Mike Tyson in his Prime was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time

[Jedi Vader]

Tyson does NOT have an ATG career. Its just that simple.

He had all the tools, all the talent, and probably the most elite training of any HW ever under Cus D'amato.

Had Cus lived, Tyson would have probably been the greatest HW ever. He is certainly the most exciting, the most dynamic and the most infamous HW since Ali.

He was the perfect blend of power, agility, attitude and the sweet science. He was machine.

Tyson was definitely the most capable HW. He had the most scientific style using notation to represent punching angles, incredible bobbing and weaving ability to slip jabs and power punches, and peek-a-boo style that was fantastic.

Did he have an ATG career?

Absolutely not. And this is coming from one of his biggest fans. He easily could have had his life not fallen apart when Cus died. One thing happened to him after the next after that point. From signing with Don King to marrying Robin Givens, his life would NEVER be the same. And neither would his career. Buster Douglas, Desiree Washington and a host of other incidents would plague his life.

He would not find peace in life until well after he would retire .. and even then he lost all of his money and then he lost a child.

Iron Mike was a phenom no question, but like Ike Ibeabuchi, talent and skill aren't everything. Sometimes its simply discipline that these boxers lack that does them in.

Love the guy and wish he did more, but just because I admired the persona and the boxer doesn't mean I will lie for his legacy.

In his prime he could go the distance with ANY HW in history. Only in this era of 6'7 giants could a HW prove to be too much. Still, a prime Iron Mike could dip and dab passed an opponent's jab, get inside and throw hooks at their hide!

A favorite of mine. I would put Iron Mike Tyson in the category with Charley Burley:

A G.O.A.T. talent who never quite had a G.O.A.T. career, but is undeniably one of the best to ever do it.

I totally agree with the bolded part. Tyson felt invincible under Cus.

[edgarg]

So whenever they mention the, "Vitali took the fight on just 10 days notice" the Klitlickers always conveniently forget to mention that he was already scheduled to be on the undercard of the Lewis fight.

He was fighting a smaller guy called Cedric Boswell or Bostic.Completely different training.

I just recalled that Klitschko was the mandatory challenger for Lewis for about a year, and had actually taken Lewis to court to try to force him to fight. I don't recall the outcome. Lewis held up the promoters for extra millions to take on Klitschko, and at that very late date, they had to agree. So he came out of it well.....more or less!

[bojangles1987]

Who could have stopped him in his prime? Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Foreman, Louis, Holyfield, you know the the heavyweights that are better.

[mathed]

Tyson was a straight monster.....the guy was so good he had opponents pissing themselves walking to the ring. When he was with Cus,he was unbeatable but after the old man passed, Mike had nothing. He had no father, Cus assumed that role for him and he respected him greatly for that. Once that single clasp to sanity was gone, so was Iron Mike's career.

[Superflo777]

Tyson was a straight monster.....the guy was so good he had opponents pissing themselves walking to the ring. When he was with Cus,he was unbeatable but after the old man passed, Mike had nothing. He had no father, Cus assumed that role for him and he respected him greatly for that. Once that single clasp to sanity was gone, so was Iron Mike's career.

I wouldn't say it was the end of his career, since he still became undisputed champion and defended the titles 9 times after Cus died, but it was the beginning of the end.

[NoLove]

GIFSoup

[hugh grant]

Tyson could be expected to beat any heavyweight in boxing history, so for that alone he should be considered one of the greatest heavyweights ever. Resume is subjective and is not a science, therefore Tyson deserves to be up there. Top 10 is not a problem for me at all.

[Everywhere]

Tyson could be expected to beat any heavyweight in boxing history, so for that alone he should be considered one of the greatest heavyweights ever. Resume is subjective and is not a science, therefore Tyson deserves to be up there. Top 10 is not a problem for me at all.

We can't go on "could've" really though...because then you have to start including guys like Ike Ibeabuchi in the formula and it gets all messed up...You can apply it to things like Bernard Hopkins being blacklisted by the major promotional companies for a decade...Your favorite fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. for taking vacations...

[SirTomJones]

I like watching Tyson but he is not in the top 15 heavyweights of all times.

[UglyPug]

it's all speculative on what "tyson could have done". . . you can't base a career on such hypothetical wins. . . the fact of the matter is he got THUMPED by a mediocre heavyweight in buster douglas. . . absolutely DESTROYED. . . DAMN I can hear the punches now that laid his ass out. . . then my fellow southern gentleman holyfield turned him into his personal little bytch. . . not once, BUT TWO TIMES!!!