Mike Tyson vs Jimmy Young? What If?

[KOJOE90]

When sat at work today, trying not to think about work I started musing on this mythical matchup.

What would have been the outcome if the rampaging 86/87 version of Mike Tyson had had to deal with the highly skilled & durable 76/77 version of Philadelphias Jimmy Young?

Jimmy Young
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000276

Mike Tyson
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000474

At this time Tyson had great speed and power and could throw damaging combinations and wasn't that easy to hit back, due to his peek-a-boo style and head movement.

However he could still be fustrated by opponents who knew how to survive, by either tying him up or moving. Tyson even then would sometimes seem to run out of ideas if he had failed to KO his opponent after about 7 rounds.

By 76 Jimmy Young was an very experienced fighter who may have lacked power but had an iron chin, great defence and stamina and knew just how to fustrate his opponents when needing to whilst peppering his opponent with crisp jabs and hurtfull body shots.

Out of all the Heavyweights who never won a World Title I believe Jimmy Young had the best chance of beating a peak Tyson.

Who wins this one fight fans?

[evndrbsn]

Jimmy Young was one of the best defensive heavyweights of all-time. He also probably had the weakest punch of elite contenders of the past 50 years. Yeah, he dropped Foreman in the final round when Foreman was completely and utterly exhausted. He didn't drop Foreman as much as draw him a map of where to lay down.

While a prime Tyson could be frustrated, I don't see Young ever getting his respect with his lack of a punch and Tyson would walk right through him. Maybe not a first round KO, but probably by the middle rounds Young would be spitting blood if he had not exited the fight already.

Tyson TKO 8

[dempseyfire]

Young by decision

Man I would make a lot of $ betting on this one.

Mike would get so frustrated he'd probably chomp on Young's nose . . .

[The Great John L]

Young by decision

Man I would make a lot of $ betting on this one.

Mike would get so frustrated he'd probably chomp on Young's nose . . .

Hmmm, possibly, but could Young continue without his nose? Remember Tyson didn't actually get DQ'd when he bit Holy's ear off. It wasn't until he bit the other ear as well.

I agree. I think Young would have been able to avoid most of Tysons punches and tie him up -- A LOT!! Tyson wins most of the first 5 or 6 rounds with aggression and then Ypung takes over and pretty much sweeps the final 9-10 rounds. Young would probably win 4 out 5 times against Tyson.

[evndrbsn]

While we are on the subject of Jimmy Young, can anyone think of a heavyweight who had quicker defensive upper body reflexes? People like to compare Chris Byrd to Young, but I think Byrd is nowhere near as skilled as Young was. Byrd can hit harder than Young ever could, but his defensive skills don't even come close to matching Young's.

Thoughts?

[Nile4000]

I'll take Tyson on a frustrating decision.Young's skills could give him fits, but Tyson will not be denied and at some point will put Jimmy down brieflly.

[KO Artist]

Jim Lampley once said that Byrd was a better boxer than Young, and HBO hates Byrd.

What the fornicate does Lampley know about boxing?

Anyway, Tyson of 86/88 would have stopped the Young of 76/77 within four rounds.

[dempseyfire]

Young was better then Byrd . .

for starters he knew how to use the center of the ring and didn't allow himself to go into the 'controversial decision zone' by rope-a-doping for 9/10ths of a fight.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

While we are on the subject of Jimmy Young, can anyone think of a heavyweight who had quicker defensive upper body reflexes?

jack johnson easily, and jersey joe walcott, joe louis

u make young out to be an all time great.

[klompton]

Tyson would win by KO. The best Young can claim is that he lost to an over the hill Ali controversially, an over the hill Norton controversially, and beat an always overrated Foreman. Tyson at his best was far better than Young at his best.

[Cojimar 1945]

Tyson was knocked out by Douglas and Holyfield. Jimmy Young was not stopped by Ali and Norton and both fights were quite competitive. This comparison does not favor Tyson.

[cultus]

Tyson was knocked out by Douglas and Holyfield. Jimmy Young was not stopped by Ali and Norton and both fights were quite competitive. This comparison does not favor Tyson.

And Ali as Norton is knows for there ferocious punching power.

[evndrbsn]

While we are on the subject of Jimmy Young, can anyone think of a heavyweight who had quicker defensive upper body reflexes?

jack johnson easily, and jersey joe walcott, joe louis

u make young out to be an all time great.

I don't even come close to making Young sound like an all-time great. I did say that he had, in my mind, the quickest defensive reflexes in heavyweight history. His offense, however, was pretty weak and he had an enormous lack of power.

Joe Louis, quicker defensive reflexes than Jimmy Young? Better fighter for sure, but quicker upper body movement? Not even close. If Joe Louis had that kind of movement, he would have retired undefeated. Max Schmeling took advantage of Joe keeping his left hand low in the first fight and whacked him all night. If his upper body movement was so great, he would have avoided the right hand all night, even with his hand low.

[Cojimar 1945]

I never thought of Douglas or Holyfield as being particularly big punchers. They were good fighters (especially Holyfield) but I didn't think anyone viwed them as particularly devastating punchers.

[evndrbsn]

I never thought of Douglas or Holyfield as being particularly big punchers. They were good fighters (especially Holyfield) but I didn't think anyone viwed them as particularly devastating punchers.

I remember after the first Holyfield-Tyson fight, the boxing public was viewing Holyfield as a devastating puncher who would knock out Lennox Lewis early and pretty much everyone else in the division. Remember the shock when the average Vaughn Bean, who had just gone 12 with Michael Moorer, also went 12 rounds with Holyfield? People just liked to envision Holyfield as a power puncher following the Tyson fight.

Holyfield always was a solid puncher, though. Impressive stoppages at heavyweight: James Tillis (his heavyweight debut), Pinklon Thomas, Michael Dokes, Adilson Rodrigues, Alex Stewart I (on cuts, but was beating up Stewart), Buster Douglas, Mike Tyson I, and Michael Moorer II. He also was the first to floor iron chinned Ray Mercer with a bodyshot (when Mercer was 34), who would not be dropped again for seven years (at age 41). And regardless of what you think of John Ruiz, Holyfield roughed his face up worse than any other fighter in memory (mostly from punches than headbutts and elbows). He also had Lennox Lewis in a bit of trouble in the prophesized round 3 of their first encounter and in even more trouble in round 7 of the rematch. He also became the first man to drop Riddick Bowe in the third fight (round six) and hit George Foreman with some terrible shots over their twelve-round fight.

So again, Holyfield carried a solid punch, just not one-punch KO power. At cruiserweight, it was an entirely different story. His one-punch KO of Dwight Qawi, who had a solid set of whiskers, is especially impressive.

By the way: It ended up that Vaughn Bean had a pretty good chin after all, didn't it? Only stoppage loss for Bean: TKO in 11th against Vitali Klitschko, which I think was due to both of Bean's eyes being nearly shut.

[Cojimar 1945]

Heavyweights of Holyfield's era with really awesome power would in my opinion be guys like Tyson, Ruddock and Lewis. Holyfield stopped a number of guys but rarely scored knockouts in the first few rounds.

[KOJOE90]

While a prime Tyson could be frustrated, I don't see Young ever getting his respect with his lack of a punch and Tyson would walk right through him. Maybe not a first round KO, but probably by the middle rounds Young would be spitting blood if he had not exited the fight already.

Tyson TKO 8

I see what you are saying but if the likes of Green, Tillis and Tucker could last the distance with Tyson, I think Jimmy Young definately could.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

louis wasnt at his peak when he foguht schmeling, he was overconfident and undertrained. blackburn fixed his flaw after this match


- louis had much quicker defensive reflexes than young. thats one of the reassons why louis was so great

- jersey joe walcott was quicker as well, doing the shuffle and then right at the precise moment timing a perfect shot. u saw the waclott-charles KO, that was incredible defensive reflexes that setup the KO punch.



- jack johnson no question , its what made him great




- im tempted to say guys like eddie machen, roland lastarza were as quick as young.

[KOJOE90]

louis wasnt at his peak when he foguht schmeling, he was overconfident and undertrained. blackburn fixed his flaw after this match

I think Louis was at or very near his peak when his lost to Max. The fact he was maybe overconfident and understrained doesn't mean hw wasn't at his peak. It just means he didn't perform to the best of his current abilities.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

louis wasnt at his peak when he foguht schmeling, he was overconfident and undertrained. blackburn fixed his flaw after this match

I think Louis was at or very near his peak when his lost to Max. The fact he was maybe overconfident and understrained doesn't mean hw wasn't at his peak. It just means he didn't perform to the best of his current abilities.

he was at the beginning of his prime yes, but still was only 21 and clearly had moor room to grow and some flaws to fix. his peak fight was either schmeling II, or baer II

[theone]

louis had much quicker defensive reflexes than young. thats one of the reassons why louis was so great

Louis was a much better fighter than Young, but not because of better defense or quicker reflexes. Young has him beat in both catagories. What made Louis great was his technical boxing skill and power.

im tempted to say guys like eddie machen, roland lastarza were as quick as young

Lastarza was ordinary. Besides giving Marciano a hard time twice he never accomplished much. In fact in between his two fights with Marciano he lost badly to two fighters he was supposed to easily beat. After the second Marciano loss he lost 5 out of his last nine.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

Lastarza was ordinary. Besides giving Marciano a hard time twice he never accomplished much. In fact in between his two fights with Marciano he lost badly to two fighters he was supposed to easily beat. After the second Marciano loss he lost 5 out of his last nine.

dont let his record fool u lastarza was a very good boxer who impressed me on film.

- he lost to top heavy contender dan bucceroni but destroyed bucceroni in the rematch proing his superity


- yes he did have one unusualy embarrasing loss to journeyman rocky jones, but lastarza won the rematch



- lastarza was a great defensive boxer, with good hand and foot speed, who was smart and kept his hands high. he was just as good as eddie machen. lastarza was compared to gene tunney by the papers. he siimply lacked aggresion and power.

- lastarza never beat many top contenders becauyse the big sluggers like valdez, baker, walls, neuhas, etc they didnt want to fight lastarza. they felt lastarza would make them look bad because of his style and speed.

just watch the film of him vs rocky.


lastarza was never the same afdter rocky, his arms had been broken requiring surgery and he went on to lose 5 of his last 9 cause he wasnt the same fighter after the beating he took.




lastarza did not give rocky a hard time in 2nd fight. he outboxed marcianmo early but marciano gave him a horrible beating breaking his arms and blood vessels and knocking him out in 11 when rocky was up on scorecards.



i rate lastarza top 75 heavyweights when i studied him on film and about his career.

[Irish]

louis had much quicker defensive reflexes than young. thats one of the reassons why louis was so great

Louis was a much better fighter than Young, but not because of better defense or quicker reflexes. Young has him beat in both catagories. What made Louis great was his technical boxing skill and power.

im tempted to say guys like eddie machen, roland lastarza were as quick as young

Lastarza was ordinary. Besides giving Marciano a hard time twice he never accomplished much. In fact in between his two fights with Marciano he lost badly to two fighters he was supposed to easily beat. After the second Marciano loss he lost 5 out of his last nine.

Lastarza was a very good fighter, the problem is Rocky ruined fighters, Roland dropped 5 of 9 just because he wasnt the same fighter after Marciano put him into the hospital.

[Irish]

dont let his record fool u lastarza was a very good boxer who impressed me on film.

What do you mean he was 57-9, that is an impressive record.

he was just as good as eddie machen.

please don't go there

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

im not saying lastarza was a great heavyweight, or terribly underated who would have been champion in other eras.

im simply saying he was a very good top heavyweight contender who had good solid boxing skills.

i put him on par with eddie machen