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As my title makes no sense whatsoever, allow me to explain what I mean: Tyson's true worth as a heavyweight has been a mystery for some time now. While from 1986 to, perhaps, the end of the millennium, he'd have always ranged in position from No.1 - No.8 in the world's best heavyweights (of the time) for the last three or four years it's been virtually impossible to tell how good or bad he really is, as he hasn't had a competitive fight since October 2000 (against Golota)
The Lewis fight wasn't competitive because after the first round Lennox destroyed him in a shockingly one-sided win, though there could be a myriad of excuses. But on the opposite side of the coin, wins over Nielsen and Etienne didn't prove or disprove much, either.
This was another problem - with Mike only having one fight a year then our perception of him would have to be constantly adjusted. Just how much had he deteriorated not just because of being out of the ring, but because of age?
The Williams fight didn't matter much - Williams's ranking was higher than McBride's, he was better than his record suggested anyway, and it could be chalked up as an abberation if you so wished.
But to get to the point of this thread (and there is one, eventually)... now that Tyson has lost to Kevin McBride, who was ranked something like 153 or 154 in the world, if Tyson DID come out of retirement, should his ranking drop to reflect this? Should the loss to McBride count as a genuine marker point to where Tyson is at at this stage of his career? And should this basic point extended towards other boxers?
Instead, what happens is that if Ty was still active his ranking would just drift slightly, and McBride ends up being insanely catapulted up the rankings through a single win.
The Lewis fight wasn't competitive because after the first round Lennox destroyed him in a shockingly one-sided win, though there could be a myriad of excuses. But on the opposite side of the coin, wins over Nielsen and Etienne didn't prove or disprove much, either.
This was another problem - with Mike only having one fight a year then our perception of him would have to be constantly adjusted. Just how much had he deteriorated not just because of being out of the ring, but because of age?
The Williams fight didn't matter much - Williams's ranking was higher than McBride's, he was better than his record suggested anyway, and it could be chalked up as an abberation if you so wished.
But to get to the point of this thread (and there is one, eventually)... now that Tyson has lost to Kevin McBride, who was ranked something like 153 or 154 in the world, if Tyson DID come out of retirement, should his ranking drop to reflect this? Should the loss to McBride count as a genuine marker point to where Tyson is at at this stage of his career? And should this basic point extended towards other boxers?
Instead, what happens is that if Ty was still active his ranking would just drift slightly, and McBride ends up being insanely catapulted up the rankings through a single win.