Mike Tyson: When did his prime end?

[GoogleMe]

After he fired Kevin Rooney, he went back to his childhood mentality.

[sonnyboyx2]

his prime ended the day he went to prison

[Anthony342]

After he fired Kevin Rooney, he went back to his childhood mentality.

Yeah this is what I think too, so after the Spinks fight. He hit his peak there, beating every champion there was to beat, now even the lineal champion, in the eyes of many. Then he fired Rooney and Cayton and it all went downhill after that.

[Verstyle]

I've thought and have came to the conclusion that Tyson was in his prime vs. Douglas. So I say his prime ended(with the list given) with Ruddock II.

[StarshipTrooper]

I've thought and have came to the conclusion that Tyson was in his prime vs. Douglas. So I say his prime ended(with the list given) with Ruddock II.

Damn Versi and to think we debated that 3 years ago :hahahaha9:

Poet

[Rspen46]

You could find a time in any fighters career or at least 90% where you could cry over spilled beans, or what could have been, fact is, he was young & champ when Douglas soundly beat him, out of shape, in shape, skipped rope, didnt skip rope, had Robin or no Robin, Kevin Rooney or no Rooney, who cares, Ali missed years of his best Prime, Liston stayed too long & had other issues, they say Marciano was pampered & protected, Dempsey avoided the great black fighters, so did Tunney, the list goes on & on, fact is most fighters have issues, so in the end, they are all even, & Tyson, lost, & was beaten, he had no Heart, once behind, he was finished, once he faced a real Champ, he couldnt handle them, same would happen in his Prime, he just would have made them better fights before losing.

[Daddy T]

best way to judge is just watch a couple of his fights back to back say 7 or 8 of them ending with the spinx fight then put on the very next fight straight away ... Bruno. You will see a big big drop off in Mike's skills from all those fights almost instantly. Head movement diminished massively, his elusiveness is virtually all but gone, he just stands there toe to toe and slugs it out relying on his power alone.

Once he fired Rooney and became Don King's puppet that was that, he dropped off massively VERY quickly. he got back into half decent shape after douglas for a couple of fights (ruddock/ Bruno 2) but was never again the same as he was in the rooney era - not even close to it.

[K-DOGG]

Tough question, really. Personally, I voted for the second Rudduck fight because Mike was still in his physical prime.

His last vintage performance, IMO, was against Spinks, though, because that was the last time the remnants of the old team were still together and before his life entered that near fatal tailspin that cost him what could have been a much higher place in boxing history.

If you watch the footage, you can see he had slipped markedly in his technique by the Bruno fight, as well as all others after. I would suggest this was a mere lack of focus on his craft due to all the distractions in his life. Physically, he was still capable and would have been through his late 20's , given his physique, and style of boxing.

After prison, Mike, "Iron Mike" was no longer in there. That force of nature that hypnotized a generation was somewhere in the shadows of an Indiana penatentury. What was left was a man who still had the ability, the aura, and the knowledge that people would pay lots of money to watch him. His heart and love of the sport was long gone by then, IMO.

He, really, could have been one of the top fighters of all time...in the class of a Louis, an Ali, a Frazier, Foreman, etc. All he would have had to do is kept his head together for the completion that came after he fell: Lewis, Bowe, Holyfield, Mercer, Morrison (though Tommy would have probably peed himself), etc.

Fate, as it would have it, made him a tragic figure of "what could have been", unfortunately. Still, last I heard, he was a peace with himself.....and he seems to be in public. That, as a fan, makes me feel good.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.