Was Mike Tyson overrated or was he an all-time great Heavyweight?

[Chunk..]

There is always hatred towards this polarizing man Mike Tyson. He defeated some pretty good fighters when he was a champion and he did not discriminate. Trevor Berbick, Tony Tubbs, Tony Tucker, Bonecrusher Smith, Pinklon Thomas, Carl "the Truth" Williams have all tasted defeat at the hands of da' Baddest Man on the Planet!

They were pretty talented boxers for their time. So do people harshly criticize Tyson for his behavior outside the ring (the **** case, his numerous run-ins with the law, his temper and his volatile marriage with Robin Givens) and let it cloud their judgment of Tyson the man inside the ring?

Your turn to talk.

[Chr0nic]

overrated but still an ATG

[the-Q]

I don't think Tyson is overrated. He unified all the belts at the time. When he was focused and motivated, he was unstoppable...

[ACHlLLES]

He's overrated and underrated... He is a mixture of both. I'd say he is a good fighter, but I would never categorize him as a great.

[syphillis]

How can we say overrated about a man who became the youngest heavyweight champ, beating anybody who stood in front of him with brute force? That is up until he started going down.

[alza1988]

Probably could have been alot better if he didn't take fights lightly and put the hard work in in training camps , but still a legend .

[ACHlLLES]

If tyson is an atg, I guess that makes Vitali an ATG for having the highest knock out percent in the heavy-weight division. Even though both Vitali and Tyson were in kind of mediocre division with fat out of shape bums.

[alza1988]

I think being the youngest heavyweight champion ever he probably lost his hunger a bit early
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[Chunk..]

How can we say overrated about a man who became the youngest heavyweight champ, beating anybody who stood in front of him with brute force? That is up until he started going down.

When your making a case about a fighter being an All-time Great their are certain things that have too be. Longevity is probably the most important of them all. One thing about Mike Tyson that people forget as spectacular as his KO's were his prime lasted about 3 years. Now compare that too a fighter like Larry Holmes or Joe Louis who had 20 some-odd title defenses. Evander Holyfield is another example this guy fought Nikolay Valuev at almost 46 almost 50 years old in a fight I thought he won. Lennox Lewis cleaned the Heavyweight division dry from about 1993 to 2003 10 years 15 title defenses. Muhammad Ali stripped of his title undefeated champ comes back after his physical Prime is over and dominates the heavyweights after he spent X amount of years doing nothing when he wasn't allowed too fight. Ali fought and Beat everyone. Now compare that too Tyson's 3 year run Knocking out fighters like Mitch "Blood" Green its no comparison.

The 2nd most important thing is "WHO WHO WHO" Who did you Fight,Who was there too fight,and Who did you beat. Micheal Spinks and Larry Homles are great fighters. However Larry was years past his prime and previously retired. Spinks was on his way out of Boxing but I still think Tyson needs credit for that win. But that's it beating Mike Spinks isn't the only thing you need too be a an All-Time Great. The thing with Mike is that the Heavyweight division was probably as weak as its ever been during the late 1980's even weaker than now. When Mike was tested with the best of his era Evander and Lennox he was out-classed.

Another thing I like too point out is that after his loss too Buster he never became the "Real" Heavyweight Champion again. Of course Don King cherry picked his typical Tomato Can paper Champions for Scarp Belts but never the "Real" Championship. Mike never showed that ability too become the Top Dog again and that's why I think he was more great management than great fighter. Where the long title reign ? Where is the ability too become the top dog again ? Where is the ability too remain competitive years after your Prime ? I get the feeling people are letting 1 round KO's cloud their vision.

[Silencers]

Overrated, one of the most overrated fighters in the history of the sport.