Is Mike Tyson one of the most overrated fighters ever?

[OCPancho]

No.
Jake LaMotta is .

[BLASTER1]

Heart cannot be taught. Tyson never had heart, he had bully's courage. Pre Cus, post Cus, before prison, after prison......ALL excuses. Tyson NEVER had heart, NEVER, There's a reason he didn't make the Olympic team. Give Tyson a fboxer who has already defeated himself and Tyson's your boy. Put him in with a confident "Fighter" and Tyson goes. Great puncher???? Really??? Had Ferguson been a real heavyweight he would have stopped Tyson. Green, Tillis, Tucker, Smith ALL survived Tyson's so called power. Douglas, Williams & McBride ALL lasted long enough to KO Tyson. Lennox Lewis KO'd by (2) non greats survived to KO Tyson & ditto for a battle worn Holyfield.

Heart can be taught.
Rocky Balboa baby

[The plunger man]

Not during 1985 to 1989 I'd say he beats any heavyweight in History . Tyson had a weak mind once Cus died and Rooney out as trainer he was never the same no discipline

No he was not from 1985 to 1989 most of his wins were gainst either shot old fighters or tomatoe cans.....spinks was just to small to hang in there.....tyson was overated

[DreamFighter]

was elite at 21, undisputed, that fact alone is frighteningly good... but he didnt move forward after that. Could have been a top three ATG if he had, but "if" is no good.

imagine if he'd gone to age 35 as champ, he'd be ATG number 2 behind Louis or Ali.
But imagine doesnt count.

[Armchairhero]

You don't get the point. Nobody is saying that Tyson is a bad fighter or that he never had the potential. I'm saying that obsession with Tyson from casuals is getting on nerves sometimes. They say he's the BEST fighter EVER after Ali.

Some casual fan got emotional when I've told him Tyson's resume isn't all that. I've told him Lennox Lewis, Holyfield has better resumes, and there's a lot of other fighters from other divisions with a far superior resumes....and he was like What you've been smoking, with the expression like I've said some dumbest **** he ever heard

Tyson was a beast in his early years, only boxing geeks think otherwise. Almost every single boxer interviewed rates Tyson as almost untouchable at that period.

[The plunger man]

muhammad ali
Joe louis
Lennox lewis
Larry holmes
Rocky marciano
Jack johnson
Wlad klitchcko
Jack dempsey
Evander holyfield
George foreman......You can then place mike tysons name anywhere below those names not higher ..he dont break the top 10 of all time so yes he is overated if people try and mention in the same breath as Ali , Louis or Lewis

[Earl-Hickey]

HE was an excellent fighter at his peak, there's no doubt about it.

But a lot of casuals act like he was literally invincible and nobody in history could ever live with a prime tyson

that's nonsense.

[Earl-Hickey]

was elite at 21, undisputed, that fact alone is frighteningly good... but he didnt move forward after that. Could have been a top three ATG if he had, but "if" is no good.

imagine if he'd gone to age 35 as champ, he'd be ATG number 2 behind Louis or Ali.
But imagine doesnt count.

if he'd gone to 35 as dominant as he was at 21 for 14 years straight he'd be the GOAT, seriously.

[DreamFighter]

if he'd gone to 35 as dominant as he was at 21 for 14 years straight he'd be the GOAT, seriously.

yuh i was kinda figuring in a few ups and downs and returns, but true entirely.

One big question is how he would have developed and responded to the slow decline of physical attributes in his 30s. I imagine he would have worked on becoming dirtier and cagier, with a lot more holding, and saving energy for the big ko (which is not far off what he became very late in his career).

Or he might have worked out something completely different.

[Madison Boxing]

One of my favourites but overrated for sure. As with every fighter, once they started losing they were 'past prime'.