Did Mike Tyson lose to Holyfield because his best friend 2pac was gunned down?

[Zelda]

He was simply beaten by the better fighter that night.

[SN!PER]

No...

Mike Tyson's body guard Darryl Baum was shot before he fought Lou Savarese, and it didn't phase him at all. He dedicated the fight to Darryl and knocked Savarese out in the 1st round.

[Zelda]

Why are you forgetting that he destroyed Michael Spinks in less than a round? Spinks was undefeated too.

And also at the end of his career. That was Spinks' last fight just for the record.

The "Prime" of Tyson as his fans like to remember is also the time he fought a lot of cab driver level fighters. The few "names" in there were aging yesteryear stars like Spinks, Holmes, or Berbick. It wasn't really a very strong era in the mid to late 80s.

Even then, whenever he was faced by boxers who were not intimidated, agile enough to escape his early onslaught, and ready to fire back, he went into later rounds or even the distance. A few examples,

- Mitch Green went the distance and also knocked Tyson's tooth. He was 6'5".
- James Smith went the distance and lost on points. He was 6'4" and 34 years old.
- James Tillis also went the distance even though he was notorious on fatigue issues and "lack of will". His ex-trainer Angelo Dundee had left him due to this. He was 6'1" and 29 years of age.
- Tony Tucker went the distance. He was 6'5" and 29 years old. Tucker was a good opponent and fought smartly. He boxed, moved, clinched, and overall fought a strategic fight.

So, if these could go the distance with Tyson...then Evander was stronger, smarter, and an overall more complete fighter. He also outboxed Tyson to win the fight.

[giant_king]

That has nothing to do with it.look at 80s training footage of Mike and look how quick powerful and technically sound Mike was.vander got a 90s Mike instead of a 80s Mike that's why he lost.

[TheMyspaceDayz]

Holyfield was the only skilled fighter that wouldn’t let Tyson body him and move him backwards. I don’t see how Tyson could have won at any point in time. Evander is the kind of warrior who would always defeat him, no matter the time or place.

[QballLobo]

Tyson was a shell of himself after getting out of jail. He was matched up with guys that couldn’t take a punch so Tyson could go headhunting.
They thought Holyfield was shot as well. When Tyson couldn’t bully him and Holyfield fires back he had no response. Basically quit the first fight and we all know what happened in the rematch.

[benplace]

When Tyson got rid of Rooney, he was done...

[just the facts]

I'm a huge Mike Tyson fan and I'm just wondering if the reason that he lost to Holyfield was because of his best friend Tupac being gunned down 2 months before his fight with Holyfield.

Is it possible that he was still in shock from losing his best friend and he was not motivated or concentrated enough to beat Holyfield and that's why he lost?

I’m sorry but this is really ignorant.

[Zelda]

That has nothing to do with it.look at 80s training footage of Mike and look how quick powerful and technically sound Mike was.vander got a 90s Mike instead of a 80s Mike that's why he lost.

Yes, because punching bags don't fight back.

Are you serious? Judging a fighter based on training videos? In the post above, I mentioned several fighters that went the distance with the "80s Mike Tyson" and they aren't even big names. He looked good in the 80s because he fought a lot of cab-driver level fighters and yesteryear fighters that were too late to retire.

A Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis beat a Tyson in any era.

[bballchump11]

That's why I appreciate Floyd. He's won many fights with distractions surrounding him.