can someone tell me how mike Tyson

[Sam Donald]

good question....

he had good management... and spain has poor management

[Khalid X]

You can weight whatever you want as long as you don't go over the limit.

Classic example is Ray Robinson only weight 147 and fighting for the middleweight crown

Also we have a modern day example of Manny Pacquaio only weighing 144 and fighting for a JMW title.


Remember, those or limits not minimums for those weight classes.

[FerFal'sStepDad]

Iron Mike was a beast with Cus and Rooney. A guy who with short stature and reach, was able to accomplish some good wins. Yea, he lost to Holyfield (ROIDS) and a few others like Lewis after his decline but I think a peak Tyson would have taken Lennox Lewis out. Loved his wars with Ruddock and the way he dismantled Bruno twice as well. Berbick rolling around like a fool... Tyson was the man back in the days. A fighter who brought excitement to game. Those of us who were fans back then can recall the energy when Tyson fought.

Certainly NOT a scrub fighter like some people get silly and try to say.

[soul_survivor]

Tyson wasn't hyped, in the 80s he was the most dangerous hw the world had ever seen. He unified every belt, ok the division was weak the time but you can't do that without fighting some at least half decent guys. Heck he beat the certified HOFer Spinks, battered Holmes, beat good champions. He then went onto beat guys like Ruddock and Golota. Yes he failed when he came up against other greats in Lewis and Holyfield but by the Lewis fight he was a shadow of his former self.

[Weltschmerz]

Well one could argue Tyson and the people around him ruined what could have turned out GOAT material.

[jackson8]

was able to fight ricky spain in heavy weight division, Tyson weighing 217lbs

Ricky weight was 184. Just saw it on espn classics

The Klitschko's defend their belts against guys this size. But I don't blame the Klitschko brothers, there have been no good heavyweights around to fight since they won the titles.

[B-Bomber]

True, Tyson fought a lot of "tomato cans" as a young fighter,

but it's also true that in 1985 he fought 15 times, 12 times in 1986, including a word title fight.

I can agree with those who don't consider Tyson a top 10 ATG at HW, in my opinion he's roughly between the 8th and 15th place.

That said, at least he was fighting "tomato cans" at 19/20 years of age.

W. Klitschko fought Wach and Pianeta in completely different circumnstances, Vitali defended his title against Sosnowski.

Tyson's opposition can and should be questioned, but in my opinion it's neither as horrible as some seem to believe, nor as amazing as some others think.

[Check_hooks]

You can't take anything away from young prime Mike Tyson. After Cus D'Amato died he fell into the wrong crowd. Tyson said that Cus was the only father figure in his life. He was in his early 20's, top of the boxing world, had ton's of money and all of this made him a target for people who didn't care about him but wanted some of his money.

Talent wise he was great but would've always lost to Ali, Lewis, and both Klits due to styles and stamina issues

[B-Bomber]

You can't take anything away from young prime Mike Tyson. After Cus D'Amato died he fell into the wrong crowd. Tyson said that Cus was the only father figure in his life. He was in his early 20's, top of the boxing world, had ton's of money and all of this made him a target for people who didn't care about him but wanted some of his money.

Talent wise he was great but would've always lost to Ali, Lewis, and both Klits due to styles and stamina issues

While I agree with the first part of your post, I disagree with the closing sentence.

Style-wise a young Tyson could have been a nightmare for outside fighters working behind their jab like W. Klitschko and Lewis.

Both fighters, W. Klitschko in particular, have been dropped by boxers with much less speed and accuracy than Tyson. Tyson's peeakaboo's style was designed to neutralize his opponent's jab and keep the fight at mid range.
I think a prime Tyson would K.O. Wladimir, while Lewis has much better chances if he survives the first few rounds.

Ali is Ali, arguably the best HW to ever lace'em up.

If I had to pick a guy who's likely to beat a prime Tyson 10 times out of 10 though I'd go with Foreman, and probably S. Liston.

[The Surgeon]

Tyson fought a lot of cans though, watch his early fights dude was built up media creation and a cowardly lion he will be the first to tell you he tried to bully guys but cowered when they fought back and show no fear.

No he wouldn't. Bullying a guy in the ring is a good thing, he admits he was a bully in there. But i cant see him saying he cowered when they fought back....

Tyson at his best when he craved greatness and immortality was Brilliant, the most ferocious fighter the division has seen since Dempsey. A Brilliant fighter who dominated his division when at his peak.