Mike Tyson: A Greater Quitter Than Hitter

[tommyhearns804]

One more thing these Tyson fan boys like to use this.Well if Cus didn't die Tyson would of never lost.Lol did Cus have anything to do with Tysons chin?Cus hand picked fighters who he knew Tyson could beat just like Cus did Patterson.Tyson would of lost period no matter who trained him.It is like saying Foreman would of never.Well actually if Foreman had trainers to show him how to get his weight into his punches and get snap into his punches he would of never lost.

[kapersky]

yeah right well say whatever you want, nobody at age 16-20 can acomplished so much as tyson. i never seen any 20years old man look like tyson.

[AIR_KENG]

he clearly said it after the fight with mcbride and i quote: "I am done. I am not the animal anymore. I'm just here to pay bills." That shows you that he is not interested in boxing for glory, he's in it to live... Nothing to disrespect...

[rocco1252]

I agree with the Cus statement I have believed that since he passed away and Tyson went down hill from that point. If Cus had still been around the problems he had in life would never even had occured, he found security in Cus as well as a shoulder to cry on which he did after that he was the most poorly managed fighter of all time, he had no more direction and noone cared about him since Cus and thats why he adopted him, he loved him and showed it in everything he did. Tyson was great but after the death of Cus it was all done.

[Dynamite76]

I read this article and am so frustrated, it hurts. Let me address (and refute) the claims in the article, point by point:

1) "Funny, last week when asked about what he thought of McBride, Tyson said "He doesn't look like he punches hard," after previously referring to him as a "Tomato can." What's that say about Mike Tyson throwing in the towel and sitting on his stool to end his fight against him. It says exactly what Tyson has always been, a front running bully who backed down every time he was challenged and met with resistance."

*** Actually it says that Tyson is over-the-hill and cannot compete at the top or even journeyman level of the division anymore. It doesn't define who he was as a fighter. He certainly did not "back down every time he was challenged and met with resistance." It is true that in virtually every fight prior to his incarceration, where he lost his awesome form, Tyson did not need to show intestinal fortitude. But there were a few fights in which opponents put up resistance, and he responded. In one of his early fights, against James "Quick" Tillis, Tyson was confronted with a slick boxer who gave him fits at times. Tyson didn't throw in the towel, but was patient and pounded his way to a unanimous decision. Against Buster Douglas, Tyson never quit, but took his beating like a man, always looking for an opening to catch Buster and turn the tide (which he did, in the 8th round). Buster beat the (some say long) count, and Tyson lost like a true champion, on the canvas. After an easy tuneup, he fought two rugged fights against Razor Ruddock, in which Ruddock met Tyson's bombs with his own. Tyson did not quit, but pounded out victories on both occasions.

2) "In reality Tyson adds another piece of evidence showing why it was a pipe-dream to ever mention him as one of the all-time great heavyweight champs."

Please explain what the evidence is. That he lost to a lesser caliber fighter than what he was at his best? Excuse me, but Muhammad Ali lost to Trevor Berbick at the end of his career, George Foreman lost to Shannon Briggs, Joe Frazier drew with a guy named Jumbo Cummings, Sonny Liston lost to Leotis Martin, and your favorite, Evander Holyfield, recently lost to Larry Donald.

3) "Today Tyson is more known for his loses than his wins. Name one other great that can be said about."

How about Joe Frazier (losses to Muhammad Ali and George Foreman), Ken Norton (losses to Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes), Michael Spinks (loss to Mike Tyson), and Thomas Hearns (losses to Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard) to name a few?

4) "Yet he lost in his prime by knockout to a fighter who never beat a top heavyweight before or after he knocked Tyson out."

Makes you wonder whether this happened because Tyson was not at his best that night as he certainly had beaten better fighters than Douglas before that night.

5) "However, knockouts against second tier journeymen conned a lot of boxing fans, writers, historians and Television executives. This is mainly due to the fact that those who watching boxing from a far are scared and fearful of hard punchers."

At the time (and today), no one in their right mind would consider Jose Ribalta, Trevor Berbick, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tucker, Mitch Green, Tyrell Biggs, Carl "the Truth" Williams, Larry Holmes (who was only 38, and well after his fight with Tyson, achieved some success and never got beaten the way he did by Tyson), Michael Spinks, Tony Tubbs, Razor Ruddock, Andrew Golota, and Frank Bruno "second tier journeyman." These guys, like it or not, were at the top of the game, and at least Thomas, Tucker, Ribalta, Biggs, Holmes, Spinks, Tubbs, Ruddock, Green, and Smith weren't guys who were scared of getting hit. Tyson made them scared in the ring.

6)"As hard as this may be for some to accept, Tyson's lack of toughness, a by product of a great fighter, is what identifies him most as a fighter. Yes, more than his power and hand speed. History lesson, no fighter knocks out every opponent. If you're a fighter dependent on your punch, you better have something to fallback on when confronted by that opponent you can't knockout. Tyson didn't last night just like he never had it on any other night he needed it."

It says something about Tyson, doesn't it, that he never NEEDED to fall back on anything until after coming back from a three-year jail term. He fought his hard out on a bad night against Douglas and almost won, and fought a tougher fighter in Ruddock, and dug deep to win. What's wrong with you?

7) "How about Tyson having the type toughness that Ali and Frazier showed in Manila. The pounding Foreman took from Holyfield at age 42. Or Willard from Dempsey, Marciano from Walcott in their first fight. Here's one, Joe Frazier got up six times against George Foreman before the fight was stopped. How many times does Tyson get up, that's if he shows up for the fight."

See Tyson's fights against Douglas, Holyfield I, and Lennox Lewis. If that wasn't heart that Tyson showed, what was it? Against Williams, he fought with a serious injury until dropped. In this fight against McBride, he was prepared to get pounded in the head until his trainer wisely stopped it. Look at Ali today -- I know you hate Tyson, but he doesn't deserve that fate. No boxer does.

Tyson didn't make Mitch Green scared.Politics did, and that why you saw the fight you did.

[KidBlackie]

The article was a cheap shot against an aging, struggling fighter who's obviously being propped up for paydays only. Certainly Tyson has to accept responsibility for his irresponsible actions in and out of the ring, but the man is mentally ill and manipulated by larger forces, so don't count on it.

It's really interesting though to see the delusions of both his fans and detractors. Reality seems to be as illusive for them as it is for Tyson.