I misread the thread title as 91 instead of 96 for some reason.
I think you can see a loss of speed and explosiveness when you watch his fight with Stewart, for example, compared to how he was vs Spinks or Holmes.
im going to watch those fights again.tell me, do you think 86 Tyson was top 3 hw of all time?
I think he actually still had most of his physical tools he had at his peak when he lost to Douglas but definitely lost focus. Supposedly he was on anti depressants and shit too.
People close to him said he was doing a molotov of drugs and booze, had legal problems with don king, pending divorce issues with robin givens.....on top of it all, he had a camp full of yes men and know nothings feeding him bs at every turn. His corner men were not even prepared to handle cuts during the douglas fight...shit was just a mess everywhere.
The fact that he didnt kill someone and actually made it as far in the fight as he did is beyond me. That guy must have been a mental train wreck, let alone physically in no condition to be fighting for a HW title.
Cus died before he even won the title....it was Rooney leaving his camp and the leaches descending in that really fcked him over.
Many experts and fellow boxers believe that if mike tyson lived the clean life and trained like he used to in the mid 80's with the same camp, he would have reigned for a lot longer then he did. Even Lewis said he was legit scared of him when they first met in the 80's. Dude hit like a mack truck, had lightning speed, could get in the inside with ease, and had an extensive knowledge of the game. Just a scary specimen. Damn shame the fast life caught up to him.
86 Tyson was a boxer, who was physically gifted. The head movement, the hand speed, combination punching, etc. 96 Tyson was nothing more than a head hunter, with no faints, no set ups, single punches, etc.
What he said. Tyson in his prime was a complete fighter with immense pressure, speed, power, and defense. By 1996, he was a dangerous heavyweight with speed and power but had lost most of his fundamental technique.
Prime Tyson and prime RJJ are the two closest guys in history to being perfect fighters, IMO. Anyone who hasn't needs to watch the training footage of Tyson & Rooney drilling in the ring in his camp for Tyrell Biggs. Might have been 1988 but Tyson was still a killer