Best Heavyweight Fighter

[Mike Gallo]

Tyson could not handle the psychological pressure of a might of such magnitude. Ali would have him psyched out before the fight started. For those too young to see Ai's antics, he really got into the head of Joe Frazier. HBO did an excellent special on it. Too this day, Frazier still holds a grudge.

He would have a very difficult time against George Foreman in his prime. George Foreman is listed as 6 4 Tyson stands 5 10. Foreman would bully Tyson around. Tyson could not intimidate Foreman either.

Tyson imploded against Holyfield because he knew he could not win, because he could not intimidate the Warrior Holyfield. He certainly bit Holyfield the second time to get disqualified. Its an easy way of quitting, the jumps way of quitting.

Tyson did not have a real corner against Buster Douglas. After Cus died, Tyson lost his way and his skills.

Next case.

[peachy]

Jack Johnson and Ali

it was the Man Act u were talkin about that affected Johnson he was targeted b/c of his inter-racial marriage...but the law they "claimed" he broke was put in place to prevent trafficing prostitutes over state lines - he took his wife/gf over a state line and they arrested him...go figure

[Daliman]

[ QUOTE ]
Tyson imploded against Holyfield because he knew he could not win, because he could not intimidate the Warrior Holyfield. He certainly bit Holyfield the second time to get disqualified. Its an easy way of quitting, the jumps way of quitting.

[/ QUOTE ]

THis is complete and utter bulls<font color="black"></font>hit, yet a popular miscomception. Watch the first fight again, then the second, and tell me Holyfield the "warrior" wasn't headbutting Tyson constantly going into clinches. Holyfield was/is/always will be overrated as a heavyweight. Yes, he frustrated tyson into doing it, but it wasn't through legal means, although he was doing it well enough for the Ref not to think it was a big deal. Holyfield beat a fat, out-of-shape, uninterested and in-over-his-head Buster douglas to get the title, then proceeded to lose to riddick Bowe, Fight to only a near-draw with a 40-something Foreman, and generallt only fight top contenders when he had to.

I'll say it again; Tyson got jobbed by the ref in the holyfield fights. Watch it again and tell me I'm wrong.

[lapoker17]

This is the Tyson everyone keeps referring to - I think the OP mentioned something about "in his prime" etc...

Tyson at 20-22 was a different person. There was no fear in his eyes, or anywhere else. He was a machine. A piece of iron. He threw the quickest most devastating power shots I've ever seen - And no one could hit him. Made Bert Sugar's top 25 pound for pound of all time - At 22!

[Daliman]

[ QUOTE ]
Tyson could not handle the psychological pressure of a might of such magnitude. Ali would have him psyched out before the fight started. For those too young to see Ai's antics, he really got into the head of Joe Frazier. HBO did an excellent special on it. Too this day, Frazier still holds a grudge.


[/ QUOTE ]

Early in his career, Tyson was unpsycheable, period. All Ali would have done is piss him off, period. Ali likely beats Tyson, but it ain't cuz he psyched him out.

I don't remember Frazier ever losing to Ali because he got "psyched out" , btw. Seems to me that was mainly for hype, which Ali understood, and being a proud black man and called an uncle tom and a gorilla by a draft dodger might have made ME carry a grudge too. Newsflash: Ali was a great boxer. The "psyche out" stuff was mostly window dressing vs his quality opponents.

Quick story about Ali that may be germaine to this; I'll tell how/what I remeber of it. at some point in time just before his first title fight with sonny liston, Ali,(then Cassius Clay), saw Liston in a bar(casino?), and started talking a bit of crap to him. Liston decked him with one punch, and walked away. Clay was sufficiently intimidated.

[Men the Master]

We're talking primes, right? By "prime", I assume the fighter's peak period.

1) The Ali who beat Cleveland Williams, Zora Foley, and Sonny Liston was the Greatest Ever. He would have beaten anybody in history.
2) The Joe Louis who beat Schmelling could have beaten anyone but Ali.
3) The Larry Holmes who beat Ken Norton and Shavers was a master boxer who could have outpointed any heavyweight other than the above two.
4) The George Foreman who beat Norton and Frazier in two rounds a piece. The most devastating puncher ever. He would have destroyed both Patterson and Johanson in one night.
5) The Liston who ko'd Patterson in the first round back to back was scary. Just a hair short of Foreman.
6) The Jack Johnson who toyed around with Burns, Jeffries, and Ketchel like they were his sparring partners. If he were more modern, he probably would rank higher. But he used a bare-knuckle stance that would not be appropriate against the more modern styles.
7) The Rocky Marciano who beat up Walcott, Charles, and Archie Moore. I would rank him much higher if he weren't so small. Definitely the greatest cruiserweight ever.
8) The Jack Dempsey that beat up Firpo could take any punch.
9) The Mike Tyson that united the heavyweight championship in the mid to late 80s against Berbick, Spinks, Pinklon Thomas, and Bonecrusher Smith.
10) The Chris Byrd who shutout Evander Holyfield 12 rounds out of 12 rounds was scientific boxing in action.

[lapoker17]

I thought you were a total genius until I read number 10 - Just brutal.

[MMMMMM]

Ali threw a punch faster than Tyson. Also, Ali had what seemed like near-superhuman reflexes.

[EliteNinja]

Rocky Balboa.

[nicky g]

Clearly, a lot of other people like it. If people find threads boring, they'll disappear quickly.