Tyson almost knocked Douglas out.. and thats with fukking off his training. Tyson definitely was in the class of "coulda been the greatest". But at his best, I dont think Holyfield or Lewis beats him. By the time he fought Lennox, Lewis was at his peak and Tyson was about done.
Realistically Mike Tyson belongs no where near the top 5
- Thread starter BrothaZay
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Tyson almost knocked Douglas out.. and thats with fukking off his training. Tyson definitely was in the class of "coulda been the greatest". But at his best, I dont think Holyfield or Lewis beats him. By the time he fought Lennox, Lewis was at his peak and Tyson was about done.
Technically, and if we’re being cautious and overly respectful to the WBO as an organization, the answer is Tyson, since the WBO was formed during his reign and goofishly chose to call Francesco Damiani its champion instead of Tyson at that time. The WBO didn’t recognize its first actual legitimately-reigning champion until 2009, when its beltholder Wladimir Klitschko beat the best available contender, Ruslan Chagaev. The three other belts had been unified between the WBO reigns of Damiani and Wlad by Tyson, Douglas, Holyfield, Bowe, and Lewis, with a short break in unification due to Bowe’s refusal to fight his WBC mandatory, Lewis. If we’re ignoring the shyt-show that the early WBO represents, then the list above would suffice, making the answer Lewis. So technically we both are right.
Laidbackman
All Star
Tyson didn't almost knock Douglas out. As soon as he went down, he immediately pounded the canvas out of disappointment. He was alert enough to take the whole count. He wasn't someone getting off the canvas not knowing where they were. And they really need to stop saying he got a long count. Based on what I just said, those few seconds would have no way made a difference.
Laidbackman
All Star
Saying Douglas wasn't fighting no slouch was my way of saying Holyfield was no slouch.
Erratic415
Superstar
Douglas was talented but lazy. His father was a middleweight contender back in the days.
Douglas almost fought Tyson back in 87’. On the undercard of Tyson against Pinklon Thomas (go watch the knockout, I’m surprised Pink’s head didn’t explode), Douglas fought Tony Tucker for the IBF belt. Douglas was doing well, but faded and got stopped late. He seemed to mentally just give in, and his father stopped working with him after that, he was frustrated by his lack of desire.
Tucker ended up fighting Tyson a couple of months later and losing a decision. Tucker actually did fairly well, winning some early rounds. Tyson out jabbed Tucker, who’s about half a foot taller and had a foot in reach on Tyson.
Douglas’s (lack of) effort against Holyfield showed how lazy he could be. He showed up fat and got knocked out by the first good punch he took. Mills Lane was the ref and said “I don’t know if Buster could have gotten up, but he sure as hell did not try”
It’s a giant mess with all the belts.
The WBO is more of a 21st century thing, at least in the US. Nobody in the 90s considered the WBO titlists to be considered legit HW champs at the time. It was more respected in the UK. Marco Antonio Barrera fighting for WBO belts and being one of the best p4p fighters in the world also seemed to add credibility to the WBO. Barrera for awhile didn’t want to fight for the WBC belts because of their sanctioning fees were more expensive.
People think boxing had one belt for most of its history, but it was generally 2 recognized belts since the 1920s. Usually one guy had both, but sometimes it was split. The 1980s is when it started turning ridiculous.
Larry Holmes was the WBC champ and recognized as the closest thing to a lineal champ. Ali retired as the lineal champ after the Spinks rematch, and Holmes beat him when he came back 2 years later. The WBA had a string of title holders like Weaver, Tate, Coetzee, etc....Holmes got stripped of the his WBC belt for not fighting Greg Page, he made more money fighting Marvis Frazier. The IBF came on the scene and wanted credibility, so they anointed Holmes the champion. Holmes kept defending the IBF belt until he lost to Michael Spinks (who got lucky in their rematch). Spinks refused to enter the HBO heavyweight tournament and got stripped of his IBF belt. He got more $$ to fight Gerry c00ney. Tyson ends up winning the HBO tournament and has the WBC/WBA/IBF belts and gets called “undisputed, unified heavyweight champion” going into the Spinks fight while others like The Ring Magazine call Spinks the legit champion since he never officially lost it in the ring.
The Bowe/Lewis thing was a mess too. Rock Newman had beef with the WBC. Newman/Team Bowe also negotiated a good deal with HBO, where he was getting paid big money to fight overmatched opponents. HBO would later be knocked for giving a similar deal to Roy Jones. The WBC stripped Bowe and gave it to Lewis, who lost it to McCall, who lost it to Bruno, who lost it to Tyson, who got stripped for not fighting Lewis in 96’. Tyson was with Don King who was with Showtime, Lewis was with HBO. Lewis ended up beating McCall (crying during a mental breakdown) for the WBC belt.
The WBA and IBF belts went from Bowe to
Holyfield to Moorer to Foreman. Foreman got stripped of both belts afterwards. Eventually both belts ended up in the hands of Holyfield. Foreman eventually lost a bullshyt decision to Shannon Briggs. So Briggs actually had the lineal claim from Foreman, but people didn’t take that too seriously when Briggs fought Lewis in 98’. Everyone knew Lewis & Holyfield were the top 2 HWs in 98’ and then they fought in 99’.
Douglas almost fought Tyson back in 87’. On the undercard of Tyson against Pinklon Thomas (go watch the knockout, I’m surprised Pink’s head didn’t explode), Douglas fought Tony Tucker for the IBF belt. Douglas was doing well, but faded and got stopped late. He seemed to mentally just give in, and his father stopped working with him after that, he was frustrated by his lack of desire.
Tucker ended up fighting Tyson a couple of months later and losing a decision. Tucker actually did fairly well, winning some early rounds. Tyson out jabbed Tucker, who’s about half a foot taller and had a foot in reach on Tyson.
Douglas’s (lack of) effort against Holyfield showed how lazy he could be. He showed up fat and got knocked out by the first good punch he took. Mills Lane was the ref and said “I don’t know if Buster could have gotten up, but he sure as hell did not try”
It’s a giant mess with all the belts.
The WBO is more of a 21st century thing, at least in the US. Nobody in the 90s considered the WBO titlists to be considered legit HW champs at the time. It was more respected in the UK. Marco Antonio Barrera fighting for WBO belts and being one of the best p4p fighters in the world also seemed to add credibility to the WBO. Barrera for awhile didn’t want to fight for the WBC belts because of their sanctioning fees were more expensive.
People think boxing had one belt for most of its history, but it was generally 2 recognized belts since the 1920s. Usually one guy had both, but sometimes it was split. The 1980s is when it started turning ridiculous.
Larry Holmes was the WBC champ and recognized as the closest thing to a lineal champ. Ali retired as the lineal champ after the Spinks rematch, and Holmes beat him when he came back 2 years later. The WBA had a string of title holders like Weaver, Tate, Coetzee, etc....Holmes got stripped of the his WBC belt for not fighting Greg Page, he made more money fighting Marvis Frazier. The IBF came on the scene and wanted credibility, so they anointed Holmes the champion. Holmes kept defending the IBF belt until he lost to Michael Spinks (who got lucky in their rematch). Spinks refused to enter the HBO heavyweight tournament and got stripped of his IBF belt. He got more $$ to fight Gerry c00ney. Tyson ends up winning the HBO tournament and has the WBC/WBA/IBF belts and gets called “undisputed, unified heavyweight champion” going into the Spinks fight while others like The Ring Magazine call Spinks the legit champion since he never officially lost it in the ring.
The Bowe/Lewis thing was a mess too. Rock Newman had beef with the WBC. Newman/Team Bowe also negotiated a good deal with HBO, where he was getting paid big money to fight overmatched opponents. HBO would later be knocked for giving a similar deal to Roy Jones. The WBC stripped Bowe and gave it to Lewis, who lost it to McCall, who lost it to Bruno, who lost it to Tyson, who got stripped for not fighting Lewis in 96’. Tyson was with Don King who was with Showtime, Lewis was with HBO. Lewis ended up beating McCall (crying during a mental breakdown) for the WBC belt.
The WBA and IBF belts went from Bowe to
Holyfield to Moorer to Foreman. Foreman got stripped of both belts afterwards. Eventually both belts ended up in the hands of Holyfield. Foreman eventually lost a bullshyt decision to Shannon Briggs. So Briggs actually had the lineal claim from Foreman, but people didn’t take that too seriously when Briggs fought Lewis in 98’. Everyone knew Lewis & Holyfield were the top 2 HWs in 98’ and then they fought in 99’.
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Laidbackman
All Star
We never got to see Lewis vs Bowe in the pros. When Bowe was at his prime, I never gave Lewis a chance. Then I started watching Lewis more, and learned he wasn't undefeated for nothing. He accused Bowe for ducking him, since he stopped him in the Olympics. He use to call him Chicken Bowe. I think Lewis was one of the most underrated heavyweights. I underated him to, but had more respect for him later. I wounded up picking him to win when he fought Holyfield, when most people didn't. He may have even beat Bowe in their primes.