BoxRec

BarryWashington wrote:In light of this Heavyweight 64 Tournament and more so the discussion over Ike Ibeabuchi, a "what if" scenario has popped in my head:

What if Tyson after the first Bruno fight had gone to jail like Ike and got a 15 year sentence and never returned to Boxing? How would he be ranked/looked upon then? My gut tells me that people would rank him higher because well, going off the "what if" scenario here he would have never "fallen".

What would this mean as far as his rank amongst the ATG HW's? Would he be ranked the same? Higher? Lower?

Problem is Douglass still battered him in his prime. Even when past champs (Louis, Ali, Johnson, Marciano, etc.) struggled with unworthy opponents they didn't get dominated and brutally KO'd by them.

Obviously he would rate higher than Ibeabuchi because he accomplished much more. It wouldn't change his standing any for me, though I think many were under the impression that he was unbeatable and would have carried that for eternity. So I would guess a lot of people would rate him higher.

That would have killed Holyfield.

Many would rank him higher, but a fairly significant section of the Boxing community would point to an exceedingly early departure, no true adversity faced within the ropes, & his lacklustre opposition.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:Many would rank him higher, but a fairly significant section of the Boxing community would point to an exceedingly early departure, no true adversity faced within the ropes, & his lacklustre opposition.

Bingo.

The novice fans would over rate him, much like Ike is over rated by many now. Of course, as someone else noted, Tyson accomplished a LOT more than Ike prior to this hypothetical early exit from the boxing scene, so at least the over rating would be a little more understandable.

Diamond WEAPON wrote:

BarryWashington wrote:In light of this Heavyweight 64 Tournament and more so the discussion over Ike Ibeabuchi, a "what if" scenario has popped in my head:

What if Tyson after the first Bruno fight had gone to jail like Ike and got a 15 year sentence and never returned to Boxing? How would he be ranked/looked upon then? My gut tells me that people would rank him higher because well, going off the "what if" scenario here he would have never "fallen".

What would this mean as far as his rank amongst the ATG HW's? Would he be ranked the same? Higher? Lower?

Problem is Douglass still battered him in his prime. Even when past champs (Louis, Ali, Johnson, Marciano, etc.) struggled with unworthy opponents they didn't get dominated and brutally KO'd by them.

He said after the bruno fight in 89. so the douglas fight wouldnt have a chance to happen.

Obviously Tyson would be looked on far far better by at the very least the american press if he hadnt fought again after bruno 1. I remember many articles in magazines like KO, RING, World Boxing etc around 88 and the spinks fight calling Tyson just behind Ali and perhaps stylistically Frazier but beating the rest of them. That is how highly rated he was at one time.

Hell I think even if Tyson had not come back after 1991 he would still be rated in the top 4 by everyone.

No disrespect to Buster Douglas but in the scheme of things Tysons loss doesnt mean anything other than Tyson was too busy with japanese groupies,taking drugs, losing weight too fast, and hadnt had a trainer worth carrying a spit bucket for 18 months. Buster fought at his best that night and sure on that night he could have beaten any HW today but that wasnt even a .5 Tyson

I have considered the same prospect and I think that Tyson's reuptation would be better than what it is today...

Okay he beat Bruno, but he wouldn't have the losses to Holyfield or Lewis.