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They are:
Style – How does he box?
Punching Power – Is he swatting flies or cracking jaws?
Speed – Can you see his punches coming or do they sneak up on you?
Chin - Can the boxer take a pounding and stand his ground?
Defense – Is he a human punching bag or is he hard to hit?
Heart – Does he have the desire to peel his sweaty carcass off the canvas and return to battle?
Psychology – Can he get inside his opponent's head and nullify his training?
Key Losses – Who did the boxer lose to and why?
Stamina/Endurance – Is he grabbing his knees in the eighth round?
style-Liston. the classic swarmer vs slugger. Not to mention tyson had trouble with jabbers as seen by Douglas.
punching power-this is a no brainer. liston was of the hardest punchers off all time. whole tyson's punching power was something to watch, it just wasn't in the same class as liston.
speed- Tyson. For years Mike Tyson’s hand speed has been overlooked. He packed such lethal punches that few people noticed his speed. In his documentary, Mike Tyson states that he studied quick exciting boxers and he modeled his style after them.
Watch a few clips of Tyson throwing punches and you’ll see what I mean. Tyson would whip out five or six hooks and uppercuts in the blink of an eye. It was extremely rare to see a boxer beat Mike Tyson to the punch.
Chin-Liston. Only down twice in his career and one of them was a dive. Mike Tyson’s armor came with a major *****. His chin was relatively nonexistent. It was never really tested, but it failed on those rare occasions that he needed it.
His chin was put to the test in bouts with Lennox Lewis (Tyson was KO’d), Evander Holyfield (Tyson lost on a TKO in which he admits to blacking out) and Buster Douglas (Tyson’s most infamous KO loss). Their really is no comparison in this.
Defense. Tyson. Watch some clips and you'll see what i mean. While Liston's defense was underrated, it wasn't on that level.
Heart-Liston. Liston took Cleveland Williams best shots and wasn't discouraged. Not to mention Williams also broke his nose. He came back to win. Liston also fought 6 rounds with a broken jaw
Mike Tyson never displayed great heart. He fought back to win against Razor Ruddock but that was basically it. After taking punishment, he was visibly demoralized in bouts with the “Irish Champion” Kevin McBride, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Tyson could dominate a fight, but he didn’t possess the will to dig deep and deliver punishment when the chips were stacked against him.
Psychology. Liston
In his documentary, Tyson flat out says the following, “I walk around the ring and never take my eyes off my opponent. I’m looking for a sign of his fear. He’ll fight hard for two or three rounds but I KNOW I broke his spirit”.
Tyson relied on fear, but he struggled openly when boxers did not fear him.
There was another major ***** in Mike Tyson’s psychological armor. His confidence was directly tied to Cus D’amato. D’amato built up Tyson’s confidence in himself and Tyson lost a good chunk of that when D’amato died.
You can’t escape a good debate about Mike Tyson without hearing, “if Cus D’amato didn’t die.” Nobody can deny Cus’ standing as a great trainer. However, Tyson’s admitted reliance on D’amato is a definite weak point. Liston avenged one of his losses. something tyson never did. Williams stood up to Liston and he was bombed out. Tyson even openly stated he would be intimidated by Liston and would lose to him. Liston wasn't intimidated by anyone.
Key Losses- Liston
Liston only had 1 legit loss since both his fights with Ali were fixed, and the martin ko was when he was a very old man. And his only legit loss was avenged twice. He was laughing and Marshall took this oppurtinity to punch him in the mouth, breaking his jaw in the process. Tyson only had 3 legit losses, the other 2 losses happened when he was ultra washed up and had no buisness being in the ring.
Buster Douglas was 6’3” with an 83” reach that gave Tyson major trouble. Douglas also troubled Tyson with his jab.
Lennox Lewis was 6’5” with an 84” reach that dominated Mike Tyson.
Evander Holyfield was 6’2” with a 78” reach that kept Tyson at bay.
Liston was also taller than Mike and had an 84 inch reach. Jabs troubled Tyson. Also none of those 3 men had jabs on the same league as Liston.
Stamina-Liston. Liston went the distance when he seldom needed to. Liston seemed to have endless energy against Whitehurt throwing as many punches as Marciano.
Tyson was a power fighter who only had 18 fights (32 percent) go past the fourth round. Tyson fans will point to his devastating punching power as the main driver behind this statistic. In his documentary, Mike Tyson provides contradictory information that no fan can deny.
Tyson says, “I had a lung problem, that’s why my fights didn’t last long”.
48 or 85 percent of Ali’s fights went past the fourth round with the majority of them going the distance.
Tyson’s power and suspect lungs kept him out of long fights, but his lack of endurance was apparent in fights that went long. Tyson lost six fights; five of those losses came after the fourth round.
Style – How does he box?
Punching Power – Is he swatting flies or cracking jaws?
Speed – Can you see his punches coming or do they sneak up on you?
Chin - Can the boxer take a pounding and stand his ground?
Defense – Is he a human punching bag or is he hard to hit?
Heart – Does he have the desire to peel his sweaty carcass off the canvas and return to battle?
Psychology – Can he get inside his opponent's head and nullify his training?
Key Losses – Who did the boxer lose to and why?
Stamina/Endurance – Is he grabbing his knees in the eighth round?
style-Liston. the classic swarmer vs slugger. Not to mention tyson had trouble with jabbers as seen by Douglas.
punching power-this is a no brainer. liston was of the hardest punchers off all time. whole tyson's punching power was something to watch, it just wasn't in the same class as liston.
speed- Tyson. For years Mike Tyson’s hand speed has been overlooked. He packed such lethal punches that few people noticed his speed. In his documentary, Mike Tyson states that he studied quick exciting boxers and he modeled his style after them.
Watch a few clips of Tyson throwing punches and you’ll see what I mean. Tyson would whip out five or six hooks and uppercuts in the blink of an eye. It was extremely rare to see a boxer beat Mike Tyson to the punch.
Chin-Liston. Only down twice in his career and one of them was a dive. Mike Tyson’s armor came with a major *****. His chin was relatively nonexistent. It was never really tested, but it failed on those rare occasions that he needed it.
His chin was put to the test in bouts with Lennox Lewis (Tyson was KO’d), Evander Holyfield (Tyson lost on a TKO in which he admits to blacking out) and Buster Douglas (Tyson’s most infamous KO loss). Their really is no comparison in this.
Defense. Tyson. Watch some clips and you'll see what i mean. While Liston's defense was underrated, it wasn't on that level.
Heart-Liston. Liston took Cleveland Williams best shots and wasn't discouraged. Not to mention Williams also broke his nose. He came back to win. Liston also fought 6 rounds with a broken jaw
Mike Tyson never displayed great heart. He fought back to win against Razor Ruddock but that was basically it. After taking punishment, he was visibly demoralized in bouts with the “Irish Champion” Kevin McBride, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Tyson could dominate a fight, but he didn’t possess the will to dig deep and deliver punishment when the chips were stacked against him.
Psychology. Liston
In his documentary, Tyson flat out says the following, “I walk around the ring and never take my eyes off my opponent. I’m looking for a sign of his fear. He’ll fight hard for two or three rounds but I KNOW I broke his spirit”.
Tyson relied on fear, but he struggled openly when boxers did not fear him.
There was another major ***** in Mike Tyson’s psychological armor. His confidence was directly tied to Cus D’amato. D’amato built up Tyson’s confidence in himself and Tyson lost a good chunk of that when D’amato died.
You can’t escape a good debate about Mike Tyson without hearing, “if Cus D’amato didn’t die.” Nobody can deny Cus’ standing as a great trainer. However, Tyson’s admitted reliance on D’amato is a definite weak point. Liston avenged one of his losses. something tyson never did. Williams stood up to Liston and he was bombed out. Tyson even openly stated he would be intimidated by Liston and would lose to him. Liston wasn't intimidated by anyone.
Key Losses- Liston
Liston only had 1 legit loss since both his fights with Ali were fixed, and the martin ko was when he was a very old man. And his only legit loss was avenged twice. He was laughing and Marshall took this oppurtinity to punch him in the mouth, breaking his jaw in the process. Tyson only had 3 legit losses, the other 2 losses happened when he was ultra washed up and had no buisness being in the ring.
Buster Douglas was 6’3” with an 83” reach that gave Tyson major trouble. Douglas also troubled Tyson with his jab.
Lennox Lewis was 6’5” with an 84” reach that dominated Mike Tyson.
Evander Holyfield was 6’2” with a 78” reach that kept Tyson at bay.
Liston was also taller than Mike and had an 84 inch reach. Jabs troubled Tyson. Also none of those 3 men had jabs on the same league as Liston.
Stamina-Liston. Liston went the distance when he seldom needed to. Liston seemed to have endless energy against Whitehurt throwing as many punches as Marciano.
Tyson was a power fighter who only had 18 fights (32 percent) go past the fourth round. Tyson fans will point to his devastating punching power as the main driver behind this statistic. In his documentary, Mike Tyson provides contradictory information that no fan can deny.
Tyson says, “I had a lung problem, that’s why my fights didn’t last long”.
48 or 85 percent of Ali’s fights went past the fourth round with the majority of them going the distance.
Tyson’s power and suspect lungs kept him out of long fights, but his lack of endurance was apparent in fights that went long. Tyson lost six fights; five of those losses came after the fourth round.
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