Let's all give thanks to the man the responsible for A LOT of us starting to follow the sport. Best Tyson performance?
Happy Birthday Champ! His best performance is probably Holmes, Biggs, or Pinklon Thomas. My personal favorite has to be his fight against Ribalta.
Agreed 100% out of that list of three - I always go back and forth between those three as his apex performance. All things considered, probably the Holmes fight was the very best Tyson.
Happy Birthday Mike! Hard to Pick a SINGLE Best Performance Considering How DESTRUCTIVE He Was...With That Said, REED's Lost Count on the Number of Casual's He's Recommended "Mike Tyson's Greatest Hits" To, as a Cliff's Notes Version of Mike's BADASSERY... REED
Favorite performance is still Marvis Frazier. Not the best opponent or the best demonstration of all his skills given the 30 seconds, but i think it best encapsulated him. What I (and i think everybody) loved about Tyson was the instant attack once that first bell rang. What set him apart is it didn't matter who was on the other side of the ring. Even some of the most aggressive fighters in history tend to have a few feel out rounds before they get going. For Tyson it wouldn't matter if it was a total scrub or damn grizzly bear. An avalanche of bombs is coming your way right from the get-go. Deal with it.
And quickness like a lightweight coming forward in that ultra aggressive peak-a-boo attack. Given a time machine and 10 fights of my choosing it’s hard to think of too many that don’t involve prime Tyson! I have to think boxing experts at the time suspected he’d have a short prime? Just losing a half step of speed or slowing down a couple rounds earlier spelt his demise and there’s no way that style could work for long past his youth. It was obvious right??
This is what Manny Steward said in a 1991 SI Article WHERE'S THE FIRE? It’s a good article although it’s not true when they say Tyson neglected the body. This was before the Ruddock rematch. Tyson banged Ruddock’s body like a drum in both fights (especially the rematch, that 10th round left hook to the ribs).
Tyson broke Ruddock's jaw and ribs in the rematch. Its no coincidence that Ruddock was never the same again after that fight. And for what it's worth, that fight was the end of Tyson's prime as well.
Sports Illustrated used to write a lot of good boxing articles, especially in the 80s. You can just google “si.com vault” and name the boxer and you’ll find some quality stuff.
