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Mike seemed to fold in his biggest fights. Devastating punching power though. If an opponent could get past his early onslaught though, he wasn't as big of a threat.
Actually, his greatest male influence was Cus D'Amato and his wife who Mike Called Mom. After Cus died and Mike became champion, Don King came into his life and really help to ruin it. Mike was an adult by then and big enough to make his own decisions. Unfortunately, his greatest downfall was getting rid of his original trainer Kevin Rooney and dealing with King.
lol yeah what you said. I guess you know more about him than me...
Mike seemed to fold in his biggest fights. Devastating punching power though. If an opponent could get past his early onslaught though, he wasn't as big of a threat.
Many of his opponents lost before they ever entered the ring. The people that were willing to box him and be aggressive generally stood a good chance. He did have devastating power, and he came to fight.
He had the skills to go far, real far. Possibly go down as one of the best ever. But everybody, every fighter needs to train hard, something Mike hated.
I watched him train for fights, i trained harder then him and i only boxed for fun and self defense reasons. I trained at the very same gym he did. I'll admit , that with the little training he did ,i'm impressed he did as well as he did. Like when he fought Golota & Orlin Norris. For Lennox his training was a joke and he lasted 9 or 10. Who knows what would have happened with hard core serious fight training.
He had the skills to go far, real far. Possibly go down as one of the best ever. But everybody, every fighter needs to train hard, something Mike hated.
I watched him train for fights, i trained harder then him and i only boxed for fun and self defense reasons. I trained at the very same gym he did. I'll admit , that with the little training he did ,i'm impressed he did as well as he did. Like when he fought Golota & Orlin Norris. For Lennox his training was a joke and he lasted 9 or 10. Who knows what would have happened with hard core serious fight training.
Incredible watching Tyson in the Lewis fight. It was as though all he wanted to do was put on a show by being dramatically knocked out and make money. He seemed to be looking to fall in that fight. It was quite pathetic to watch. Lewis knew the script. Block Tyson's rushes at the onset, wait for Tyson to give him the signal that he's ready to be pummeled. This usually occurred when Mike stopped using head movement and became slow and stationary. Then use the jab and right hand. I always thought Lewis was incredibly mechanical. Jab, jab, right hand, jab, jab, jab, right hand. A quick, mobile, motivated Tyson could've put that big, lazy man down. But there it was. An unmotivated, plodding, immobile Tyson waiting for the slow, plodding Lewis to land the right shot so he could go down in dramatic fashion and make millions. Tyson's willingness to lay down in his later fights was not fun to watch for this Tyson fan.
He should be remembered as one of the biggest wastes of athletic ability ever. I also think in time people will see him for what he is- a mentally ill guy who never received any treatment worth a dime. He is a tragedy.
He will always be know as the youngest Heavyweight champ of all time! He also has a good run as champ, i believe from 1986 to 91. He destroyed all they put in front of him up until Buster Douglas.
Tyson got to big to fast, he had millions at like 20 years old. He also hated to train after a certain point. I used to watch him train here in Vegas. He would train very little for huge fights. His first fight with Holyfield was a great fight, of course he ruined himself with the bite fight though!
Last i heard is that he moved back to Las Vegas and might do some small fights for charity, something like that.
I saw a reply of Tyson vs. Douglas on ESPN2 a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten how badly Douglas was kicking Tyson's ass before he knocked him out!!
I agree, like the Lewis fight , thats what happens when you don't train for a fight! Tyson barely trained for Douglas and had a 4 week training camp for Lewis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by big daryle
I saw a reply of Tyson vs. Douglas on ESPN2 a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten how badly Douglas was kicking Tyson's ass before he knocked him out!!
He grew up without a father and he had a mother that needed to support 3 children. He had a lisp also (imagine growing up with that...), and without any guidance, he decided to take his anger out on others. The one male influence he did have (Don King) basically deserted him after making a few hundred thousand off of him, and so he remains alone in the world.
I agree he's done some dispicable things, but we have to look at reasons why he's done what he's done. I won't forgive him for doing what he's done because of his past, but at the same time, I think it does explain some...
He actually had a wonderful father figure in Cus D'Amato who kept him in line and made sure that Tyson was training properly. Once D'Amato died, that's when Tyson's career started to spiral. Until the Douglas fight, he'd solidified himself as the greatest and most dominating heavyweight of all time.
Watch his new documentary "Tyson" and you'll see how amazing he really was. No heavyweight today could handle Tyson in his prime, not even close. Think Valuev could have handled Tyson's speed and punch power? Think either Klitchsko could have the hand speed to catch the crouching Tyson?
Watch the clips from the Tyson-Berbick, Tyson-Spinks, Tyson-Holmes or the Tyson-Richardson and you'll understand why he was the greatest ever in his prime.
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Tyson
