Is Mike Tyson one of the most overrated fighters ever?

[The plunger man]

Clay started pro at 190 lbs Hope this helps as a cruiser

as I said gumbo heavyweights were smaller back in the 40,50,60 .....we’re talking about Michael spinks who was a blown up light heavyweight and got steam rolled by Mike’s Tyson who was 215 naturally....don’t try and change the goal posts gumbo.
The post was about spinks getting blown away by Tyson and a newbie dimwit cannot even remember his own post........beam me up gumbo

[Madison Boxing]

yeah, i like him and he was a world level fighter (nowhere near ATG) but his resume is pretty thin. not really buying that bull**** that he was only in his prime in his early 20's. people make up prime as they go along and use that as an excuse for every loss. basically he got found out in the buster douglas fight, fear factor went and more fighters fancied the job against him.

[MONGOOSE66]

Don't get me wrong, I love Tyson, he's the face of boxing right now for me, a charismatic person.

I appreciate that he's the fighter who made pro boxing popular among youth in Russia in 90's (this is where I'm from). People wouldn't care that much about the sport over here if it wasn't for him

Some dog owners name their pit bulls after Tyson. I had a friend and he's called Tyson because he loves ****ing people up. Tyson has that kind of fame that went over American borders. Even Pacquiao and Mayweather never had that kind of international fame when you think about it. When you ask a casual person about some boxers, Tyson is always the second name that gets mentioned after Ali. I don't know how it is in America, but that's how it is over here. Ali, Tyson, maybe Roy Jones and that's it, they barely know any other names

And I get that he was famous not because of his resume but because of the manner how he was winning fights. Definitely one of the most entertaining fighters of all time. But when you look at his resume you start thinking that all this hype isn't justified. Holyfield and Lewis were much better and they were coming from the same generation of heavyweights. I made this thread because I got tired arguing with casuals when I say that Tyson is not even top 5 heavyweight of all time

Man, you can even make an argument for Golovkin's resume being better and I'm not hating on Tyson, I have a lot of respect for him

GGG didn’t routinely fight men 20 pounds more than him. I like Tyson too. The very unique thing about him over any other heavyweight is he peaked at about 23. I believe he would of whipped 99% of heavyweights in his prime. I only say 99% cause sheeit happens but I believe he could rematch and win. Some men are men in their teens. Some men aren’t men till their 30.

[BustedKnuckles]

"Is Mike Tyson one of the most overrated fighters ever?"

No, he was boss level for a minute, but he was probably one of the most self-destructive.

[4truth]

By my estimates, prime Mike Tyson is underrated by most. IMO, it’s Liston who is the most overrated. Ron Lyle vs Liston would have looked a lot like Foreman/Lyle but I think Ron wins this one.

[Blond Beast]

It was Mike Tyson who lost in the “biggest upset” in boxing history, not someone else. That should tell you a lot right there.
The fact he was 25-30 to 1 favourite to beat Holyfield, and then also favoured in the rematch should tell people a lot.
Every aspect of his game is overrated by most. His head movement is more myth than reality. He didn’t slip punches as much as arbitrarily move his head randomly. He was often flat footed. He wasent all about fighting on the inside. He’d often look to the ref to separate them. Once he got some space he’d slam in with a 1-2, and look to be separated again. Was good for his style.
He’d cycle through his combos not so much pick or place counter shots. He’d fire the right to the body followed by the right uppercut until it landed. Holyfield took it.
He wasent a dirty fighter either for the most part, save some frustrated moments.
Being overrated is a compliment in a lot of ways. It means the fans loved you. He wasent overrated as an attraction.
The cream rises to the top. Your highlight reel kos don’t come so easily against the best. Your opponents have been forged in fire also to get there.
People see all these old training videos of head movement and bag work and pretend that’s a real opponent.
I’m sure someone knows… if you bet $1k on all of Tyson’s fights I have a feeling you would have lost money in the end. Maybe a lot.
I love my Mike. Big fan. Still 20-23yr old Tyson beats everybody? One of the weakest arguments in boxing history. People just want 22yr old Tyson to beat everybody. There’s a difference.

[Ascended]

One of yea I would say the most overrated is louis that man is picked to beat people he never would land on which is crazy

[hugh grant]

If talking longevity as important andvresume then.yes maybe.? But ability wise probably no.
why does ruddock, biggs and bruno say he's best they fought when they've fought lennox?