Did Tyson's skills really diminish after prison or is that just a myth?

[Monzon99]

Tyson was never the same after Givens and the KO to Buster. That's when the decline began. Post jail Tyson was rigged by King. King had the huge showtime contract (guaranteed money) and rigged all the fights, then he controlled Holyfield and let it be a real fight and Tyson came up short. All the easy King fixes did not prepare him sufficiently for Holyfield. Tyson was still good, but a shell of his once great self.

Tyson vs Seldon, Bruno, McNeely, Savareasy, Francis, Nielsen, Golota were all rigged in one way or another. Tyson was the big cash cow, King needed Tyson to keep winning and Haymoned it. Tyson was big money back then. Tyson may not have known it was all rigged but deep down he probably did and just went through the motions. The Holyfield fights were real and he came up short. King then protected Holyfield from Lennox for years.

[Monzon99]

Tyson showed some flashes of his old greatness but after prison he was a shell of a shell of himself. The fire, energy, fury, passion were never the same after Givens humiliated him and Buster KOed him. The aura of invincibility was gone after those two episodes. The Tyson name and legend was so huge it translated into huge profits. It still will too when he decides to fight AJ or Fury for the WBC title which Sulaiman said he will give Tyson the mandatory ranking without even having one fight in 15 years. Sulaiman wants that Tyson $$$.

[whollisboxing]

May be a bit, if not pysically than perhaps mentally, but mostly starting from the 90s Tyson started facing stiffer competition. A lot of people mistaken it with "his peak was over" or it was "due to Cus d'Amato". In the 80s, he faced no names or aging fighters which made him look very good and invincible.

You can clearly see a difference in Tyson before prison vs. after. He was faster and sharper before and I'll post a breakdown on my YouTube channel this week to illustrate it. Also, being out of the ring that long will affect anybody, I don't care who it is.

[whollisboxing]

He was still very good after prison. His head movement was gone long before the **** case and he still had good fitness levels up to the second Holyfield fight. Like many punchers, Tysons downfall started when he neglected the skills he was taught and thought he could blast everyone out.

That about sums it up. The style he employed at his best required absolute commitment and he no longer had that after awhile.

[Tatabanya]

A quick heavyweight as Tyson was in his youth can't last forever.

Aging alone will diminish the quickness. Aging plus three years in the slammer will do worse, not to mention substance and alcohol abuse, by now well documented.

Though I think that the best Tyson ended as soon as King entered the picture, we can still see flashes of his old self in the Alex Stewart fight.

[STREET CLEANER]

Watch some of his documentaries and he will say that after the Spinks fight he started not to train as hard and was mentally out of it. He was doing it for the money.

[boliodogs]

The one fight that stands out to me is the Bruno rematch.

To be honest, it didn't look like his skills diminished at all in that fight. Bruno stated before the second fight that he was more prepared this time around as he knew what to expect and yet Tyson dispatched of him quicker than the first fight.

So what gives with people saying he was a shell of his self after prison?

Of course 3 years in prison hurt his skills but he was only 29 when he continued his career so he wasn't a shell of his former self. Don't worry so much about what others say. study the records, watch films and make up your own mind.

[Willy Wanker]

Tyson's passion for the sport was gone before he even went to prison.

The only thing that motivated him were paychecks at that point, but he still had enough natural talent to win and get KOs most of the time.

Then prison came. Since Tyson already lost his passion, he never worked hard enough to get back to the peak condition he was in before prison.

[Mister Wolf]

Lost a lot of his athleticism and explosiveness.

[coghaugen]

His skills diminished when he left Rooney in 88.