Dang I forgot about Larry Holmes.

Abdul said:

I'm happy for Iron Mike, he deserves to be in the Boxing hall of fame no doubt.

As far as Prime Tyson vs. Prime Ali I pick Ali all day over Mike, he would use his reach and box circles around Mike IMO. Hell in all honesty I think a prime Larry Holmes gives a prime Iron Mike trouble too cause just like Ali he has that reach and he would keep Tyson on the end of his jab all night.

Prime Foreman vs. Prime Tyson would of been a war, I'm not sure who would come out on top of that one, they both had crazy power. One fight that would be real interesting would of been Prime Tyson vs. Prime Smokin' Joe Frazier, they had similar styles and were both tenacious in that ring!

Tyson's KO's were great and were fun to watch but as a boxing purist the only one that truly made me go WOW was the one against Michael Spinks, I truly thought Spinks would give him a challenge at least. We all know how that turned out

I can't really give a list of the best boxers of all time, but I can give a list of some of my favorites:

Muhammad Ali

Sugar Ray Robinson

Marvin Hagler

Salvador Sanchez

Larry Holmes

Pernell Whitaker

Roberto Duran

Roy Jones Jr.

Evander Holyfield

Ricardo Lopez

Sugar Ray Leonard

Thomas Hearns

Alexis Arguello

Aaron Pryor

Good list. Ali was a much better fighter than Mike at any point in his career but Mike in his prime was unbelievably quick to go along with the power and, most importantly, the hunger of a challenger. Nobody beats that Mike. Once he became champ you could see him slipping. The partying, the distractions, Don King... believing his own hype.

whodknee said:

Abdul said:

I'm happy for Iron Mike, he deserves to be in the Boxing hall of fame no doubt.

As far as Prime Tyson vs. Prime Ali I pick Ali all day over Mike, he would use his reach and box circles around Mike IMO. Hell in all honesty I think a prime Larry Holmes gives a prime Iron Mike trouble too cause just like Ali he has that reach and he would keep Tyson on the end of his jab all night.

Prime Foreman vs. Prime Tyson would of been a war, I'm not sure who would come out on top of that one, they both had crazy power. One fight that would be real interesting would of been Prime Tyson vs. Prime Smokin' Joe Frazier, they had similar styles and were both tenacious in that ring!

Tyson's KO's were great and were fun to watch but as a boxing purist the only one that truly made me go WOW was the one against Michael Spinks, I truly thought Spinks would give him a challenge at least. We all know how that turned out

I can't really give a list of the best boxers of all time, but I can give a list of some of my favorites:

Muhammad Ali

Sugar Ray Robinson

Marvin Hagler

Salvador Sanchez

Larry Holmes

Pernell Whitaker

Roberto Duran

Roy Jones Jr.

Evander Holyfield

Ricardo Lopez

Sugar Ray Leonard

Thomas Hearns

Alexis Arguello

Aaron Pryor

Good list. Ali was a much better fighter than Mike at any point in his career but Mike in his prime was unbelievably quick to go along with the power and, most importantly, the hunger of a challenger. Nobody beats that Mike. Once he became champ you could see him slipping. The partying, the distractions, Don King... believing his own hype.

Exactly right.

I'm sad that Mike doesn't fight anymore. But like he said, he no longer has love for the sport and his last fight was strictly for money.

True, Prime Tyson was quick, powerful, and hungry for a challenge and add to that his power intimidated most of his opponents before they even stepped foot in the ring but against a Prime Ali none of that would of mattered.

Prime Ali was too good a boxer for Prime Tyson, he also wouldn't have been intimidated by him like most of those early opponents pre Buster Douglass. Prime Mike would eat so many jab's trying to come inside on Ali and you know Prime Ali would be winning and talkin' shit to him the whole time.

Abdul said:

True, Prime Tyson was quick, powerful, and hungry for a challenge and add to that his power intimidated most of his opponents before they even stepped foot in the ring but against a Prime Ali none of that would of mattered.

Prime Ali was too good a boxer for Prime Tyson, he also wouldn't have been intimidated by him like most of those early opponents pre Buster Douglass. Prime Mike would eat so many jab's trying to come inside on Ali and you know Prime Ali would be winning and talkin' shit to him the whole time.

Mike would've shut him up quick. I didn't say Mike woulda knocked him out of the ring in 2 minutes but boxing him wouldn't have worked. Ali would've had to do like Holyfield did-- to an older Tyson mind you. Hold him and head-butt him until he got tired. That ain't boxing, that's surviving (and cheating). The problem is that a young Tyson would knock you out before that could work. All Mike did was wait for an opening and when he was fast it didn't take much. Like I said, it was mostly the hunger that fueled him. You could only keep him at bay with jabs and talking for so long.

People like to compare Mike to Joe Frazier because of their size and the way they came straight at you. However, Joe wasn't as quick and although he was powerful he wasn't knocking fools out like Mike. There's a reason those dudes were afraid before they got in the ring.

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

whodknee said:

Abdul said:

Mike would've shut him up quick. I didn't say Mike woulda knocked him out of the ring in 2 minutes but boxing him wouldn't have worked. Ali would've had to do like Holyfield did-- to an older Tyson mind you. Hold him and head-butt him until he got tired. That ain't boxing, that's surviving (and cheating). The problem is that a young Tyson would knock you out before that could work. All Mike did was wait for an opening and when he was fast it didn't take much. Like I said, it was mostly the hunger that fueled him. You could only keep him at bay with jabs and talking for so long.

People like to compare Mike to Joe Frazier because of their size and the way they came straight at you. However, Joe wasn't as quick and although he was powerful he wasn't knocking fools out like Mike. There's a reason those dudes were afraid before they got in the ring.

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

Yes a great jab and great footwork would of kept a Prime Tyson at bay, especially if it's coming from GOAT. If James "Quick" Tillis, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, and Tony Tubbs can go 12 rounds and have some success with keeping Prime Tyson at bay with that style then Prime Ali not only has success with it but straight up WHIPS him with it. Prime ALi made a living on bustin' guys up, stickin' and movin', when he won the title against his era's Tyson, Charles "Sonny" Liston, this style worked to perfection. Keep in mind Sonny like Mike had one punch KO power, he was just three inches taller and was coming off two first round KO'S of the great Floyd Patterson when Ali boxed his ears off the first time then straight up KO'd him in the next fight.

Plus you can't dismiss Ali's trash talkin' either, don't forget that Mike was and still is a fragile human being, I think Ali uses that to his advantage and get's in his head before they touch the ring.

What Holyfiled did was bullied the bully, just like Holyfiled like to foul with his head Tyson like to foul with his elbows. They were both dirty Holyfield was just more successful with his tatic then Mike was.

Abdul said:

whodknee said:

Mike would've shut him up quick. I didn't say Mike woulda knocked him out of the ring in 2 minutes but boxing him wouldn't have worked. Ali would've had to do like Holyfield did-- to an older Tyson mind you. Hold him and head-butt him until he got tired. That ain't boxing, that's surviving (and cheating). The problem is that a young Tyson would knock you out before that could work. All Mike did was wait for an opening and when he was fast it didn't take much. Like I said, it was mostly the hunger that fueled him. You could only keep him at bay with jabs and talking for so long.

People like to compare Mike to Joe Frazier because of their size and the way they came straight at you. However, Joe wasn't as quick and although he was powerful he wasn't knocking fools out like Mike. There's a reason those dudes were afraid before they got in the ring.

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

Yes a great jab and great footwork would of kept a Prime Tyson at bay, especially if it's coming from GOAT. If James "Quick" Tillis, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, and Tony Tubbs can go 12 rounds and have some success with keeping Prime Tyson at bay with that style then Prime Ali not only has success with it but straight up WHIPS him with it. Prime ALi made a living on bustin' guys up, stickin' and movin', when he won the title against his era's Tyson, Charles "Sonny" Liston, this style worked to perfection. Keep in mind Sonny like Mike had one punch KO power, he was just three inches taller and was coming off two first round KO'S of the great Floyd Patterson when Ali boxed his ears off the first time then straight up KO'd him in the next fight.

Plus you can't dismiss Ali's trash talkin' either, don't forget that Mike was and still is a fragile human being, I think Ali uses that to his advantage and get's in his head before they touch the ring.

What Holyfiled did was bullied the bully, just like Holyfiled like to foul with his head Tyson like to foul with his elbows. They were both dirty Holyfield was just more successful with his tatic then Mike was.

I love hearing comments from folks who truely understand what Holyfield was up 2.

whodknee said:

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

Watching the Buster Douglas fight, I could see something was 'off' with Mike. I truly believe the Tyson(under Cus) would have won that night.

Has anyone seen the PBS special 'Unforgivable Blackness' about Jack Johnson? I highly recommend it for you boxing historians. To me, Johnson was an early version of Ali.

uPtoWnNY said:

whodknee said:

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

Watching the Buster Douglas fight, I could see something was 'off' with Mike. I truly believe the Tyson(under Cus) would have won that night.

Has anyone seen the PBS special 'Unforgivable Blackness' about Jack Johnson? I highly recommend it for you boxing historians. To me, Johnson was an early version of Ali.

Loved that special. I'm surprised that he was not murdered back in his day.

Graycap23 said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Watching the Buster Douglas fight, I could see something was 'off' with Mike. I truly believe the Tyson(under Cus) would have won that night.

Has anyone seen the PBS special 'Unforgivable Blackness' about Jack Johnson? I highly recommend it for you boxing historians. To me, Johnson was an early version of Ali.

Loved that special. I'm surprised that he was not murdered back in his day.

Hell yeah. The country was only 45 years removed from the Civil War when Johnson beat Jeffries. You had lynchings and the rise of the KKK. For a black man to do what Johnson did(not to mention his brashness and fondness for white women) was incredible.

uPtoWnNY said:

whodknee said:

We'll never know who would've won and I have to admit that Prime Ali was great to watch. With his speed, footwork, the headgames, and conditioning if anybody could've beat that Mike it would've been Ali in his prime. Then again, it probably would've been some unknown dude that just had his number ala Buster Douglas. Who knows?

Watching the Buster Douglas fight, I could see something was 'off' with Mike. I truly believe the Tyson(under Cus) would have won that night.

Off? Mike was in L.A. the night before partying..................as Don King's guest.

uPtoWnNY said:

Graycap23 said:

Loved that special. I'm surprised that he was not murdered back in his day.

Hell yeah. The country was only 45 years removed from the Civil War when Johnson beat Jeffries. You had lynchings and the rise of the KKK. For a black man to do what Johnson did(not to mention his brashness and fondness for white women) was incredible.

Even Ali said he was crazy

Surprise he was never lynch for that

HuMpThAnG said:

Surprise he was never lynch for that

....or shot dead in the ring.

Congrats to "Iron Mike".

Mike Tyson was a bad ass (I was ordering all his fights back then, something I don't do now), but dude fought a lot of chumps for a big portion of his career. Look at a list of who he fought and tell me, honestly, that you know who most of those guys are. Still, he knocked 'em the hell out (sometimes in seconds) and made his "sport" even more popular than it had been in the past. So I'll agree that he deserves to be in the HOF.

Cerebus said:

Mike Tyson was a bad ass (I was ordering all his fights back then, something I don't do now), but dude fought a lot of chumps for a big portion of his career. Look at a list of who he fought and tell me, honestly, that you know who most of those guys are. Still, he knocked 'em the hell out (sometimes in seconds) and made his "sport" even more popular than it had been in the past. So I'll agree that he deserves to be in the HOF.

It was like Joe Louis' "Bum of the Month" club. For Mike, it was almost all the time because the heavyweight championship division was as its lowest ebb by the time Mike became professional in 1985. Ali's retirement in 1981 was still fresh on people's mind as was the first retirement of George Foreman in 1978 and the retirement of Frazier in the same year as Ali's. It was only Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick but Trevor wasn't a fan favorite and Larry was booed at almost every boxing match he faced after becoming champion (which got worse after his destruction of Ali). And there was Michael Spinks but he also showed limitation plus the age factor was already kicking in by the time Mike, then 20, entered. So I can see why they had Mike facing some unknowns, journeymen and people who should've been but never were championship potentials.

Cerebus said:

Mike Tyson was a bad ass (I was ordering all his fights back then, something I don't do now), but dude fought a lot of chumps for a big portion of his career.

In all fairness to Mike there weren't alot of great heavyweights during his career, out of all the top guys the only ones Mike didn't fight were his buddy Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe and old George Foreman.

Timmy84 said:

Cerebus said:

It was like Joe Louis' "Bum of the Month" club. For Mike, it was almost all the time because the heavyweight championship division was as its lowest ebb by the time Mike became professional in 1985. Ali's retirement in 1981 was still fresh on people's mind as was the first retirement of George Foreman in 1978 and the retirement of Frazier in the same year as Ali's. It was only Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick but Trevor wasn't a fan favorite and Larry was booed at almost every boxing match he faced after becoming champion (which got worse after his destruction of Ali). And there was Michael Spinks but he also showed limitation plus the age factor was already kicking in by the time Mike, then 20, entered. So I can see why they had Mike facing some unknowns, journeymen and people who should've been but never were championship potentials.

Naw Berbick was garbage, it was only Larry Holmes and a bunch of guys who couldn't beat him.

Abdul said:

Timmy84 said:

It was like Joe Louis' "Bum of the Month" club. For Mike, it was almost all the time because the heavyweight championship division was as its lowest ebb by the time Mike became professional in 1985. Ali's retirement in 1981 was still fresh on people's mind as was the first retirement of George Foreman in 1978 and the retirement of Frazier in the same year as Ali's. It was only Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick but Trevor wasn't a fan favorite and Larry was booed at almost every boxing match he faced after becoming champion (which got worse after his destruction of Ali). And there was Michael Spinks but he also showed limitation plus the age factor was already kicking in by the time Mike, then 20, entered. So I can see why they had Mike facing some unknowns, journeymen and people who should've been but never were championship potentials.

Naw Berbick was garbage, it was only Larry Holmes and a bunch of guys who couldn't beat him.

I meant Trevor as in he got lucky to get a belt. No doubt he was wack. He don't get points for defeating Ali since Ali was far beyond his best years at that point.

Mike Tyson intimidated most of his opponents even before he got in the ring. Even so, the competition Tyson scared into defeat were no where CLOSE to what Lewis, Ali, Frazier , Liston, encountered on a weekly bases getting to the top. Not taking anything from Tyson he fought who was there. How do you beat or get to Tyson? Box him inside and not out. Buster Douglas had the speed, the short jabs and the heart not to be afraid and beat Tyson's. The second fight Douglas wanted the paycheck.

TD3 said:

Mike Tyson intimidated most of his opponents even before he got in the ring. Even so, the competition Tyson scared into defeat were no where CLOSE to what Lewis, Ali, Frazier , Liston, encountered on a weekly bases getting to the top. Not taking anything from Tyson he fought who was there. How do you beat or get to Tyson? Box him inside and not out. Buster Douglas had the speed, the short jabs and the heart not to be afraid and beat Tyson's. The second fight Douglas wanted the paycheck.

Douglas beat Tyson because he was too upset over the death of his mother. After winning, he lost the spirit he had that beat Tyson. If his mother hadn't died, and I hate sounding that cynical, Tyson would've floored him in Round 1. Real talk.

Timmy84 said:

Abdul said:

Naw Berbick was garbage, it was only Larry Holmes and a bunch of guys who couldn't beat him.

I meant Trevor as in he got lucky to get a belt. No doubt he was wack. He don't get points for defeating Ali since Ali was far beyond his best years at that point.

Timmy84 said:

TD3 said:

Mike Tyson intimidated most of his opponents even before he got in the ring. Even so, the competition Tyson scared into defeat were no where CLOSE to what Lewis, Ali, Frazier , Liston, encountered on a weekly bases getting to the top. Not taking anything from Tyson he fought who was there. How do you beat or get to Tyson? Box him inside and not out. Buster Douglas had the speed, the short jabs and the heart not to be afraid and beat Tyson's. The second fight Douglas wanted the paycheck.

Douglas beat Tyson because he was too upset over the death of his mother. After winning, he lost the spirit he had that beat Tyson. If his mother hadn't died, and I hate sounding that cynical, Tyson would've floored him in Round 1. Real talk.

Hey, I'm sorry about the lose of his (Douglas) mother but Douglas beat Tyson's ass from 1st and onward.

TD3 said:

Timmy84 said:

Douglas beat Tyson because he was too upset over the death of his mother. After winning, he lost the spirit he had that beat Tyson. If his mother hadn't died, and I hate sounding that cynical, Tyson would've floored him in Round 1. Real talk.

Hey, I'm sorry about the lose of his (Douglas) mother but Douglas beat Tyson's ass from 1st and onward.

Even before Tyson though, he usually would get into the fight then he'd stop. I think another reason why it went the way it did was because Tyson forgot the skills he was brought up on so he fought real lazingly and that made it easier for Douglas to give him a whipping. Tyson did say his career died on February 11, 1990 and he's right.

Timmy84 said:

TD3 said:

Hey, I'm sorry about the lose of his (Douglas) mother but Douglas beat Tyson's ass from 1st and onward.

Even before Tyson though, he usually would get into the fight then he'd stop. I think another reason why it went the way it did was because Tyson forgot the skills he was brought up on so he fought real lazingly and that made it easier for Douglas to give him a whipping. Tyson did say his career died on February 11, 1990 and he's right.

Tyson said he was sleeping with every japanese girl he could get his hands on. I have the feeling he just did not prepare well for that fight.

Timmy84 said:

Even before Tyson though, he usually would get into the fight then he'd stop. I think another reason why it went the way it did was because Tyson forgot the skills he was brought up on so he fought real lazingly and that made it easier for Douglas to give him a whipping. Tyson did say his career died on February 11, 1990 and he's right.

NDRU said:

Timmy84 said:

Even before Tyson though, he usually would get into the fight then he'd stop. I think another reason why it went the way it did was because Tyson forgot the skills he was brought up on so he fought real lazingly and that made it easier for Douglas to give him a whipping. Tyson did say his career died on February 11, 1990 and he's right.

Tyson said he was sleeping with every japanese girl he could get his hands on. I have the feeling he just did not prepare well for that fight.

Yeah he compared it to Caligula. I loved how he said "Buster kicked my butt!"

Graycap23 said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Ali would fight him like he did Foreman. I'm not saying Tyson wouldn't hurt Ali. Ali got rocked by Big George. But I think Ali wins a split decision.

No one beats Mike Tyson pre Don King.

NO ONE!

MEMO: Evander Holyfield out-boxed Mike Tyson during Olympic game try-outs. Evander knew many years BEFORE James "Buster" Douglas & Lennox Lewis that Mike can be defeated.