Originally Posted by Chiefshrink:
Respectfully disagree. Tyson was never a boxer and never had to be a boxer because of his nuclear punching ability. But that was Tyson's big weakness was that he never learned to box when it mattered most a la Douglas/Holyfield exposing him. Yes Tyson had many distractions along the way as you mentioned that didn't help but Tyson never learned to truly box when he needed to against the great fighters like Holyfield.
I disagree.
Post-Rooney Tyson was not a boxer, and post-prison Tyson especially. Before that, he was a tremendous defensive fighter that could get inside of larger men and throw accurate, heavy, lightning-fast combinations. He had great head movement, and an adequate jab, especially from '87 on.
After Robin Givens, Don King, and the accumulation of his personal demons, he just didn't care about boxing, and resorted to becoming a headhunter. [Reply]
Originally Posted by stevieray:
....and losing Cus...if not for those two things....:-)
On the same note...I just read "The Undisputed Truth" holy shit was that GOOD. That's the most entertaining book I've read in awhile and I'm a huge book nerd. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefshrink:
Respectfully disagree. Tyson was never a boxer and never had to be a boxer because of his nuclear punching ability. But that was Tyson's big weakness was that he never learned to box when it mattered most a la Douglas/Holyfield exposing him. Yes Tyson had many distractions along the way as you mentioned that didn't help but Tyson never learned to truly box when he needed to against the great fighters like Holyfield.
Demonstrably wrong.
Early Tyson had SERIOUS boxing skills. He set up his vicious uppercuts by making people miss.
Young Tyson was very hard to hit, and when he made you miss, he responded with devastating combinations. That's boxing skills.
Wilder hits every bit as hard as Tyson - and he has a longer reach. I like Wilder because he's just straight up pure power and he hunts KO's. I don't really like to watch "crafty" fighters like Fury or great athletic defensive fighters like Mayweather. I like more offensive style, reckless just natural talent like Wilder. Tyson was in that mold, too. Just short. [Reply]
In sportshrink's defense, this is probably the Tyson he remembers:
This is Tyson Holyfield I in 1996. Here you see some ghost of head movement, but it's nothing like the early Tyson whose head bobbed all over the place. He's much more stationary which made him much easier to hit. [Reply]
Here's someone explaining Muhammad Ali's technique:
Ali is much smaller than current heavyweights. In his peak, he weighed in from 206-216. Of course, heavyweights got much bigger with serious weight training starting in the 80's. Give Ali current training methods and he'd come in much bigger; he'd probably fight at at least 225 to 230.
However, look at Ali, then go look at that Joshua/Ruiz travesty. Those guys just suck. They have stationary heads. Fat boy has fast hands, but would never be able to deal with Ali's movement. Joshua looks like Adonis, but doesn't move for shit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyV13:
The heavyweight division has gone to shit.
Here's someone explaining Muhammad Ali's technique:
Ali is much smaller than current heavyweights. In his peak, he weighed in from 206-216. Of course, heavyweights got much bigger with serious weight training starting in the 80's. Give Ali current training methods and he'd come in much bigger; he'd probably fight at at least 225 to 230.
However, look at Ali, then go look at that Joshua/Ruiz travesty. Those guys just suck. They have stationary heads. Fat boy has fast hands, but would never be able to deal with Ali's movement. Joshua looks like Adonis, but doesn't move for shit.
Heavyweight division is the best it's been since Lewis/Holyfield/Bowe/Tyson Era of the 90s. The Klitchsko era was beyond awful [Reply]
Originally Posted by ILChief:
Heavyweight division is the best it's been since Lewis/Holyfield/Bowe/Tyson Era of the 90s. The Klitchsko era was beyond awful
Agreed. The heavyweight division is back.
I dont expect this fight tonight Fury vs Schwartz to be too exciting, because of how crafty Fury is but its better than watching 140 lbs men box. [Reply]
