Boxing

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TBH Tyson was way past his sell by date.

Lewis was 6 months older in that fight.

[labourRed]

Aye, but Lewis didn't have porridge.

Tyson post prison was half the fighter.

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Lewis would have handled any version of Tyson

[RichC]

Not about that though is it.

The lifestyle and behaviour of Tyson had taken their toll on him and he was nowhere near the fighter he once was. Lewis though is an ATG and even at his peak it might have been the same outcome.

[Zapater]

Lewis would have handled any version of Tyson

I agree, Lewis is extremely underrated outside of the UK. And if Tyson did beat Lewis, I'd imagine he'd put it right in the rematch as he did with his other blips. A young Tyson probably would have looked a lot like the Tua fight. Despite being a big man who liked the jab, jab, right on the outside; he could adapt and fight in different styles if need be. Tearing up a young Vitali with those thunderous uppercuts when he was out of shape at the end of his career is an unbelievable achievement.

Have you seen the interview when he speaks about the first time he met and sparred Tyson? It's hilarious. Will see if I can dig it up.

Not about that though is it.

The lifestyle and behaviour of Tyson had taken their toll on him and he was nowhere near the fighter he once was. Lewis though is an ATG and even at his peak it might have been the same outcome.

Irrelevant. Tons of examples of sportsmen living on the wild side and still producing the goods when it matters.

It's disappointing that neither of them met Riddick Bowe in a professional ring. Think Lewis would have beaten Bowe and Tyson would've lost by KO but a prime Bowe had the tools to take either of them out on his day.

[fidget]

I agree, Lewis is extremely underrated outside of the UK. And if Tyson did beat Lewis, I'd imagine he'd put it right in the rematch as he did with his other blips. A young Tyson probably would have looked a lot like the Tua fight. Despite being a big man who liked the jab, jab, right on the outside; he could adapt and fight in different styles if need be. Tearing up a young Vitali with those thunderous uppercuts when he was out of shape at the end of his career is an unbelievable achievement.

Have you seen the interview when he speaks about the first time he met and sparred Tyson? It's hilarious. Will see if I can dig it up.


Irrelevant. Tons of examples of sportsmen living on the wild side and still producing the goods when it matters.

It's disappointing that neither of them met Riddick Bowe in a professional ring. Think Lewis would have beaten Bowe and Tyson would've lost by KO but a prime Bowe had the tools to take either of them out on his day.

This one? He's told it a few times

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amclZ9nvfo0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amclZ9nvfo0[/ame]


Agree with most of what you said but Lewis always lived rent free in Bowe's head after the olympics. He certainly had the tools to wipe the floor with today's heavyweight champions though.

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Not seen that before. Cheers

[Zapater]

This one? He's told it a few times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amclZ9nvfo0

Agree with most of what you said but Lewis always lived rent free in Bowe's head after the olympics. He certainly had the tools to wipe the floor with today's heavyweight champions though.

Pretty much - I was referring to an older clip, but when I Googled it, I saw several which have varying degrees of poetic licence applied.

As stated above, confident Lewis would have beaten Bowe, had the potential to be a great bout. It's not exactly hard to wipe the floor with the current heavyweights They're all ****!

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Been watching the ESPN Ringside doc where Bert Randolph Sugar ranks the best 25 knockouts of all time. Enjoying it. Ray Mancini is on it for long portions too, he's a great analyst. Real quality fighter, but also has very good insight when analysing fights and a real student of the game. Some might say Sugar was a bit pompous but I love his anecdotes regardless of how wishy washy some of them are. As they say, don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. Leonard and Hearns are on it too which is pretty funny, Leonard is a fantastic too.

Having Moorer speaking in detail about the Foreman fight where he got sparked was great too. You can see it still rankles him, I'm guessing it was shot around 09 and the guy looked furious about the fight, which was over 15 years prior.

Don't necessarily agree with the ordering with notable heavyweight and historical bias, but a great watch. There's always something special about listening to people who know what they're watching rewatch and shed lights on great fights.

[RichC]

I agree, Lewis is extremely underrated outside of the UK. And if Tyson did beat Lewis, I'd imagine he'd put it right in the rematch as he did with his other blips. A young Tyson probably would have looked a lot like the Tua fight. Despite being a big man who liked the jab, jab, right on the outside; he could adapt and fight in different styles if need be. Tearing up a young Vitali with those thunderous uppercuts when he was out of shape at the end of his career is an unbelievable achievement.

Have you seen the interview when he speaks about the first time he met and sparred Tyson? It's hilarious. Will see if I can dig it up.



Irrelevant. Tons of examples of sportsmen living on the wild side and still producing the goods when it matters.

It's disappointing that neither of them met Riddick Bowe in a professional ring. Think Lewis would have beaten Bowe and Tyson would've lost by KO but a prime Bowe had the tools to take either of them out on his day.

Of course it’s relevant, if you’re let those things Into your life as Tyson had you’re mentally not right and fighting at that level you’re going to struggle.

Would He have beaten Lewis in their pomp ? dunno but mentally he was never right from just before the buster douglas fight and was never the same again.

Bowe for me ruined his reputation with dropping the WBC belt in the bin rather than fight Lewis, as Fidget says Lennox was living rent free in his head; if that fight had happened confident Lewis would have bombed him out of there and in short order

[Zapater]

Of course it’s relevant, if you’re let those things Into your life as Tyson had you’re mentally not right and fighting at that level you’re going to struggle.

Would He have beaten Lewis in their pomp ? dunno but mentally he was never right from just before the buster douglas fight and was never the same again.

Bowe for me ruined his reputation with dropping the WBC belt in the bin rather than fight Lewis, as Fidget says Lennox was living rent free in his head; if that fight had happened confident Lewis would have bombed him out of there and in short order

That's like saying that Haye would've beaten Wlad if he hadn't broken his toe At risk of repeating myself a few pages back...Every pro-Tyson arguement is hypothetical. He never turned it around in the face of adversity and lost the majority of his career defining fights. You look at his record... why didn't he fight Mercer, Tua, Moorer, Bowe, Briggs, Ruiz, Vitali, Ibeabuchi, Byrd? If he had more fights like this and won them, I'd say fair play. he was in his late 20s in the mid 90s and could have had some of those fights if he fancied them. Apart from Spinks it's hard to find a real standout win, Holmes was already a million years old.

[RichC]

Comparing a toe and the mental side of things, yeah ok that the same

Clearly someone that understands the power of the mind here

[fidget]

Anyone read Mike Tyson : Undisputed Truth ?
Incredible read. It's amazing Tyson won any of his fights once he lost his direction and that was an awful lot earlier than you'd expect. It's genuinely one of the most captivating biographies I've ever read.

[Zapater]

Anyone read Mike Tyson : Undisputed Truth ?
Incredible read. It's amazing Tyson won any of his fights once he lost his direction and that was an awful lot earlier than you'd expect. It's genuinely one of the most captivating biographies I've ever read.

I've seen the one man show with the same title, absolutely hysterical! I would urge people to watch it, not really too much about boxing but it's so ****ing funny. He's very good in it, can't be easy to execute a performance like that.

Have you seen Tyson? I loved it - very open, honest account. He's a lot more articulate than one would imagine. He said that he didn't like it as it was filmed just as he got out of rehab and he was in a strange space, but if that's the case for me it makes it more honest and from the heart. You really start looking at him as a product of his environment/victim of circumstance rather than a full out villain.

I've never thought of him as a great boxer, his claim is being the youngest heavyweight champ ever and you've got to respect that, but over time I've developed a lot of time for the guy. Clearly a maniac, but well read on historical matters, a bit of a laugh and a true student of the fight game.

[fidget]

Similar but I think I underrated him during his career for many of the reasons you list and after reading the book and seeing him interviewed a lot changed my opinion.
He's a fascinating character and quite capable of self-parody
I loved Mike Tyson Mysteries


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwa_5kRyIP0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwa_5kRyIP0[/ame]

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Anyone read Mike Tyson : Undisputed Truth ?
Incredible read. It's amazing Tyson won any of his fights once he lost his direction and that was an awful lot earlier than you'd expect. It's genuinely one of the most captivating biographies I've ever read.

When does the book suggest he started to go off the rails? After D'Amato died? When he met Givens?