Tyson's win over Spinks is underrated

[Davros?]

Tyson should get much more credit for his win over Spinks imo, Spinks was the undisputed light heavyweight champ and had excellent wins over both Dwight Muhammad Qawi and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. After moving up to heavyweight he won a close fight over Holmes and won there rematch (i thought he lost the 2nd Holmes fight) and then had an excellent KO win over Cooney as well as a kO win over Euro champ Tangstad. No one had ever knocked out Spinks before and by that point was not the blown up light heavyweight people always say he was a very good heavyweight, and a first round KO for Tyson was a great performance.

[Benny Leonard]

Depends on how you look at it.

I'll take one focus:

I've always said that if Marciano can make a legacy off of fighting past prime Light-Heavyweights...fighters that were 33+, had an incredible amounts of fights; wear and tear; had been in wars; had been knocked out all previously to facing Marciano...And the fact that Marciano did have a tough time in those bouts, what does that say about Tyson who had what, 23 or so, did to an undefeated, future HOF, one of the greatest LH of all time; that actually fought legit HWs over 200 pounds and won while beating the HW Champion...who Tyson blew out in 90 seconds, say?

That's one way of looking at it without furthering break it down for good or worse.

[-Swizzy-]

alot of Tyson's wins are underrated. Maybe Tyson should have avoided some of those fighters for a while so they could have built themselves up and a win would have meant alot more to Tyson's legacy. Tyson cleaned house and collected ALL of the heavyweight belts of that time yet ppl still underrate his accomplishments.

[Benny Leonard]

alot of Tyson's wins are underrated. Maybe Tyson should have avoided some of those fighters for a while so they could have built themselves up and a win would have meant alot more to Tyson's legacy. Tyson cleaned house and collected ALL of the heavyweight builts of that time yet ppl still underrate his accomplishments.

Or maybe he should have kept his life together, stayed motivated, kept with the plan and went on to try and get to 50-0 and then retire undefeated and possibly the Greatest Fighter of All time like Cus thought was possible.

Of course, I do wonder had he stayed on course, with Rooney as his trainer and Cayton as his manger...had he beaten Holyfield, would we be talking about that win as being "overrated" since Holyfield was proven at CW, but some didn't know just how great he truly was until he went up against Bowe.

It would have been interesting to see if Tyson had stayed motivated what type of fighter would he have been from the ages of 25-29. If he had someone like Cus at his side like Torres and Patterson...would things have been different? Maybe.

[TheGreatA]

Spinks was 32, had been inactive for a year and looked like he didn't even come to fight.

It's still considered to be Tyson's most notable win and his "prime" performance (which lasted a minute and a half) so I wouldn't say it was underrated.

[Dynamite Kid]

Spinks had a crazy style

[Benny Leonard]

Spinks was 32, had been inactive for a year and looked like he didn't even come to fight.

It's still considered to be Tyson's most notable win and his "prime" performance (which lasted a minute and a half) so I wouldn't say it was underrated.

Yet, there is this same discussion going on right now about Floyd who is in his 30's and has been inactive for a year...and people want him to fight and think he will be at his best...you disagree?

Spinks didn't come to fight because he never thought he could beat Tyson which is why the fight couldn't be made prior. Butch knew it; Spinks knew it. Spinks called it the biggest mistake of his career taking that fight because he knew he didn't stand a chance in his mind.

[TheGreatA]

Yet, there is this same discussion going on right now about Floyd who is in his 30's and has been inactive for a year...and people want him to fight and think he will be at his best...you disagree?

I don't think he has been at his best since 2005.

People would probably change their minds if he came back to get knocked out in one round.

Spinks didn't come to fight because he never thought he could beat Tyson which is why the fight couldn't be made prior. Butch knew it; Spinks knew it. Spinks called it the biggest mistake of his career taking that fight because he knew he didn't stand a chance in his mind.

Making over 10 million dollars in a minute and 31 seconds must not have been the worst mistake he ever made in his life but that's only my opinion of course.

[Benny Leonard]

I don't think he has been at his best since 2005.

People would probably change their minds if he came back to get knocked out in one round.



In my opinion making over 10 million dollars in a minute and 31 seconds must not have been the worst mistake he ever made in his life but that's only my opinion of course.

True

And,

LOL...so True

However, for the second part: don't you think in a way it tainted his legacy to some fans?
Hell, I talk to some and they didn't even know he was once a LH Champ.
Maybe that is what he meant.

[TheGreatA]

True

And,

LOL...so True

However, for the second part: don't you think in a way it tainted his legacy to some fans?
Hell, I talk to some and they didn't even know he was once a LH Champ.
Maybe that is what he meant.

Yes it did. You can't talk of Michael Spinks without someone bringing up the Tyson fight.

Spinks achieved everything a boxer could ever achieve. He won the gold medal in the Olympics, unified the light heavyweight division, moved up in weight to defeat the recognized heavyweight champion, made a lot of money and retired at the right time.

He may not have been the greatest but he must have been one of the most successful boxers to ever live.