If Mike Tyson was around 1963-80, would he have won a title?

[irishdude]

In the Liston, Clay/Ali, Frazier, Foreman and then Holmes era.

If he came out in 1963, it would have take him 2 years to get a shot IMO. I would claim he would have got to Ali or Liston, beating anyone below them, Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Cooper, etc. I would rate his chances 50/50 against Liston, but I see pre-1970 Ali winning on the vast majority of occasions. Ali would beat Tyson late by Technical Knockout in 1966, Tyson frustrated an a swollen face. So in total for 1963-67, he wouldn't win a title in my book.

Lets look at 1967-73, with no Ali till 70. Joe Frazier, Norton and an up and coming Foreman. I can see Frazier and Tyson winning half of the time each. Tyson would hold it 67-70, winning Tyson-Frazier 1. Frazier would win Tyson Frazier II and hold it 70-73. I think 71 Foreman would beat Tyson so that would push Tyson down the rankings. Tyson to beat Norton by 5th round KO in 1972.

In the year 1973 Tyson would have been fighting for 10 years, so now he is 28 years of age. Foreman would claim the title in 1973 from Frazier an defeat challenging Tyson at the start of 1974. He would lose it later in 1974 to Ali. I think a 1975 Ali would take 30 year old Tyson the distance, scoring with jabs, not getting punished for holding behind the neck and taking all the mid-rounds while dancing. Ali to win by UD.

1975-1980 Tyson, 30-35 years old. I can see a third fight in 1975 between Frazier-Tyson, going 15 rounds and being declared a draw. I see Tyson making a last go in 1978 but he loses to Larry Holmes in an eliminator for the title. He would retire in 1980.

Title Holdings

1962-1964 Liston.
1964-1967 Ali.
1967-1970 Tyson.
1970-1973 Frazier.
1973-1974 Foreman.
1974-1978 Ali.
1978-1980 Holmes.

[Joeyzagz]

Tough to say. Tyson has never beaten an A class fighter in his life.


He had a youth advantage over both Lennox and Holyfeild and could not give either trouble.

He ducked a 40 year old Foreman for christs sake...dont see him doing much of anything in the 70s.

[Toney616]

Tough to say. Tyson has never beaten an A class fighter in his life.

Not many Hw's fighters do. Neither Lewis or Holmes beat a A class fighter

He had a youth advantage over both Lennox and Holyfield and could not give either trouble.

I still cant believe you are playing this card

He ducked a 40 year old Foreman for christs sake...dont see him doing much of anything in the 70s.

When Tyson was with Cayton/Rooney, a World Tour was planned, he planned to fight Holyfield in Japan, Bruno in England and Foreman in America, that fell apart as Tyson would leave Cayton for King.

[Joeyzagz]

I still cant believe you are playing this card

Weve gone over this a million times. I simply have a different opinion than you on the subject of age. I never claimed that I was right, or that you were wrong. Its my opinion, you are entitled to your own.

Physically, Tyson looked pretty good to me from 1999-2002, he was knocking out guys that average HW's go the distance with. Byrd fought Golota to a draw while this so-called shot Tyson sparked him out and scared him from the ring.

I never bought the shot-Tyson theory. His style and mentality was highly effective against scrubs, but would never work against an elite fighter like Holyfeild and Lewis.

[SBleeder]

If Tyson had fought Liston anywhere near Liston's prime, his career would have effectively been ended. If Tyson somehow made it out of a fight with Liston without permanent injuries then he would have given up on his career much as he did in the 1980s. Liston is the worst conceivable match=up for Tyson.

If Tyson were able to duck Liston, Clay/Ali would have stopped him easily anytime in the sixties or seventies.

The rest of the analysis is unnecessary as we saw how ineffective Tyson was against good fighters after his early 20s.

So no, Tyson would not have a chance to win the Title in the best eras of heavyweight boxing.

In all likelihood, Tyson would have allowed the Mob to take over his career in the 1960s. If not, he would have done something ****** and gone to prison.

[Toney616]

Weve gone over this a million times. I simply have a different opinion than you on the subject of age. I never claimed that I was right, or that you were wrong. Its my opinion, you are entitled to your own.

Okay, cool

Physically, Tyson looked pretty good to me from 1999-2002, he was knocking out guys that average HW's go the distance with. Byrd fought Golota to a draw while this so-called shot Tyson sparked him out and scared him from the ring.

I would argue that was Tyson at rock bottom. His fights at that point were basically circus shows

I never bought the shot-Tyson theory. His style and mentality was highly effective against scrubs, but would never work against an elite fighter like Holyfeild and Lewis.

People change. There's a massive difference between fighting for a place in history and fighting because you just want to get paid. Even Jim Lampley would call post prison Tyson a bad impersonation of himself(lol)

Tyson basically fell out of love with Boxing soon after Damato died, he said he wanted to quit after the Spinks fight

[sonnyboyx2]

Tough to say. Tyson has never beaten an A class fighter in his life.


He had a youth advantage over both Lennox and Holyfeild and could not give either trouble.

He ducked a 40 year old Foreman for christs sake...dont see him doing much of anything in the 70s.

same can be said of Lennox Lewis in that he has never beaten a Class A fighter

No i don't think Tyson would win a world title during that period but he would be a world class contender of the Golden Era.

[BennyST]

Weve gone over this a million times. I simply have a different opinion than you on the subject of age. I never claimed that I was right, or that you were wrong. Its my opinion, you are entitled to your own.

Physically, Tyson looked pretty good to me from 1999-2002, he was knocking out guys that average HW's go the distance with. Byrd fought Golota to a draw while this so-called shot Tyson sparked him out and scared him from the ring.

I never bought the shot-Tyson theory. His style and mentality was highly effective against scrubs, but would never work against an elite fighter like Holyfeild and Lewis.

People can have different opinions, but opinions need to be formed by intelligent, informed thought and factual observation. Opinions can be wrong. Just because someone has an opinion does not mean it's right, just because they can have one.

You can have the opinion that the sky is red. It is not however. You can have the opinion cold blooded murder for murders sake is not wrong.

Chronological age in boxing means nothing. It is right in front of your face and there have been so many documented cases of one guy fighting in his prime until 35 and another dying in the ass at 25. Chronological age has **** all to do with boxing and going by that just because it's your opinion and you can have one therefore it is right in your eyes, is as ****** and ignorant as having the opinion that the sky is red. The answer is right in front of your eyes. The only reason you would say anything different is not because of your opinion but because of an ignorant refusal to see the facts as they obviously are.

The answer is obvious and right in front of your damn face.

[sonnyboyx2]

Okay, cool

I would argue that was Tyson at rock bottom. His fights at that point were basically circus shows

People change. There's a massive difference between fighting for a place in history and fighting because you just want to get paid. Even Jim Lampley would call post prison Tyson a bad impersonation of himself(lol)

Tyson basically fell out of love with Boxing soon after Damato died, he said he wanted to quit after the Spinks fight

Listen... i have had several months of Joeyzagz slating off Mike Tyson and he does it so as to glorify his hero Lennox Lewis, he comes out with the most laughable statistics imaginable

Tyson was younger than Lewis
Tyson never beat a single worthy opponent
Tyson's incarceration is meaningless
Tyson was always afraid of Lewis
Tyson paid step-a-side-money to Lewis
Triangle theories
blah, blah, blah

He obviously was not following boxing during the period 1986-1992... The difference between Tyson & Lewis is that Tyson fought opponents who was "AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME"...Lewis never fought any opponents who was "AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME"

[MickyHatton]

I agree with most of your content.

What must be taken into account is that regardless of what happened to Tyson and who he did or didn't fight he was an awesome fighter for a period.

Also we must take in account that he fought around 218/220lbs in his prime (or best years) whereas Ali, Holmes and Frazier fought at 205lbs in their prime .

Like anything like this it comes down to guess work and opinion.

I see Tyson struggling with the young Ali in the same way Liston did, although Tyson had very quick hands and feet so....

I see Tyson beating Frazier who's fight plan was to take shots to give shots (immense heart and power), and Tyson would have just unloaded on him.

Liston v Tyson or Foreman v Tyson are the interesting fights for me. Liston was of similar size to Tyson so it would have been a toss up IMO. I think Foreman was too big and strong for any era Tyson.

Holmes like Ali and like most of the tall rangy fighters with real ability and strength gave Tyson problems, I pick Holmes in this fight.