How great could've Mike Tyson really been?

[ViperSniper]

Where would have Mike Tyson been rated on an all-time heavyweight list if he retired undefeated? The greatest Heavyweight of all time??

If you were to take Mike Tyson's resume exactly how it was & but turn his L's against Douglas, Holyfield x2, Lewis, Williams & McBride to W's instead, how great could've been?

Still taking into consideration everything that happend to him in his life in & out of the ring, yet managed to still somehow takes those fights?

Firstly, although he still would have gone to jail, declined ect. his mystique would have continued had he KO'd Douglas!

Having two W's over Evander Holyfield post prison would have been a big win. Getting a win over Lennox Lewis when he was clearly shot could have been his greatest win of his career!

I consider Ali to be the greatest Heavyweight of all time, but Tyson could have been right up there had he retired like that!..

[Spyder]

Forget just heavyweight, he would've been considered the Greatest FIGHTER that ever lived if he finished undefeated. Rightfully so too.

[jlupi]

this is a huge "IF" from a guy who's career has become defined by "what if"

[blackbelt2003]

Yeah, Tyson would have been the greatest if he'd beaten Holyfield and Lewis and never lost to Douglas.


But Ricardo Lopez would also have been the greatest had he moved up to middleweight, KO'd Hopkins and then took on Lennox Lewis in a superfight and won a decision.

But he didn't.


And neither did Tyson.




Black

[Spyder]

It's been a while since I read the name Ricardo Lopez. Good job Black!

[BigG]

Tyson had all the tools but lacked what was inside that Ali and Frazier had. Fighting spirit and pure toughness.

[jlupi]

He really fell apart due to outside the ring distractions. marriage, divorce, deaths, management, possible rape, hanging w the wrong people etc. killed what should have been his best years.

[BrutalBodyShots]

Tyson always had financial troubles; that's just part of his personality and who he is so regardless he'd fight well past his best and as a result rack up losses to C/D level guys just like he did toward the end of his career.

That said, I don't really put much stock in way past prime losses when it comes to fighters and their legacy. No one gives a shit about the guy Toney just lost to or the fact that Jones lost to Lebedev and Green, so I guess the same would have been said about Tyson had he secured the Douglas, Holyfield and Lewis wins.

Beating Lewis would have been huge for Tyson had he landed that one in a million shot against him since Lewis was without question the man at the time. It would also have been cool for Tyson had he somehow found a time to avenge the Douglas loss, one that he could have handled fairly easily considering how unfocused Douglas was with the exception of that one night in Tokyo.

[Dickagon]

even when he's just fighting for money and looking to land a big shot he's a strong A-/B+ level fighter in a tough HW era. he could have been pretty damn good.