Was The Lewis Fight Good For Tyson's Legacy?

**Poet682006** · 11-01-2008, 03:25 AM

Originally posted by Jone2ts

I was watching that HBO documentry about the fight and one of the cats was sayin "This fight was like a badge of courge for Mike Tyson cause he took a beating and didn't have to" something to that effect don't go off cause i ****d the quote lol...anyway i was thinking about it and i remember after the fight people were talking about Lewis on ESPN as maybe being better than ALI...I don't believe that but reguardless since Mike never had any real guttsy fights that he was tested in does he deserve credit for making Lewis a guy that the media was discussing as being better than Ali take eight rounds to beat a Mike Tyson that many people called a shell of himself? After Mike charged in in the first and got caught he was just a whipping boy , I mean he tried and even refused to go down like "I ain't dead yet, you gonna have to hit harder" Mike took a horrible beating he was outclassed outsmarted and that killed the auora for sure...I dunno basicly I just wanna know if other people think Mike gained any rep for taking that for that long when he could have easily quit and no one woulda thought any worse of him. what you think?

Bottom line I hated seeing Mike lose that bad but man he took it hardcore and everytime he got caught with staggering blow and combos, Lewis even said in the movie that he couldn't believe some of the shots he was taking... he even tried to fight back late in the fight made me proud to be a fan he was a warrior even in the face of certain defeat and he went out swingin like a lunatic.

In a word: NO. But at the same time I don't think it hurt it either (at least to the fair-minded observer). Tyson was pushing the the end of his string by that point; dangerous yes, but unlikely to beat a legitimate world class fighter. I don't think any fair individual can say that was a display of Tyson's peak abilities.

Poet

**Silencers** · 11-01-2008, 03:27 AM

I don't think it affected his legacy too much either way because he was obviously past his best by that point.

**Jone2ts** · 11-01-2008, 03:58 AM

Im not saying it helped him really just that for a guy who had never been in a war and almost always fell in on himself when tested I was surprised that he took so much and didn't fould or go nuts he took it like a classy fighter and that imprint on him as a boxer made me respect him more for showing class and refusing to be the Mike Tyson cartoon instead he took a beating by a boxer which made my respect for him as a fighter grow somehow...lol

**iron_boy** · 11-01-2008, 05:11 AM

had that fight happend at tysons peak lewis would of been finished. but coz he got locked up he missed out on 4 years of his peak

**Dynamite Kid** · 11-01-2008, 05:18 AM

Originally posted by poet682006

In a word: NO. But at the same time I don't think it hurt it either (at least to the fair-minded observer). Tyson was pushing the the end of his string by that point; dangerous yes, but unlikely to beat a legitimate world class fighter. I don't think any fair individual can say that was a display of Tyson's peak abilities.

Poet

this is true what would have people been saying had Lewis not faced Tyson shot or not

**We want Floyd** · 11-01-2008, 05:39 AM

If y'all look at all of Tyson's major losses(minus the ear-bite fight and Mcbride) Iron Mike took his beating like a man when he fought Buster, Holyfield the first time and Lennox.

I don't think it was ever a stamina issue with Tyson, 'cause if Tyson wasn't conditioned he would've been gone by the 7th round in those three losses. Tyson's problem was more about being mentally weak rather than having stamina issues.

**Benny Leonard** · 11-01-2008, 06:34 AM

How fast people forget.

Tyson vs. Douglas.

Tyson was supposedly out of shape Mentally and Physically for the fight.

He took an ass whooping every round and still didn't take a step back. Tyson even knocked Buster down in the 8th despite being lumped up for 7 rounds prior.

Teddy can say what he wants, but Mike kept fighting until he got his ass KFTO...and even when he was on his back, he desperately tried to pull himself together, grabbed his mouth piece that fell out, and got up on two feet that had little life in them.

That's Mike's best courage fight. When you are not trained, and you realize this during the fight (since overconfidence is blinding), and the opponent you are fighting is a 6'3, 230 pound man that is in shape and highly motivated to kick your ass...that's a nice test, even though he lost the fight. But what do you expect will happen when you come in out of shape Mentally and Physically.
I think the fact that he didn't get KFTO early despite being **** was pretty impressive.
Same goes for the Lewis fight.

He was also tested somewhat with Tucker, Bruno and Rud****. All three stunned him...more so Bruno and Ruddock. He could have given up but he didn't...especially with Ruddock since at that point he had already been KFTO in his career and could have easily mentally collappase...but he didn't.

People like to argue Mike never got up to win, but I would say, 99% of the fighters in this sport don't have the strength Mike has in his legs nor the chin to absorb the punishment.
He never suffered a flash-knockdown for a reason. Except for the b.s. knock-down against Holyfield which was a balance problem; so I don't count that.
When you knocked Tyson down it was after the rest of him was finished.

**Benny Leonard** · 11-01-2008, 06:48 AM

Originally posted by MASGAGOMEXI

If y'all look at all of Tyson's major losses(minus the ear-bite fight and Mcbride) Iron Mike took his beating like a man when he fought Buster, Holyfield the first time and Lennox.

I don't think it was ever a stamina issue with Tyson, 'cause if Tyson wasn't conditioned he would've been gone by the 7th round in those three losses. Tyson's problem was more about being mentally weak rather than having stamina issues.

Actually, from what I read, he wasn't fully conditioned in any of the three losses. With Buster, he had to drop a considerable amount of weight just a couple of weeks prior to the fight...and he was also refusing to run after he left Rooney.

Holyfield first fight: Tyson's trainer said Mike trained for about 2 weeks for Holyfield and that was it. He did train hard for the second fight, but....LOL

Lewis: Mike was 235 pounds, that's 15-20 pounds from his best weight...and was supposedly caught smoking weed on the beach while he was "training" in Hawaii.

Mike once joked in an interview that he fought for "weed money."

He does seem to have some mental issues in this sense.

If you are not Mentally prepared, you cannot be Physically prepared to your max.

Ali showed up out of shape for fights as well...but he got away with it because he was "The Greatest of All Times."

**The Gully Gad** · 11-01-2008, 07:20 AM

It didnt effect his legacy to me because the man was finished by the time he fought Lewis.
LL is a bit of a ***** in my eyes though to drag Tyson into court to prevent tyson from fighting Mercer prior to the lewis fight.
I would of like to have seen that scrap..

Was The Lewis Fight Good For Tyson's Legacy?