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I think both Fury and Wilder could beat him too. Fury is pretty much a foot taller than Mike.
It's important to say though that Tyson could obviously beat anybody that ever walked this Earth if he caught them with one of his hooks.
Obviously this is all opinion here, I personally think Tyson beats both those guys.
Wilder in my opinion is NOT a boxer. A big hitter, but no real boxing fundamentals. He really got exposed when he went up against a more knowledgeable boxer like Fury. Obviously his power is incredible as Fury found out first time around, but once Fury made the adjustments for that, it was game over. Wilder really doesnt have a plan B when the knockout punch isnt there for him. Wilder really seems like he is one of those "Worldstar" type boxers...a skinny Kimbo Slice. Street brawler. Tyson had all of Wilder's power, plus in his prime at least, still had the teachings of Cus and Kevin Rooney embedded in his brain so he wasnt just a mindless brawler.
If a obviously raw Wilder could drop Fury twice, I think the technically superior Tyson with equal power would have handled Fury as well. Yeah Fury is taller. I dont think Tyson ever fought anyone shorter than him so nothing new there. But Tyson in his prime would have been too much for Fury to handle I think.
Prime Mike Tyson was about as close as you could get to an unbeatable fighter. He had lightning fast hands, great head movement, relentless pressure, and could knock you out with either hand.
Is there any fighter in history who you would favor over a prime Tyson? I'd say Vitali Klitschko. He was tall, rangy, awkward, had a granite chin, and had a high workrate for his size.
Honestly, I don't think anybody could have beaten Tyson under Cus D'amato. He was dropping people within seconds.
You're kidding, right? In his prime, Tyson would have chewed him up and spit 'em out in less than 10.
The only "Throwback" Heavyweight Boxer I'd give a slight chance against Mike Tyson [in his prime] would be Ernie Shavers due to his above average strength.
Regardless, let's not forget, it was one determined Buster Douglas who beat an "unbeatable" Mike Tyson, possibly towards the tail end of his prime.
Klitchko was very hard to hit, largely due to his height and very long reach.
I'd give him an even money chance of making Tyson go the distance, and then wearing him down.
Sure Klitchko may have been slightly "boring" to watch, but he was very effective.
Buster Douglas was an interesting case, but he never reproduced that form again.
Greg Page did not knock down a "prime" Tyson when he was a sparring partner. That was before the Douglas fight. As the early years went buy, smart fighters came to figure out Tyson's weaknesses and exploited timing - hard to do but possible for those with experience and talent like Douglas or Page or Holyfield. A young Ali could have beaten him. When Tyson fought Joe Frazier's son (and won), he noted that he could tell Joe Frazier wanted to fight him. At that time, he was in late middle age and it was over. But a young Frazier probably could have won. Ken Norton was also a better boxer than Tucker who lasted all 12 rounds against Tyson in his prime. Norton probably could have won. Chuck Wepner and Randall Tex Cobb would have likely gone the distance. They were slow but had very tough chins - might have gotten lucky in the later rounds. To be fair, Tyson could also beat a lot of them on a good night - but there were likely exceptions.
Honestly, a lot of people could have, they were just to afraid to try.
The tell in all this was Tony Tucker. I only saw that fight once, the night it happened. I expected to see Tucker, whom I always despised (he reminded me of the contemptible, though intelligent Sugar Ray Leonard)knocked out by Tyson in devastating fashion in the middle rounds. That never happened, in fact Tucker exposed every weakness Tyson had for the world to see. As I remember it watch the opening first three rounds, Tucker was doing a masterful job, but some where in the second round (I think) he busted his hand, I noticed it. Had he not busted his hand he might have beaten Tyson. I recall in round 1 he threw an uppercut and bucked Tyson knees, stopping him in his tracks. As I remember that fight is was like Tucker laid out the blue print for Holyfield and Douglas. Tucker circled Mike, grabbed him, held him, and generally frustrated Tyson. Tyson never had him in real trouble and I pointed out Tucker's uppercut that found a home. Had Tucker been able to throw his right with authority after the second round the outcome may have been very different. Tucker saw Tyson was vulnerable to the uppercut, that was a shrewd move, I can't recall anyone landing one cleaning on Tyson before that (maybe someone did). Consider Tucker survives against Iron Mike in his prime for 10 more rounds even though he effectively only had on hand.
Imagine if someone ;like Bone Crusher Smith had decided to actually fight instead of taking a paycheck and walk (not faulting Smith here, Smith was shrewd and made the decision not to risk brain injury), he had far more power than Tucker, and had all the tools to beat Tyson but no heart to do it with.
IMO, Tyson ran a psychological scam on the heavy weight division, no doubt Tyson was a monster, but he was definitely beatable. The fact a light puncher with one arm, named Tony Tucker, went the distance with him showed his vulnerability.
What about against a prime Ali with long arms like the Indian fighter in Master of The Flying Guillotine?
What about against a prime Foreman with speed of Sugar Ray Leonard?
What about against a prime Sugar Ray Robinson who ate ice cream and steak and gained 40lbs to become heavyweight but maintained all of he Middleweight speed and skills?
You see how ridiculous your "....6' 4"" Tyson thing is? That is just going a bit too far for the sake of this thread.
Mike was the most scandalous and NOT the best fighter. Brit Holyfiled kicked his ass and it was during his prime. I'd say Usyk as of today could give him a beating, hell even Joshua can have a shot. In fact the Klitschko bros are the only ones who I'd say will loose and if you go back in time aka the likes of Joe Louis or Marciano then I'd shut up now since it's unfair to rate history vs today - the athletes of the modern age are obviously better than the ones 2 generations ago.
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