Prime Lennox vs Prime Tyson

[Odoylerules22]

I think it comes down to the referee. If the ref allows Lewis to hold and smother Tyson its anybody's fight. But with a disciplined ref Lewis is getting stopped every time. Watch Lewis vs McCall or Lewis vs Rahman, once Lewis gets tagged he is done.

i watched those. i also watched tyson get ktfo and not know what planet he was on by journeyman douglas

 

[mozfonky]

i watched those. i also watched tyson get ktfo and not know what planet he was on by journeyman douglas

mike got kayoed several times but he took beatings to get there. He was up before 10 vs. Douglas but was in no condition to continue, Holyfield didn't really ever put him down but beat the stuffing out of him, with lennox he looked more like he quit. Dude had a great chin. Lennox was put out with basically one punch kayoes. But, he was so smart and so talented and confident that he also avoided getting kayoed by some big punchers. Tyson, Tua, Mercer, none of them put him down or probably not even in trouble, but, they had the power to.

 

[Odoylerules22]

mike got kayoed several times but he took beatings to get there. He was up before 10 vs. Douglas but was in no condition to continue, Holyfield didn't really ever put him down but beat the stuffing out of him, with lennox he looked more like he quit. Dude had a great chin. Lennox was put out with basically one punch kayoes. But, he was so smart and so talented and confident that he also avoided getting kayoed by some big punchers. Tyson, Tua, Mercer, none of them put him down or probably not even in trouble, but, they had the power to.

Lewis was up on his also. First KO loss you could argue was an early stoppage. 2nd one was similar to Douglas ko’ing Tyson. He didn’t know what planet he was on, was completely out of it, and the next gust of wind would have put him down. But he wasn’t layed out stiff if you’re trying to contrast that to Tyson’s knockouts losses.

 

[mozfonky]

Lewis was up on his also. First KO loss you could argue was an early stoppage. 2nd one was similar to Douglas ko’ing Tyson. He didn’t know what planet he was on and the next gust of wind would have put him down. But he wasn’t layed out stiff if you’re trying to contrast that to Tyson’s knockouts losses.

Lewis got up too fast against mccall, but he did not have his legs under him, the ref was right even though he was clearheaded. Tyson showed a great chin and maybe not a little bit of heart in his kayoes, he was out against evander but still on his feet at the end. The point is, it took tons of punches to get him there, not one punch. Great chin, no doubt about it. Tyson's career was a career of strange ironies and inconsistencies, not many guys who've been kayoed 5 times are regarded as having a great chin but most people know Tyson had it. Nothing made sense about Mike, a bundle of contradictions.

 

[BoxingMMA]

Prime Tyson had trouble and even lost to lesser men than Lewis and never avenged them. I love me some iron Mike. I grew up watching him. But the man was the ultimate can crusher and when he stepped up against his two greatest challenges he miserably lost.

 

[StopDucking]

I think it comes down to the referee. If the ref allows Lewis to hold and smother Tyson its anybody's fight. But with a disciplined ref Lewis is getting stopped every time. Watch Lewis vs McCall or Lewis vs Rahman, once Lewis gets tagged he is done.

It has nothing to do with how fast the referee would intervene and everything to do with the fact that Tyson would eat some punches on his way in and have his offense shut down by the clinch after he gets in. Even if the referee separates them, it's still a win for Lewis who gets to work from the outside once more.

 

[djacobox372]

Prime Tyson had trouble and even lost to lesser men than Lewis and never avenged them. I love me some iron Mike. I grew up watching him. But the man was the ultimate can crusher and when he stepped up against his two greatest challenges he miserably lost.

Prime Mike only every lost to Douglas, and on that night he was not a lesser man than Lewis... That Douglas was like a faster crisper version of Lewis. Not to mention that was an obvious off-night, under trained Tyson.

The guys that pre-prison Mike fought that were like similar to Lewis (Tucker, Williams, Ruddock) Mike handled relatively easily.

 

[don't ask]

Okay, I've only read the first page, but I hope someone pointed out that they sparred (hard) when they were teenagers and they both got the better of each other at times.

Mike Tyson 'tried to kill' Lennox Lewis in wild sparring session as teenagers

Lennox Lewis knocked Mike Tyson out when they finally fought as professionals in 2002. However, 19 years earlier, the pair shared a boxing ring for the first time in a heated sparring session. When…

talksport.com

 

[mozfonky]

Prime Tyson had trouble and even lost to lesser men than Lewis and never avenged them. I love me some iron Mike. I grew up watching him. But the man was the ultimate can crusher and when he stepped up against his two greatest challenges he miserably lost.

that's the big question with me too, Lewis proved his greatness, Tyson really fell short, that has to be a question mark. I still don't know really. Never seen a heavy like Tyson, bantamweight speed in a truncated body, could be brilliant defensively, but like just about any fighter, he had some real weaknesses.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Prime Mike only every lost to Douglas, and on that night he was not a lesser man than Lewis... That Douglas was like a faster crisper version of Lewis. Not to mention that was an obvious off-night, under trained Tyson.

The guys that pre-prison Mike fought that were like similar to Lewis (Tucker, Williams, Ruddock) Mike handled relatively easily.

Douglas looked good the night he beat Mike but he's never looked faster or sharper than Lewis when both were at their best. He was literally a one-hit wonder. In his very next fight he fought a blown up cruiserweight Holyfield and flopped. KO'd in 3. It was enough of a wake up call for him to seek retirement which lasted almost 6 years.

 

[mozfonky]

Douglas looked good the night he beat Mike but he's never looked faster or sharper than Lewis when both were at their best. He was literally a one-hit wonder. In his very next fight he fought a blown up cruiserweight Holyfield and flopped. KO'd in 3. It was enough of a wake up call for him to seek retirement which lasted almost 6 years.

douglas fought perfect, he was fast, hit with conviction and dealt with the distance perfectly, either using an angle, or backing up or tying the man up. He also had a great gastank for that fight. There were others who could win a round using stick and move but they didn't have the gas to keep it up,(holmes, Biggs). We can't pretend that that was the real Tyson though either. I've often wondered if Robin Givens was right when she said that Mike might fight in a depressive state someday, no one took her seriously because everyone hated her. However, Ali, Louis, Ray Robinson have had plenty of off nights and somehow they still pulled out some big wins because of their wills, Tyson never did, that counts against him with the purists.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

douglas fought perfect, he was fast, hit with conviction and dealt with the distance perfectly, either using an angle, or backing up or tying the man up. He also had a great gastank for that fight. There were others who could win a round using stick and move but they didn't have the gas to keep it up,(holmes, Biggs). We can't pretend that that was the real Tyson though either. I've often wondered if Robin Givens was right when she said that Mike might fight in a depressive state someday, no one took her seriously because everyone hated her. However, Ali, Louis, Ray Robinson have had plenty of off nights and somehow they still pulled out some big wins because of their wills, Tyson never did, that counts against him with the purists.

Like I said Douglas looked good but he also got dropped by Mike. He fought a near perfect fight though otherwise. Still, it was only 1 night. He was never able to recapture that magic again.

 

[mozfonky]

Like I said Douglas looked good but he also got dropped by Mike. He fought a near perfect fight though otherwise. Still, it was only 1 night. He was never able to recapture that magic again.

he did get dropped and no one mentions how he was just on the cusp of the ten count, like, his hand was just leaving the canvas as the ten was reached, concievably could have been stopped, you have to wonder how tyson's career would have went. I keep saying, that height and reach is really a lot to be giving up, Tyson couldn't handle being out of shape, mentally or physically and doing what Ali could out of shape.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

he did get dropped and no one mentions how he was just on the cusp of the ten count, like, his hand was just leaving the canvas as the ten was reached, concievably could have been stopped, you have to wonder how tyson's career would have went. I keep saying, that height and reach is really a lot to be giving up, Tyson couldn't handle being out of shape, mentally or physically and doing what Ali could out of shape.

Yeah the count was questionable. Having to give up a ton of height & reach is difficult. Especially when your opponent is also much heavier. They can just keep you at a distance or handle you physically in close.

 

[BoxingMMA]

Prime Mike only every lost to Douglas, and on that night he was not a lesser man than Lewis... That Douglas was like a faster crisper version of Lewis. Not to mention that was an obvious off-night, under trained Tyson.

The guys that pre-prison Mike fought that were like similar to Lewis (Tucker, Williams, Ruddock) Mike handled relatively easily.

Well hey, opinions, right? I simply don't see any version of mike beating Holyfield, much less Lewis, unless he lands a haymaker and with mike you gotta think that's always a possibility. Even the best version of Mike, if Lewis takes him seriously it would go very similar to the Tua fight, except even prime mike was prone to losing his shit if things weren't going his way so I would imagine he would come up with a way to be DQ'd.

Saying Douglas, even the best version "recently dead mom" Douglas who fought Mike and rarely gets credit for his great performance, is nowhere near boxing skill when it comes to Lewis but that version of mike had no business being near a ring anyway.

 

[YourBoss]

I would slightly favor Lewis. Prime Tyson was a beast, but he was never really fighting any elite talent like Lewis. I think Lewis would survive the first 3-4 rounds and after that starts to edge the rest of the fight.

 

[r-harper-1]

I’d slightly favour Lewis prime on prime …..Those first few rounds would be a struggle though

 

[r-harper-1]

mike got kayoed several times but he took beatings to get there. He was up before 10 vs. Douglas but was in no condition to continue, Holyfield didn't really ever put him down but beat the stuffing out of him, with lennox he looked more like he quit. Dude had a great chin. Lennox was put out with basically one punch kayoes. But, he was so smart and so talented and confident that he also avoided getting kayoed by some big punchers. Tyson, Tua, Mercer, none of them put him down or probably not even in trouble, but, they had the power to.

He was only up on 3 shady judges cards …. Douglas was clearly winning

 

[AstralPanda]

We've never seen a prime Tyson

He made hundreds of millions in his early 20's

If he kept improving, as typically happens, we might have seen the best HW ever.

What is considered his "prime" is still like a fraction of how good he could've been.

But I guess that's part of the mystique that is Tyson as well.

 

[r-harper-1]

Well hey, opinions, right? I simply don't see any version of mike beating Holyfield, much less Lewis, unless he lands a haymaker and with mike you gotta think that's always a possibility. Even the best version of Mike, if Lewis takes him seriously it would go very similar to the Tua fight, except even prime mike was prone to losing his shit if things weren't going his way so I would imagine he would come up with a way to be DQ'd.

Saying Douglas, even the best version "recently dead mom" Douglas who fought Mike and rarely gets credit for his great performance, is nowhere near boxing skill when it comes to Lewis but that version of mike had no business being near a ring anyway.

Tyson was 20 times as fast as Tua and had dynamite in both hands …..Lewis vs Prime Tyson would likely be much different…..Tua barely threw any punches and was content to lose a decision….. Tyson would go out on his shield