TYSON - Where did it all go wrong?

[-CANE-]

Tyson - Why he just makes top 10, and where did it all go wrong?

I recently published Top 10 Greatest Heavyweights. Here I will try to explain why I had Tyson down at no.10, and where I think it went wrong. Mike Tyson was certainly a phenomenan, at 13 he could have knocked out many men. Blessed with speed and power, and a vast knowledge of boxing and a love for the fight game he looked set to rule the boxing world for a long time. So where did it all go wrong? I feel that although Cus D'Amato helped shape and mould Tyson into a brilliant offensive and defensive fighter, however he set Tyson some very bad examples in life and how to treat fellow human being's. We all know the story of a 16yr old Tyson and Teddy Atlas's 11 yr old neice, and Teddy dragging Tyson into an alley way and putting a gun to a young Tyson's head. D'Amato's response to this was to sack Atlas in order to protect Tyson and his own selfish dream of having the youngest ever Heavyweight champ before he died. There are many instances in which Tyson got involved in, yet every time they were brushed aside. Had they not been and D'Amato been more disciplined he might not have got into so much trouble later in his career. He should have been the greatest of all-time, and possibly could have been had he not lacked one thing. Tyson has always lacked self-confidence, and never liked it when anyone stood up to him, even when winning fights. In his fights with Lewis,Holyfield and Douglas, those who weren't beaten before the bell rang and stood up to him Tyson never fought back and tried to win, he seemed resigned to getting beat. He never quit though and always took his beating's like a man, but he never had the heart to really dig deep when it really mattered. Had he the heart of Holyfield, and been disiplined earlier could have been the greatest ever. That's why he is down at no.10. Your thought's please.

[StarshipTrooper]

Where did it go wrong? I'm not really sure it actually went wrong. I don't even have Tyson in my top 12 and there's a reason for it. The Tyson everyone thinks "went wrong" was an illusion: He never actually existed. When you combine media hype with a fighter who gives people what they want (brutal KOs) you have the makings of a fantasy. Mike Tyson looked awesome knocking out tomato cans for most of his career. Fighters who generate lots of offense are invariably built up in people's minds into something greater than they really are. People LIKE offense and they like KOs. They WANT fighters like Tyson to be better than they really are. Tyson wasn't a Potemkin Village the way some over-hyped fighters are: There actually WAS some substance behind it; but he was never the unbeatable monster people built him up to be. He was a very good, very entertaining fighter who fought nearly up to, but not all the way, to his potential. He shouldn't be lamented for not remaining something he never was. Where things DID go wrong was in his personal life where his lack up self-control destroyed him not as a fighter but as a human being. THAT is what should be lamented because it's a sad, sad tale. I don't think Mike is a bad person but I think he never learned to control his base impulses. It truly is a shame and I pity him for what he COULD have been as a human being and what is now lost.

Poet

[No1]

Where did it go wrong? I'm not really sure it actually went wrong. I don't even have Tyson in my top 12 and there's a reason for it. The Tyson everyone thinks "went wrong" was an illusion: He never actually existed. When you combine media hype with a fighter who gives people what they want (brutal KOs) you have the makings of a fantasy. Mike Tyson looked awesome knocking out tomato cans for most of his career. Fighters who generate lots of offense are invariably built up in people's minds into something greater than they really are. People LIKE offense and they like KOs. They WANT fighters like Tyson to be better than they really are. Tyson wasn't a Potemkin Village the way some over-hyped fighters are: There actually WAS some substance behind it; but he was never the unbeatable monster people built him up to be. He was a very good, very entertaining fighter who fought nearly up to, but not all the way, to his potential. He shouldn't be lamented for not remaining something he never was. Where things DID go wrong was in his personal life where his lack up self-control destroyed him not as a fighter but as a human being. THAT is what should be lamented because it's a sad, sad tale. I don't think Mike is a bad person but I think he never learned to control his base impulses. It truly is a shame and I pity him for what he COULD have been as a human being and what is now lost.

Poet

good post. I to agree he was built up a little. But then again he was superb to watch and proberly the most exiting heavyweight to watch of all time.

[ianwigley]

Tyson - Why he just makes top 10, and where did it all go wrong?

I recently published Top 10 Greatest Heavyweights. Here I will try to explain why I had Tyson down at no.10, and where I think it went wrong. Mike Tyson was certainly a phenomenan, at 13 he could have knocked out many men. Blessed with speed and power, and a vast knowledge of boxing and a love for the fight game he looked set to rule the boxing world for a long time. So where did it all go wrong? I feel that although Cus D'Amato helped shape and mould Tyson into a brilliant offensive and defensive fighter, however he set Tyson some very bad examples in life and how to treat fellow human being's. We all know the story of a 16yr old Tyson and Teddy Atlas's 11 yr old neice, and Teddy dragging Tyson into an alley way and putting a gun to a young Tyson's head. D'Amato's response to this was to sack Atlas in order to protect Tyson and his own selfish dream of having the youngest ever Heavyweight champ before he died. There are many instances in which Tyson got involved in, yet every time they were brushed aside. Had they not been and D'Amato been more disciplined he might not have got into so much trouble later in his career. He should have been the greatest of all-time, and possibly could have been had he not lacked one thing. Tyson has always lacked self-confidence, and never liked it when anyone stood up to him, even when winning fights. In his fights with Lewis,Holyfield and Douglas, those who weren't beaten before the bell rang and stood up to him Tyson never fought back and tried to win, he seemed resigned to getting beat. He never quit though and always took his beating's like a man, but he never had the heart to really dig deep when it really mattered. Had he the heart of Holyfield, and been disiplined earlier could have been the greatest ever. That's why he is down at no.10. Your thought's please.

Where did it all go wrong?

James Douglas, Tokyo, Japan, that's where it alll went wrong for Mike Tyson.

[BKM-]

Not it didn't. 2 first round knockouts one being a decent fighter in Stewart. 2 of the best slugfests Tyson ever had in his career against Ruddock. All after Douglass, and he looked so much better in these fights than in the Buster fight. Prison is where it went wrong for Mike.

[Energy]

It didn't go wrong anywhere, he became world champ for God's sake.

[Brassangel]

Douglas was good for Tyson. Ego was bad for Tyson. Being a kid on top of the world, being told he's invincible, being gifted everything he ever wants and not being told, "no" or given discipline...aweful for anybody! Especially someone as messed up mentally as Tyson.

[kayjay]

What poet said. The Tyson who "should have been" the greatest ever NEVER EXISTED. Holyfield and Lewis had more of the fighter in them, and more stability, and always would have edged him anyway.

[Hawkins]

Three reasons it all went wrong. The Givens women and Don King. Thats a recipe for disaster.

[them_apples]

Yea how did it go wrong? he was the youngest HW ever, and unified all 3 belts, he saved boxing in the 80's and was incredible to watch.

To become a 3 time heavyweight champion you need to lose a few belts to, Tyson was untouched for a very long stretch.