Physically he's the most impressive heavyweight ever by far - speed, power, combinations, chin, fitness, aggression - he had it all. In the end though at the highest level in any sport the difference is rarely purely physical - it is much more about the level to which you will push to win ie/ the psychology of winning when taken to the trenches. In my view the fighters that did beat Tyson were not as impressive physically as Tyson was but in their own way they could bring huge reserves of determination to topple him. Props to Mike Tyson though, he took his lumps like a man but didn't often win a fight that he was losing which is one of the true measures of greatness.
That's exactly right. I've had many people on here get so offended when I've said a similar thing though, his PR machine at the beginning of his career was so effective it pretty much carried him right the way through into the 2000's.
+francisjtuk he was short, not a good physical trait for a heavyweight. he only overcame it with the attributes you mentioned earlier, and by fighting relatively poor opposition.
he was probably not "mentally until or enthralled" with the opponents that beat him... Kevin McBride? cmon... Danny Williams? get outa here... he had nothing to prove other than to his bank accountants and whoever dug him out of debt which he'd been drowning in slowly since 89
The problem with this assessment. while there are some valid points, is that it lacks context. First, Tyson did come up against resistance from fighters who were not overly intimidated in several fights in the 80s (e.g. Ribalta, Green, Tucker, Berbick, Tillis, Thomas,. Ruddock) and came through them all. He had ONE loss during that period to Buster, but even in that fight, when his spark had gone and he was getting a beating, he fought back and very nearly KO'd Douglas (who was saved by both the ref and bell). After that, Tyson bounced back with four great wins to set up a Holyfield fight (prime vs prime) in 1991. Plus he had to battle masses of adversity during the 80s (Cus dying, divorce, mental health issues etc) and STILL became the youngest ever and Undisputed HW Champion - cleaning out the division. If that is not being able to handle the 'mental' side of being "great" in a sport, then I don't know what is. We know the rest of the story. Lewis and Holyfield came to their peaks while Mike was in jail...and a post-prison Tyson is NOT the same fighter.
Iron Mike gets a lot of flack about stupid shit. But the man is very smart, very profound and speaks from the heart. Naturally. And he's absolutely one of the greatest fighters EVER. EVER. And now he's such a cool guy, matured, much more calm, confident in being himself. I've always been a huge Tyson fan, but i think i'm even more of a fan of him now…
Nobody say me please that i don't know about boxing or what. yes I don't know a single bit of boxing but i know one thing that IRON MIKE TYSON IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIMES. THERE IS NOBODY WHO CAN REACH UP TO HIS LEVEL. HE'S AWESOME MAN.
Lennox Lewis was British. He was born there to a Jamaican mother who moved to Canada. She had 2 sons. Lennox was 12 years old when his mother sent for him to join her. He stayed with relatives for 3 years while his mother established a stable home in Canada
Yes he was born in Britain but he learned all his boxing in Canada why he had fought in the Olympics as a Canadian but i believe was a sell when he turned pro for representing Britain
he trained harder than holyfield that's why holyfield had to cheat and abuse PEDs to beat a post prison Mike Tyson did justice to that disgusting cheater in the rematch and rightfully so
Yep should of quit in 97 99. He had too much weight here. 215-220 is his best fighting weight. For Lewis and this fight he was over 230, for his weight and age was suicidal, he couldnt move at all. Serious misjudgement. Plus he was on coke big time by now. What a waste.
he was doing drugs and stuff even if he had more fights he still would've lost, if they met earlier for sure Tyson would win, they were supposed to fight in 91 but Tyson got arrested
he continued because of the money. check his documentary out.he said: after the dead of Cus D'amato and this divorce shit, he lost his will, he was not the Tyson we knew anymore. You're true.
@@MrMov1es its true tho. Boxing is his life, it's all he knew how to do growing up. Its how he got food on the table. Imagine Mike Tyson working an office job? Yeah that's not happening.
Of course he did, because his opponents weren't as tough as Frazier and Foreman.... And he didn't have to deal to the whole Vietnam issue. Tyson said it himself, Ali is the greatest of all times.
most of these comments are totally sucking tyson. . . i'm a big tyson fan but he completely failed to reach his enormous potential. He was the top man for just 3 years, he sorely lacked any strength of character and this is why he failed. Lewis is a man of character, calculating and professional and now has a totally stable happy life with his reputation intact. . . . . but who would you rather watch ? tyson was/is such a big name because he was exciting, not exceptional.
The 1st two mins were wtf. Then after the 5th min i had to turn it off. Every question the interviewer asks mike responds with " i dont know" . so yeah it gets a little tiring
The best fighter ever so far, sugar ray Robinson, but in the modern era flyod mayweather Jr , both have the best longativity at the top, just wish mayweather fought up the weight divisions more, he would have been middleweight champion if he wanted
Ranking is an inexact science, thats true but it is kinda tempting to wonder who was the best ever in a given field, category or sport. It is popular not only among ''fans'' but also among very serious sports writers, analysts, experts... The reason is you can find there the limits of human possibilities.. finding the best boxer ever you could say the best a human can box is close to ''That''. Its like watching Bolt breaking a new speed record for human race. Do you get that ?
Ranking is for FANS, if you really wanna be one. It's unnecessary though. You can enjoy Justin Bieber as well as Marvin Gaye (what!?!) without comparing them, so why should you compare Ali to Tyson, or Marciano to Johnson, or Frazier to Louis?
Ive always said if Joe fraizer a come forward fight like Tyson could beat Ali then Mike Tyson would of destroyed ali... he was quicker faster more powerful hadawesome combinations a solid chin and a killer instinct..it wouldve been to much for Ali to contend with.
Learn your facts, Frazier knocked Ali down, but Ali got up at the count of 4. Frazier's the best left hooker in boxing history, yet Ali got up at the count of 4, after taking that brutal shot, which would've knocked out a horse. Frazier had brutal punching power and good speed, not as good as Mike, but his courage and heart, made him a better fighter than Mike. Ask Evander Holyfield, he said that the hardest puncher he faced was Foreman, even harder than Tyson. Tyson would never knock Ali out.
@@theinformationbomber7102 Funny, considering that Tyson got knocked out several times over the course of his career and never faced punchers as powerful as Frazier, Foreman, Shavers & Liston, whereas Ali faced all of the aforementioned guys and never got knocked out, even once (granted, Tyson was being stupid and "playing around" instead of properly training, which played a big factor in all of it).
@@truebeliever786 Tyson faced big punchers too like Bruno, Smith, Ruddock, Alex Stewart, Tony Tucker etc and he beat them all ali had a more disciplined lifestyle than Tyson that's no secret but prime for prime I think Tyson beats ali ali in his prime got knocked down twice but Tyson was never knocked down in his prime
@@theinformationbomber7102 All those guys are hard punchers, no doubt, but not as hard as the likes of Liston, Foreman, Shavers, Lyle and Frazier (except maybe Bruno, Smith and Ruddock). Keep in mind also that Smith took Tyson to the full 12 rounds. I disagree about Ali being knocked down in his prime. The reason I disagree is because Ali never got to fight in his prime, because of the years he was exiled from the ring. The last person to knock him down before his exile was Henry Cooper and that was when he was still young, fresh and learning. Keep in mind also that every single time he got knocked down, he stood back up. It's really up for debate who wins and it's anyone's guess. One thing I can say for sure is that it would be an explosive and amazing fight. I personally see Ali winning either on a close decision or a late stoppage. In Tyson's own words, Ali doesn't quit. He'd rather die in the ring than quit, he's just that kind of guy (the only time he did stop was when he was old and spent against Holmes and that was because Dundee forced him to stop, albeit rightfully so).
@@truebeliever786 ali didn't face a boxer who was as strong as fast or as accurate as Tyson IMO Tyson was the greatest ever in his prime not even ali can come close to him
Dream on... Ali against Tyson, prime vs. prime, a great explosive fight that goes the distance with Ali winning by a close MD or SD... Ali had a great chin, Tyson wouldn't have knocked him out, he took hits from the best punchers in history, Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers etc... yet he never ever got knocked out in his whole career (Tyson did)...
@@mattkylie6723 Yeah right... Ali can cop hits from really hard-hitters. Ask Evander Holyfield, he said George Foreman was the hardest puncher he ever faced (and that includes Tyson and Lennox Lewis) - that was an old George Foreman. Now imagine a young George Foreman! Ali took some of his best damn hits! Then there's also Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle etc.
Obsidian555 No heavyweight in boxing history was as fast as mike Tyson!! I don’t care what your saying about Ali or Holyfield or superman ffs!!! Film footage don’t lie man!!!
@@mattkylie6723 Tyson was fast, no doubt, but timing, precision and lateral movement can overcome speed and power and Ali had those in volumes. Ali in his prime was always 2 steps ahead of his opponents and Tyson would hardly be any different. That being said, it's all up to speculation and individual perspective. I have mine and you have yours. At the end of the day, we can agree to disagree.
Obsidian555 Judging by movie footage fight footage and training footage ... there is no way!!!! 🙄 no way anyone anywhere after watching both of these throw numerous combinations that anyone would say Ali was faster than Tyson no way!!! unless of course they’re blind.
Problem is lot of people are too quick to talk about GREATEST EVER, when they dont know shit about boxing. That kinda irritate the true boxing fans that know history. What the others should say is HE'S MY FAVORITE BOXER, not talking about Greatest which means something radically different. If my favorite singer is Justin Bieber if I say Justin Bieber is the GREATEST singer ever that will irritate a lot of people. People take their own tastes for real, objective rankings.
The problem with your analogy is that they all beat an old washed up Mike Tyson.. with the execption of Douglas. Tyson just didn't train for that fight. But, my point with those fighters beating Ali or dropping him was that Ali couldn't handle physical pressure from bigger less talented men in his prime or in his experienced years. Tyson was bigger AND better than those guys at pressuring opponents. The people that beat Tyson smothered him with physicality and size.. which Ali really didn't have
Douglas was heavier and a harder puncher than Ali, plus Tyson didn't train but 2 weeks for that fight. Lewis was a much harder puncher than Ali and Tyson was old. Holyfield beat Tyson with pure physicality, smothering him.. Ali didn't fight that way. He would move and jab. Williams beat an old Tyson plus he was 265lbs. McBride was 270lbs plus and didn't knock Tyson out.. he smothered him and Tyson quit, plus Tyson was old. None of these guys beat a peak Mike Tyson.
@turk0571 yea I have, the level of boxing changed from Ali to Tyson ... Tyson wouldve flattend Ali at any stage in his career... Ali was the best of his era...that dosent mean hed be the best of ANY era... Lennox Lewis wouldve killed him
If Douglas could knockout tyson so can Ali.If Holyfield could knockout tyson so can Ali.If Lewis can knockout Tyson so can Ali.If Williams can knockout tyson so can Ali.If McBride can knockout tyson so can Ali. Tyson was great but his private life and his lack of training made him slip.And dont forget however nice he seems in this interview hes still a rapist,ex drug dealing,assulting psycho,dont think anyone should look up to him. That era of heavyweights for me goes 1.Lewis 2.Holyfield 3.Tyson