Comments Thread For: The Mythology Of Mike Tyson Never Ceases To Amaze

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Corey Erdman - Fifteen years after he last fought, and upwards of thirty years after he was last considered the best heavyweight in the world, Mike Tyson still has some people convinced that he can come back and beat up the current crop of heavyweight contenders. Some combination of Tyson being in visually good shape again, quarantine boredom...
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[anonymous2.0]

I was talking about this with a friend over the winter, no other living boxer is as big a cultural icon as Mike Tyson. In terms of shock value no one has as entertaining a life story as Tyson. Right now no other boxer could compete against Tyson's one man show, sure you could get a lot of guys that could tell personal, deep stories but Tyson by far has the most entertaining one. Really hope that he can convince Nintendo to bring back the Punch Out franchise.

[pollywog]

I have no doubt he can still hit, but that's only half of the sweet science.

What happens when he gets hit?

In his own words, everyone has a plan til they get punched in the face...

[Blond Beast]

Tyson was beloved for his style and entertainment value. So a lot of fans want to think he was better than he was. He will always be overrated and in that way it’s a compliment. I mean when a lot of people describe how great he was they reference his training clips. How he hits the bag, mits, ducks under a rope etc. Tyson was alway proactive, not reactive. His “famous head movement” was him bobbing on the way in, not really slipping actual punches like say a Toney or Holyfield. He didn’t counter punch, he just cycled through his combos, and they were good combos of course. But he was also often very flat footed with his size 13.5’s and often didn’t move his head at all, and where was that “great jab”?. Mike can pound the mits with his combos that he’s memorized and always looks good. But that’s a parlour trick at this point. It’s not a reaction to anything. It’s just reflexes. Roid would look great on the mits too. I mean c’mon we saw McBride take him out when he was 39. I mean I wish a lot of Tyson fans could become real boxing fans.

[BangEM]

Only Americans are hyping him up because they have no other HW to hype. The guy was grossly overrated throughout his career and he needs to be left in the 80s.

[Oldskoolg]

He’s the casual fan’s favourite heavyweight. And to rate him where he actually sits in historical concept would be nigh possible with the casual for barely one of them knows anything about boxing history

[redmish]

Really good article.

[Mindgames]

I dont think any real fan thinks he could compete now. Mike's not a fool, he knows this, he's selling something. The man himself said how energy sapping he's style was. A kind of exhibition tour would be ok. People like me remember that period where the heavyweight champ fought once a month, and really brought violence, and it looked for a while that no one could beat him. It was a magical time period.

[Mindgames]

He’s the casual fan’s favourite heavyweight. And to rate him where he actually sits in historical concept would be nigh possible with the casual for barely one of them knows anything about boxing history

I think some of us long for the 80s back, if he could recapture the glory maybe we can. Then we make old man noises picking something up off the floor and it's back to reality.

[Mindgames]

Tyson was beloved for his style and entertainment value. So a lot of fans want to think he was better than he was. He will always be overrated and in that way it’s a compliment. I mean when a lot of people describe how great he was they reference his training clips. How he hits the bag, mits, ducks under a rope etc. Tyson was alway proactive, not reactive. His “famous head movement” was him bobbing on the way in, not really slipping actual punches like say a Toney or Holyfield. He didn’t counter punch, he just cycled through his combos, and they were good combos of course. But he was also often very flat footed with his size 13.5’s and often didn’t move his head at all, and where was that “great jab”?. Mike can pound the mits with his combos that he’s memorized and always looks good. But that’s a parlour trick at this point. It’s not a reaction to anything. It’s just reflexes. Roid would look great on the mits too. I mean c’mon we saw McBride take him out when he was 39. I mean I wish a lot of Tyson fans could become real boxing fans.

I dunno mate I think people minimise him too. To watch him bob and weave through combos to then deliver a knockout was a sight to behold. And to watch a man of 5 10 outjab a 6 5, good boxer like Tucker for instance, pretty good stuff. Most importantly I think it brings alot of us back to when the heavyweight champion really did seem invincible and fearless for a time. And he was busy. But then again there's alot of 80s nostalgia type feelings out there now anyway.