Zoltan wrote:
Little Danny wrote:
If you are under the age of 25, I can understand questioning how great Tyson once was. If you were to ever see his early fights, the man was a machine. They show them now and again on ESPN classic. Mike was so trim, so technically sound and had tremendous power. Prior to this fight most of America thought the man was unbeatable.
I would say the events that turned the table for Mike was the death of his long-time mentor, Cus D'Amato and eventual firing of his trainer, Kevin Rooney. He was never the same after that, in and out of the ring.
I watch his old fights whenever I see them on and he certainly was powerful and fast. I still think he was always going to lose to a technical fighter with a longer reach. I think Lennox Lewis in his prime takes Tyson in his prime everytime. If he was fighting in a 205 pound division its a different story.
I agree with you about the taller boxer with technical skills, but am not certain Lewis takes Tyson in his prime everytime. Lewis certainly would/could beat Tyson in his prime; however, Lewis proved to have a weak chin. Tyson in his prime was much quicker, more elusive and would have put himself in better position to land the knock out blow.
Keep in mind, Tyson did fight some tall fighters in his prime and was very successful (ie. Frank Bruno, Trevor Burbick).
Now, I do think tall fighters like Mohammed Ali and George Foreman in their primes would have worked Tyson over.
