know which fighters can be considered great on his resume?

Lewis and Holyfield were the two best fighters he fought, he he lost to both of them. Lewis was no spring chicken when they fought either.

Granted, he had speed, power, and was a top notch finisher, but he was too metally weak and was very much a front runner, when the chips were down, so was tyson.

Everyone is both overrated and underrated, Tyson being perhaps the prime example, but saying "what great fighter did he beat?" is a pretty weak (and overused) argument, especially among heavyweights.

You can easily use this for a lot of HW champs who are considered greats.

Jack Dempsey's best opponent? Fred Fulton? Luis Firpo?

Larry Holmes? Aging Ken Norton? Gerry Cooney? Green Tim Witherspoon? Earnie Shavers? Mike Weaver?

Sonny Liston's best win was Floyd Patterson, a borderline top 15 HW all-time.

Lennox Lewis- 37 year old Evander Holyfield? Shot Mike Tyson? Razor Ruddock? Andrew Golota?

The list goes on.

[Cereal]

Did his victory over Tyson is a proof of greatness?

Poor poll. Where is the 'was Lennox great but was the the formerly all time great Tyson no match for him'? poll?

[Silencers]

Tyson wasn't the same fighter, so no.

[Jim Jeffries]

Holyfield beat a much, much younger version of Tyson, so no.

Lennox is still top 10 ATG heavyweight though.

[beez721]

Did his victory over Tyson is a proof of greatness?

he got way too much credit for that win. tyson was damaged goods and came in horrible shape for that fight and was also rusty. still,,,lewis was a great fighter beating everyone he faced although he has no greats on his resume that were in there prime. its a shame bowe ducked him or that would have elevated him even more had he knocked a prime bowe out which he likely would have

[Mike Tyson77]

1987 Tyson would have KO'd Lewis in 1 round.

[Mike Tyson77]

Everyone is both overrated and underrated, Tyson being perhaps the prime example, but saying "what great fighter did he beat?" is a pretty weak (and overused) argument, especially among heavyweights.

You can easily use this for a lot of HW champs who are considered greats.

Jack Dempsey's best opponent? Fred Fulton? Luis Firpo?

Larry Holmes? Aging Ken Norton? Gerry Cooney? Green Tim Witherspoon? Earnie Shavers? Mike Weaver?

Sonny Liston's best win was Floyd Patterson, a borderline top 15 HW all-time.

Lennox Lewis- 37 year old Evander Holyfield? Shot Mike Tyson? Razor Ruddock? Andrew Golota?

The list goes on.

Another great post by TS, Mike Tyson is indeed GREAT.

[duffgun]

Tyson was way past his best.