Is Tyson overrated?

I used to think he was the best ever.

Looking back, he really didn't fight in an era of very good heavyweights when he was in his "prime".

He looked spectacular at times,..menacing and exciting. But it seemed whenever he fought a quality fighter who wasn't afraid,..Tyson failed miserably.

Watching Buster Douglas whip his ass the whole fight was hard to take today guys. But it showed what guys I have argued with, have said all along is true...

Tyson never fought and beat a great heavyweight.

He had great power and explosiveness,..along with a great "bad attitude",..and he sure was fun to watch.

But after alot of years, I agree that Tyson is generally overrated.

 

All depends on who's doing the rating.

By the general public, then yes.

 

Well, there's different trends in different segments/generations of the public.

 

there are som many misconceptions about tyson that its to the point where he may be overrated by your average joe who knows him from punch-out, but he's getting to be very underrated by supposedly educated boxing people.

 

No way is Tyson overated. Only Ali had more skills at heavyweight.

 

Guaranteed long thread. ::

 

Good point.

 

No, Mike isn't overrated. I was a big Tyson fan as a kid, but I'll never remember Mike in the same class as some of the other alltime great heavies. Even if his talent was far superior then all of them. He was great for a few years against decent opposition. When he faced an obstacle he couldn't over come it, and became unmotivated to early in his career. He is what he is. A talented fighter who made stupid decisions that cost his full prime.

 

He quit in every loss that he's had, so yeah, he's overrated.

 

He QUIT Against Buster Douglas???


REED:dunno:

 

Not Sure HOW U Rate their "Quality", but "Quick" Tillis, Mitch Green, Trevor Berbick, Razor Ruddock & Frans Botha WEREN'T Intimidated by Tyson...


REED

 

Yeah, after all, he didn't even put his mouthpiece in correctly. ::

 

yeah he sure quit against Douglas, Holyfield, Lewis, etc.

this is the biggest myth in boxing history. Its an insult to suggest Tyson quit before he was way past it against nobodies.

Tyson got his ass beat several times, and took it like a man.

 

I am also one of those who sees how overrated Tyson has been over the years the more I watch and learn about boxing.

His talent wasn't overrated though. A young Tyson had crazy speed and power. Not to mention good boxing skills and defense.

But he basically had a carreer based on a badass image.

 

I will tell you exactly how I rate that quality of fighters...low. Ruddock was the best of the bunch, and all he was was big and athletic in an era when heavyweights sucked.

 

With Kevin Rooney no. After Rooney yes, especially post prison.

 

Tyson wasn't overrated beating bums, he was exceptional at it. No one can argue this simple fact.

 

I'll say Tyson is the fiercest fighter I've ever seen and he did beat Holmes and Spinks, so he was pretty good. I just don't think he's great like people make him out to be.

 

Post prison shouldn't even be counted as a career, who did he beat besides Golota and Botha? Just adding them as career highlights, is pretty sad.

 

The case with tyson is that of tony ayala jr., he never realized his full potential. Prison, and bad management fucked his career and robbed him of his maturity as a fighter and as a man. Yes, he showed flashes of greatness, and he had IT in him, but that's about it.

 

Tyson should've fought Bowe and Holy before prison. Since he didn't I guess in a way you have to call him a little overrated.

 

Holyfield, yes. Bowe is a different story.. Tyson ended up losing to Douglas with Holyfield in the audience, trying to hide his disgust because he was supposed to fight Tyson next. The scheduled fight with Evander in November 1991 was cancelled when Tyson pulled out, claiming a rib injury.

As for Bowe, he was a prospect and not really established yet. When Tyson fought Ruddock in March and June of 1991, Ruddock was more highly regarded as a contender than the green Bowe.

 

great point, the dates kind of all mush together in the mind 20 years later:: lets just say a fight with Bowe would've been nice while Tyson was IN prison::

 

He had heart, tons of it, what he didn't had was the tools to deal with adversity. He didn't matured to the point of knowing what to do in a fight of attrition, no bag of tricks or experience to rely upon. He never quit vs. douglas, or even holyfield. He kept punching, but lost his confidence when somebody took him into deep water because he had nothing else to do, except keep punching. He was too small and hit too hard, so all he learned to do was to go for the KO. He never learned to break down an opponent like Marciano did. Did Tyson had the ability and talent to do that? yes, but nobody taught him that.

 

Apart from the fights with Douglas and Holyfield I you could make a case that Tyson quit in his other losses which would equal to four. He fouled out against Holyfield, decided to stay down against Lewis and Williams and retired against McBride.

In my opinion Tyson was pretty much like Sonny Liston in the sense that his physical abilities were ahead of his timers. Just like Liston, Tyson looked awesome walking through physically smaller and inferior guys (Tyson packed much more mass than most of his opponents as did Liston)

 

Tyson DIDN'T Quit N the RE w/Holyfield:nono: ...He was FRUSTRATED w/Holyfields Headbutting Over the Course of 2 Fights & FOOLISHLY Took Matters Into his Own Hands...

Peeps SAY that Tyson did what he Did to "Get Out" of the Fight, but REED has Never Believed that...Mike SNAPPED More than Anything Else...



REED

 

WTF!!! :doh:

Lewis was about to take the life out of him, did you expected him to keep standing up??? also, he fouled out in the 2nd fight against evander, because of the multiple headbutts he received while mills lane did jackshit about it

 

Yeah, it's Kinda Hard to Hold the Lewis Fight AGAINST Mike as Well...

After the 1st Round the Bout was COMPLETELY 1-Sided & Mike Took a THOROUGH Ass Whipping from 1 of THE Hardest Punchers N Heavyweight History...

Mike was on the Canvas, Cut Over BOTH Eye's, Bleeding from his Nose as Well, Having just Endured 8 Rounds of HELL...

COULD he have Gotten Up???...Probably...But he WASN'T Gonna Win that Fight...


REED

 

I never said that Tyson wasn't allowed to quit against Lewis, he took a hellacious beating, but he obviously could have gotten up. And since there are people here who claim that quitting is quitting every time (I'll holla 5000) then Tyson did indeed quit. I don't count quitting against anyone

Also your explanation about Holyfield fight is no defense. Reed can be right about Tyson simply snapping and losing his mind, that or then he simply wanted out. But to foul yourself out because someone fights dirty is a pussy move.