Lennox Lewis stated that Mike Tyson would have never been able to beat him. Agree?

[Interloper]

Mike Tyson had 40 pairs of custom-made shoes. He wore a new pair in each professional bout.

[thesenuts]

That is why I said that Tyson has a KOs chance and would eventually get him if they fought enough times but just because of those two guys doing what they did, didn't mean that Tyson would do it 10 out of 10. Not even close in my opinion. If you go by history, like you did, Lewis would come back and would KO Tyson in the rematch then make him cry in the trilogy!

I like Tyson but what he did in the early years was not against fighters that belonged in Lewis's level. Also, most were too scared to even fight him. They lost before they even got into the ring with Tyson. Buster Douglas changed that with his performance against Tyson. It showed that if you are big, have a good jab and power and stand up to Tyson (not fighting scared) then you have a chance.

good post..

[danthepoetman]

Everything has been said on this thread so far and I don't know if I can add anything.
I think Lewis think about himself on the latter part of his carreer, as a dominant Heavyweight king. He forgets his first reign and the way he fought (as a reluctant, stand back technician style) before hooking up with Emmanuel Stewart.
In 93, 94, 95, I'd give the edge to a prime Tyson without any hesitancy. Lennox did not have a good chin. He was even decked by Henry Akinwande... A pucher like Iron Mike would have iced him. But when you think of how incredibly different a fighter Lewis was a few years after taking Stewart as a trainer, you just stay in awe. Stewart was able to take good raw material and make a great champion with it. Think of how frighteningly powerful Lewis had become, how aggressive, fast, and opportunistic, how much more solid and physically strong he had become.
If you imagine both at their prime, which was different eras, I have to agree that the dominant champion Lewis eventually became would have shaken the bully Tyson always was, mentally, and eventually beaten him... But I still think the first 3 or 4 rounds would have been interresting.

[Money_May]

What are Mike Tysons top three victories?

[danthepoetman]

What are Mike Tysons top three victories?

In terms of importance or accomplishment? Or do you mean the 3 most difficult opponents to beat?
The 3 most important carreer wise are probably Berbick, Holmes and Spinks, imo.

Who were the 3 toughest opponents he's beaten at the moment he beat them? That might be a bit more difficult. I'd still fit Holmes in there, even at this age -remember that at this moment, only Spink has outcleavered him in very close decisions. Berbick could also be, once again, although personaly, I tend to think he is retrospectively overrated, but you could put Tony Tucker and Razor Ruddock in there, maybe, just maybe Frank Bruno (although Bonecrusher Smith beat him before Tyson). I tend to think Michael Spinks was just too small from the get go for Tyson.
When you go through the records, one admits that Tyson's opponents were no world beaters, in general...

[miniq]

2002 Mike Tyson isn't Mike Tyson
2001 Mike Tyson isn't Mike Tyson
2000 Mike Tyson isn't Mike Tyson

1985 Cus D'Amato passes

Mike Tyson has the skills and can use his guidance to complete the task of becoming a world champ

3-4 years pass

He's on top 'unbeatable'

But Fame is starting to get to him, he's slumping and Cus ain't there to guide him. Small cracks are appearing in his form he already is starting to lose what would be required to beat top level opposition.

One of the shortest primes of all time.

I Rate pre 1990 Tyson easily in my top 4 heavy's of all time. Shame the rest of his career was sub-par.


Sadly most of the general public don't recognise Mike for what he should be recognised for. They just see him as a 'crazy' boxer who had/has personal problems .

[SOLARflare]

The kids don't have any memory of prime Mike. It's either the Lennox loss or the Buster loss that they always remember.

The Buster loss was Mike's prime. Buster ended it.

[SOLARflare]

Tyson sure does have a ton of apologists for why his reign ended so quickly. He had a 3 year and 3 month reign during his prime and it was ended by the putrid Buster Douglas. For this, he has been glorified and given every excuse in the world for his failures. Meanwhile, Wlad has been undefeated for the past 8 years and 3 months of his prime title reign, and everyone and their mother cries that the division stinks because no one can win a round against him.

Talk about hypocrisy.

[SOLARflare]

I think Lewis think about himself on the latter part of his carreer, as a dominant Heavyweight king.

At the tail end of his career Lennox got flattened by Rahman and chased out of boxing by Vitali. Not quite the stuff of dominance.

[Frank Ducketts]

The Buster loss was Mike's prime. Buster ended it.

Buster didn't do anything, jail did. That would be like saying Rahman and McCall ended Lewis's prime with "one" punch.