Lets go back to 1985 for a few moments

[The_Don1]

Back in 85 a young lad named Mike Tyson made his heavyweight debut, knocking out Hector Mercedes in one round. I doubt any of us UK fans who are possibly in their late 40's plus by now remember the fight as I very much doubt it was shown in the UK or satellite anywhere. I'm also not sure when I very first saw him in action could well have been the Conroy Nelson fight however, What was your first impression of Tyson back in the early days before his title shot against Berbick?

The reason im asking this is because I would like to think someone might say that they were not that impressed, or on the other hand thought that this kid was the new saviour to take the world of boxing by storm and wrap up all titles.

I'm sure someone is going to choke on their tea here with my next comment, but I think that Anthony Joshua is the next kid who is going to take boxing by the balls and clean up in the division, im not making any comparison with Joshua and Tyson. In my opinion you will never ever see another fighter who scared the chit out of opponents before the bell rang. But heavyweight boxing has been waiting a long few years to see the next generation of boxer who is going to walk though most of his opponents to a title shot. I'm sure along the way there are going to be scares and a few phews.

I would imagine there were some folks that thought that Mike would not make the top of the tree so im hoping that there is just the fan here that thought that way.

After reading the first sentence I sensed this would be some Joshua suck off, the guy has the build and the talent, but on the one hand you have Barry Hearn hyping up him to be the greatest heavyweight on the planet, the on other you have Eddie Hearn saying he shouldn't be rushed. Joshua could indeed be next British heavyweight world champ, but Matchroom need to assess their matchmaking or their media outbursts.

[davie]

After reading the first sentence I sensed this would be some Joshua suck off, the guy has the build and the talent, but on the one hand you have Barry Hearn hyping up him to be the greatest heavyweight on the planet, the on other you have Eddie Hearn saying he shouldn't be rushed. Joshua could indeed be next British heavyweight world champ, but Matchroom need to assess their matchmaking or their media outbursts.

The latter for me.

The lad has been matched with easy fights, but in his first year as a pro, with 9 fights under his belt, i would expect nothing less.

Statements coming from Hearn build up expectations from the fans and then those same fans demand Hearn put the fighter in with higher level opposition to match the boastful claims.

he's young and has plenty of time to grow and learn.

some may think he should be pushed on because he is destroying opponents, but that may be exactly why he shouldn't be moved too fast, he isn't getting any experience is 2 round fights. They need to be finding him more durable and experience opponents as opposed to guys considerably higher up the ranking. See David Price as an example of what happens when you assume someone is world class because they are knocking out British level opposition

[jamesmcdonnell]

I recall reading about his 19 inch neck in a boxing mag and thinking aloud "Wow, if his neck is 19 inches, imagine the size of his schlong". I was only 12 years old at that time and prone to worrying thoughts of a sexual nature and incessant bouts of rabid masturbation.

I saw a highlight reel of him shortly after and thought he was amazing. It was the speed and the visciousness that struck me first. He looked like he enjoyed taking the other guy`s head off (I see that in Joshua now too)

The 19 / 20 year old Tyson would have been a real handfull for any heavyweight in history. His speed and power were fantastic. One has to factor in that in the early fights he was facing cannon fodder, but what he did to Berbick, Holmes, Spinks and Thomas show that he could carry it up.

If you stood up to the guy (no mean feat) like Mitch Green and Smith did, then his menace was nullified to a certain degree. He was a bully in the ring who thrived on his opponents fear, feeding on it and exploiting it to the point where some opponents were simply done before they set foot in the ring.
Still the most exciting fighter I can think of when he was in his prime. I was in shock when Douglas beat him. I read it on teletext and thought "How can Tyson be knocked out". It was a massive upset, but his life was spiralling by that time and by rights Douglas should have lost the fight on the long count he took a round or two earlier.

Mitch Green lost pretty much every round, in fact, I think Smith did actually lose every round.

They survived, but neither of them gave him much of a fight. Smith basically should have been disqualified, he held Tyson's arms at every single opportunity and pinned them so he couldn't hit him. I remember being really disspointed, because Smith was a real puncher, and I thought he might give Tyson a real scare, especially after what he did to both Bruno and Witherspoon - but he basically cacked his pants and turned up for the payday.

Smith caught Tyson with a good punch with about 20 seconds left in the last round and seemed to hurt him,but apart from that he was dreadful.

Smith came to survive and collect his 1,000,0000 dollar purse without getting battered into bolivian.

[palooka]

Getting battered to Bolivian sounds painful.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Getting battered to Bolivian sounds painful.

It's a paraphrase of one of Mike own quotes about 'disappearing into Bolivian....'

Was never sure if it was deliberate on his part, or a malapropism.

[Mimmy]

AJ reminds me more of Bruno than Tyson

I think you were right here, but his last fight he looked more relaxed and not too robotic like Bruno, i Think he;s shaking off that likeness

[jamesmcdonnell]

He's certainly got the hulking upper body - which is a major concern. Huge muscles like that are not an asset in boxing, unless it is your natural build. I'd be happy to see him lay off the weights - they don't increase punch power, and they mean you burn out quicker during a fight, as they are so oxygen hungry.

[lefty]

Getting battered to Bolivian sounds painful.

It's a paraphrase of one of Mike own quotes about 'disappearing into Bolivian....'

Was never sure if it was deliberate on his part, or a malapropism.

Now you're just being a smart alec ;) lol

[jamesmcdonnell]

Getting battered to Bolivian sounds painful.

It's a paraphrase of one of Mike own quotes about 'disappearing into Bolivian....'

Was never sure if it was deliberate on his part, or a malapropism.

Now you're just being a smart alec ;) lol

I'm glad you noticed. Ithankyooo