All of these in their primes unless stated otherwise Henry Akinwande YES Louis Ortiz YES Tommy Morrison NO Michael Grant NO David Haye YES Tomasz Adamek NO Mariusz Wach YES Povietkin NO Frans Botha NO 1998 Foreman YES Shannon Briggs YES Wlad Klitschko NO Wilder NO Moorer NO James Toney YES Rahman YES Joshua YES Golota YES
Akinwande: Goes past 3 only because he'd clinch for dear life. Mike would get him out eventually, but due to those spoiling tactics Henry goes longer than 3. Ortiz: Hard to say. Mike would definitely blast out Ortiz, but it's possible Ortiz is big enough and powerful to last into the mid rounds. Morrison: No. TERRIBLE matchup for Tommy. Mike smokes him inside of 3. Grant: No way in fuckin Hell does Grant last 3! Tyson KO 1. Haye: See above. Haye is getting iced in a hurry. Adamek: Same as the above. Tyson smokes Adamek inside of 1-2. Adamek is waayyyy too small and his punches wouldn't deter Mike at all. Wach: I don't even know who the fuck that is. Povetkin: Another blowout. Povetkin is a good fighter, but he's a brawler with little in the way of defense, and no ability to clinch when hurt. Mike puts him out quickly. Botha: Couldn't last 5 with a shot Tyson. How in the fuck is he gonna last 3 with a prime Tyson? 98 Foreman: Prime Tyson would give 98 Foreman a frightful beating, as George had little left by 98. But Foreman likely survives past 3 on toughness alone. George's corner would have to intervene to prevent him from getting hurt. Shannon Briggs: Doubtful. Very doubtful. Prime Mike almost certainly stops Briggs inside of 3. Wald: The latter Wald, who was a clinch specialist, probably makes it into the mid-to-late rounds against Mike before eventually getting taken out. Wilder: No. Mike destroys that non-fighting joke inside of 3. Moorer: Cmmmonnnnn, no way in fuckin Hell. Tyson probably stops Moorer in 1. Toney: James might be tough enough to last into the mid rounds, but I wouldn't be shocked if prime Mike finished him inside of 3. Tyson would probably do to Toney EXACTLY what he did to Tony Tubbs. Rachman: Ehhhh, he might go past 3, but not too much further. I'd say Tyson KO 4-5. Joshua: I doubt that. Mike smokes that big, stiff idiot in a hurry. Golota: Hell no. Mike would have Golota mentally out before the bell even rings.
Pretty much agree with all of these, except for Briggs which i think would make it to the mid rounds. And wack probably makes it to the mid rounds also
Wald doesn't make it. He would get hit in the clinch panic and get clipped with something and do the wounded gazelle act. Briggs makes it. He had a good chin.
Didnt see wilder in there. Fight wouldnt last three rounds but its poor little mikey who would sleep on the canvas
Yeeaaaa ok. A skill-less oaf with zero jab, zero defense, a dodgy chin, and no ability to fight going backwards is gonna beat Tyson? Riiiight. It wouldnt take the 88 Tyson to smoke Wilder. That's overkill. 91 Tyson is overkill also. 96 Tyson would be MORE than enough. Even 00 Tyson probably stops Wilder, but at least Wilder has an argument against 00 Tyson.
After beating Berbick for the title, Tyson made ten defenses, last being against Douglas. Out of the ten, he finished three under three rounds
There's a couple guys on this list whom Mike really would take out inside of 3, though. Like Michael Grant and David Gaye... those guys are not lasting long. Morrison is not lasting long either. But 3 rounds or not, hard to envision any guy on this list lasting the distance with 80s Tyson.
Wach most likely to last the distance. 6'8 260. Never dropped. Took a beating from Wlad like nothing. Still I see Mike winning by ref stoppage by pummeling Wach in 8.
I know you like Golota and that's cool, but OBJECTIVELY, how do vote that he lasts past 3? Golota couldn't mentally handle 2 rounds from a washed up Tyson. And sure, Golota was four years removed from his prime when they fought, but Tyson was 12 years removed from his prime when they fought. Prime Tyson might stop Golota in 1. The Lewis fight all over again.
I was on the fence on that one. I believe that Golota was one of the if not the most mentally frail top tier heavyweights in history. When he was undefeated (the prime we're talking here) he was a completely different fighter. He was actually confident you could see that in the way he fought and in his body language. With each loss he mentally crumbled more and more. The Lewis fight I think completely changed him mentally then he had a car accident in 98 which completely destroyed his left shoulder and by 2000 he was a physical and mental shell. Even so for two rounds he hung in there(Tyson was pretty shot too but the power was still the same) and if he came out for 3rd he would have lasted that one too. Mike was fading fast. In fact if he stayed in there he could have even won in later rounds. So going back to his prime I think he was big enough strong enough tough enough and skilled enough to move jab box to make it out of 3. The biggest problem is (the one that had me on the fence) that he NEVER clinched and against Tyson you have to. So because of that maybe he does get stopped in 3. I however say he lasts 3 due to size toughness and skill.
How many 6'4 + 250 pound competent heavyweights did Mike blow out of the water? I don't think that many. I don't even remember. Help me out. Was he successful punching up at his stature?
The myth built up around Mike is akin to the one built up around Marciano. It's in the resting phase right now. In another 10 years its gonna be at it's max, then it's gonna start getting revised in a hurry.
The myth of Tyson is one thing, but Mike really would wipe his ass with every fighter Boss listed in this thread.
