Don’t get me wrong I was a big fan but he never beat any elite heavyweights in their prime. He ducked Foreman, got dominated twice by Holyfield, once by Lewis. Riddick Bowe would’ve given him major issues. Teddy Atlas was spot on about him though in my opinion.
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Is he that overhyped? He is never considered in any top 10 heavyweight boxer lists or anything. He’s just known as the most exciting HW boxer not the best.
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Definitely not the most over hyper fighter of all time.
That’s ludicrous.
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Incorrect.
https://www.givemesport.com/1620283-boxing-who-are-the-greatest-heavyweight-boxers-of-all-time
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This title is owned by conor
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No Wilder is.
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No. He was the consensus #1 HW in the world for several years, and the scariest man on the planet for that period across all sports.
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Absolutely not. The guy was exciting. A world champion and had huge potential that was impacted by lifestyle and prison.
It’s a testament to his talent and how good he was that he could even win fights after being in prison looking nothing like his peak.
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Never beat any great or even truly good heavyweight in their primes, was kept away from fighters like Tim Witherspoon and avoided Holyfield as long as he could. Exciting yes, great no
Ive wondered just how different Mike’s life would’ve been if cus wouldn’t have passed away .
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It’s one of those deals where if you lived through it, you got sold the hype, you’re gonna stay sucked in for life. People live in “woulda coulda shoulda” world with Tyson.
The cold hard facts? He was right place, right time. Would he have wiped the fucking floor with Rocky Marciano, peak for peak? Of course. It would be 1 round and done. Mike didn’t get to fight the Rock. He got to fight fat crackheads. And now his record doesn’t hold up to scrutiny because he fought who was there to fight…sucks, but it is what it is.
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He’s the David Beckham of boxing. Neither was the best of their era… but that doesn’t mean they weren’t good. Both captured the mainstream media’s #1 spot for coverage (for clearly different reasons). The most hyped of their era, certainly. To make another sports analogy it’d be like Jason Kidd being the most covered NBA player of his era. Same standing in his league but he had neither the personality or the looks to garner the attention.
He wasn’t overhyped.
He lived up to the hype by becoming the youngest HW champion ever, and a world-wide household name in a time before internet.
Substance abuse, a tumultuous personal life,and leeches like Don King and his goon squad – contributed to Tyson’s downfall.
Once Jim Jacobs died,and Kevin Rooney was out of the picture, it was all downhill.
He was a shell of his former self in the 90s, and still managed to win a title again.
At his peak – short as it was – he’s absolutely one of the best ever, and certainly one of the most dangerous.
He doesn’t belong in the GOAT conversation, because he fell so far for so long.
His legacy is defined more by his downfalls than his accomplishments.
Ali lost fights past his prime. But his career is defined by his success.
Big difference.
In terms of ability, Tyson tends to get underrated by a certain group of younger fans, who like to listen to themselves regurgitate old cliches and think they sound smart.
The reality is, he was absolutely a great fighter.
Anyone who says otherwise is just a hater trying to sound hip.
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Old man Tyson is still scary ass mofo
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100%. People told me I was insane when I would say she’s wildly overhyped.
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Is OP the most overrated poster of all time?
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Anyone with brains knew that. It’s how I won money on Holly and Amanda.
You must have been telling a bunch of fair weather bandwagoners and Joe Rogan.
Tyson was fucking 40-1 before going to prison, and won like 10 title fights over about 4 years before losing to Buster Douglas. Him ducking Foreman is a joke. George was retired for a decade before he came back and beat a bunch of guys who were like 20-16, 19-4, 14-16, 3-9-2 etc…those are actual records of guys he fought in 1988-1989…there were some decent fighters mixed in there, but every guy he beat before losing to Holyfield would be considered a tomato can if they were on Tyson’s record.
As for the ducking Evander thing…his first HWT fight ever was in July of 1988. He looked great in those HWT fights, going 5-0 with 5 knockouts, but we’re talking about roughly a year and a half that Evander was even in the same weight class before Mike lost his belts to Buster Douglas…Mike only fought 3 fucking times while Evander was fighting at HWT, and the 3rd was Douglas. The revisionist history on that one is great, Evander makes it seem like it was the obvious fight to make and everyone couldn’t possibly believe Mike wasn’t fighting him. Could Evander have beaten him if Mike fought him instead of Douglas? Yeah, maybe…but it wasn’t like Mike was actively avoiding the top guys. The buzz on Evander was just starting to really hit when Mike lost to Douglas.
Mike was a different guy after prison, clearly not the same fighter he was before it…and anytime you take a 26 year old guy away from a sport for 4 years it’s likely he’s gonna lose a step. Even in his wins after prison, he didn’t look like the same guy. For the years he was champ before prison, the hype was absolutely deserved…but his run wasn’t long enough to really put him in the GOAT conversation in my opinion. You really have to project how he would have done if not for jail to put him there IMO.
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