One man's opinion, and he rates Joe over Ali, so I can't agree in first place. I rank many resumes over Tyson's, but head 2 head, prime Tyson obliterates Rocky, Dempsey, Liston, Louis, Holmes, Foreman, Shavers, Charles, Baer, Johnson, Lewis, McCall, Tunney, Frazier, Wilder, Joshua, Klitschkos and probably anyone else not named Ali who he probably also would have beaten.
His movement was too fast, he was defensively evasive while smothering everything his opponent could throw, his hands were fast and his power was on the same level as anyone in history, he knew the game, he peaked the youngest and strongest, he was the meanest of Listons cloth he said and proved, his self belief was that of an emperor, his gameplans were perfect, his self assessment was the most strict, he hated his performances when he implemented everything perfectly, his respect of the game was profound, even his worst opponents he took seriously and gave them credit, he was one of a kind, who could prepare for what was never seen before or since, the Apex predator, chin of granite, heart enough to fall apart as a person later in career and still withstand horrible beatings, people think the opponents broke him, no he broke himself, it took murderers row level HWTs to hand him losses when he stopped being that guy, plodding around flat footed and winging for the head...
How can "fans" say Mike ever lost when the Mike his believers was a completely different fighter than the one who fought and lived and trained with discipline and self awareness under Cus and Rooney? He was not Iron Mike when Douglas KOd him, he was not Iron Mike when Holyfield, an all time badass himself, stopped him, he was not Iron Mike when he took the terrible beating from Lewis.
It's retarded people can see the difference between Prime Roy and post Tarver Roy, and give Roy the pass for all the losses but recognize he was possibly the greatest ever when he was on, but Tyson at his best gets questioned. "He was a bully, all you had to do was stand up to him" BULLSHIT, plenty tried to stand up to him, it was just that foregone he was the best. Ali doesn't get questioned for losing to Berbick, but Tyson is a bum for falling to Holyfield, Lewis, and Douglas when he and his performances had deteriorated to the point they had. It was as night and day as you could get. Tyson almost knocked out Douglas absolutely as shell of the Mike we all believed in, his viscous mean desire to be the bigger meaner dog was there when Holyfield was breaking him down, what the fuck do people want from the man? No wonder he broke as a person.
People were haters and just wanted to see him fail or carry the flame of godlikeness til he was 80 to satisfy their skepticism. He was too good to believe and held to a higher standard than any other fighter in history, and it's fucking bullshit he can't get credit for what he was when he was on. The BJ Penn of boxing someone says, Jesus fucking Christ, BJ couldn't even hold Mike's jockstrap, Mike was it, he was the Pinnacle, there isn't going to be another. You can literally see it to this moment in time, people just LLOOOOOOOVE that he seems like a neutered version of himself, that he's friendly and a talkshow personality, a changed man, a wolf turned a domesticated lap dog, oh dance for us Mike, take a picture with our kids Mike, be the trained circus bear Mike, do cameos and prance for our amusement Mike... People waited for him to bend his knee because he was that feared, his prime left that impression, his aggressive volatile nature that frightening. He was so good he had to be broken and become a TMZ running joke before society would get the fuck off his back. I'm glad Tyson seems to be financially set now and happy, but he's one of the saddest stories in boxing because he was that good, and I can't think of any other boxer who left that impression ever. Not Dempsey, not Liston, not anyone. There is a reason for it. He sent shivers down viewers spines as he annihilated recognizable fighters with ease. It was unsettling to see everyone beaten so easy.