Another night of boxing replays had a good question for group

[BeastMan]

They fought what the division had to offer throughout their heyday. Vitali fought Lewis before both retired and lost due to medical stoppage (eye). Both fought Samuel Peter, Chis Byrd and Corrie Sanders. Wlad fought Fury while he was in his prime and Klitschko was not. He fought Hasim Rahman, Ibragimov, Ray Mercer and few others. It was time for retirement and I agree that Wladimir held too long.

Ya all good points. The division wasn’t great but they also contributed to the lack of buzz by staying in Russia. It killed it for a while. It’s not that I’m dismissing them as champions, I just love champions that will fight anyone, anywhere even at their own peril. Ali fought monsters. Fury is fighting monsters now. Slightly different but Conor McGregor has fought 3 different weight divisions and boxed. I just love guys like that. When Roy Jones went to light heavyweight and fought way bigger guys... Inject that in my veins

[R2Dawg]

The 70's was the greatest era for heavyweight boxing.......Ali, Frazier (my favorite), Foreman, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, Ernie Shavers, Spinks bros, Holmes towards the end.........Late 70's and early to mid 80's welterweight and middleweight boxing was a golden era as well......In those classes you had Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, etc........I loved boxing back then......

You are right 70-80s boxing was real good.

[R2Dawg]

Tyson was the complete package in his prime. Nobody had as much power as him possibly ever. He was lightning fast to go along with that. He was a great defensive fighter the way he moved side to side and had incredible vision. Sadly, as already mentioned in the thread, his personal demons took over and he was a shell of himself after that. Once the old man, Cus, died, ol Don King got in his ear and ruined him.

I agree. I made my original opinion after watching a lot of those Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Tyson replays. If Tyson could have kept himself focused, there would be no debate. But he didn't and it is a fair debate over several decades of some great boxers.

[Joebob]

I’ll go with Ali by a hair over Frazier. But Tyson is the guy I absolutely would not have gotten in the ring with for any amount of money.

On a different note, if Sugar Ray Leonard had been a heavyweight, he against Ali in their primes would have been indescribably incredible. For Leonard to have beaten Duran, Hagler, and Hearns at different weight classes is almost beyond belief.

[FISHDAWG]

Ali was a great boxer but he got lucky with Frazier at least once. He just laid on the ropes and let Frazier hit away, round after round. He does that with Tyson and he is toast and it wouldn't take long.

Tyson had such short reach; not sure how he did as well as he did. I think many underestimate his boxing abilities due to that fact.

I believe that was Foreman (thrilla in Manillia) .... and if he had to fight foreman again he would have lost. That's the only time I remember Foreman losing in his prime - and I'm not sure he really lost that fight even tho it was a TKO

[FISHDAWG]

I assume we're only talking heavy weights so I'm going with Foreman ... he even kicked ass in his 50's

[PMDawg]

It should have been Tyson, but he just couldn't get out of his own way. He had really bad people around him too, and that didn't help.

Probably has to be Ali, even though his style proved to be very detrimental to his health post-retirement.

Fury and Wilder are awesome right now, but Fury is probably the one that has a chance to move into the conversation. Wilder is like a Mike Tyson with longer reach, but less actual boxing skills.

[NWADAWG]

I can't decide if the boxing of the 70's was really that great or was it the fact that it came on ABC Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoon so everyone with a tv could watch. We also had only 3 or 4 channels to choose from and no other digital entertainment to distract us. Even casual fans knew who all of the boxer were back then. The Tyson era took boxing from prime time tv to PPV. It made more money but screened out a lot of casual and poor watchers. The current era has to compete with MMA which makes boxing look pretty tame and there are a million other options (pre-virus). I don't think I'm the only one that can say I haven't watched a fight when it was actually happening in many years. I usually watch a few days later on youtube but the excitement is reduced when you already know who won. These and many other factors make is almost impossible to judge across the eras. Tyson Fury is a pretty good fighter at 6'9" and 260 or more and it's hard to understand how he would have compared to 6'2" Ali.

[parabrave]

I can't decide if the boxing of the 70's was really that great or was it the fact that it came on ABC Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoon so everyone with a tv could watch. We also had only 3 or 4 channels to choose from and no other digital entertainment to distract us. Even casual fans knew who all of the boxer were back then. The Tyson era took boxing from prime time tv to PPV. It made more money but screened out a lot of casual and poor watchers. The current era has to compete with MMA which makes boxing look pretty tame and there are a million other options (pre-virus). I don't think I'm the only one that can say I haven't watched a fight when it was actually happening in many years. I usually watch a few days later on youtube but the excitement is reduced when you already know who won. These and many other factors make is almost impossible to judge across the eras. Tyson Fury is a pretty good fighter at 6'9" and 260 or more and it's hard to understand how he would have compared to 6'2" Ali.

Great point. In the 7-s and even early 80's before PPV every kid followed boxing and Friday night fights was must see TV. Ask anyone who grew up in the 60's - the 80s we all knew the great boxers. Dam near everyone saw the Thriller in Manila and the Rope A Dope. Most of us did see Frazier beat Ali and then down goes Frazier. We also followed Olympic Boxing because thats where the next great boxer came from. And we all hated Howard Cosell. Now there is one boxer everyone is forgetting Teolfilo Stevenson. Imagine what he could have done if he was allowed to box professional.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It should have been Tyson, but he just couldn't get out of his own way. He had really bad people around him too, and that didn't help.

Probably has to be Ali, even though his style proved to be very detrimental to his health post-retirement.

Fury and Wilder are awesome right now, but Fury is probably the one that has a chance to move into the conversation. Wilder is like a Mike Tyson with longer reach, but less actual boxing skills.

I think had Cus not died Tyson probably becomes the greatest heavyweight of all time. If he could've lived until 1992 or 1993 then you have to think that Tyson stays out of the legal trouble and continues his assault of the Heavyweight division well into the mid 90s. Once that influence of Cus was gone, Don King took over and screwed Tyson up and he was never the same.

[Cowboydawg]

Without looking, who is the best boxer Mike Tyson defeated?

[Saltydog]

NO boxing conversation about the greatest heavyweights of all time should be had w/o mentioning Joe Louis. Best ever, it's hard to say. Ali, Louis and Marciano are top 3, IMO. Put them in the order you'd like.

[Cowboydawg]

NO boxing conversation about the greatest heavyweights of all time should be had w/o mentioning Joe Louis. Best ever, it's hard to say. Ali, Louis and Marciano are top 3, IMO. Put them in the order you'd like.

Joe Louis has to be in the conversation for #1. Mike Tyson is getting way too much love. Yes he was violent and scary and might have thrown the hardest punch but his resume as a true ?boxer? doesn?t stack up. He is outside the top 5 and behind Holyfield and Lewis.

[Bothrops]

I think had Cus not died Tyson probably becomes the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Until the super heavyweights came along that's probably true.

[FISHDAWG]

Joe Louis has to be in the conversation for #1. Mike Tyson is getting way too much love. Yes he was violent and scary and might have thrown the hardest punch but his resume as a true ?boxer? doesn?t stack up. He is outside the top 5 and behind Holyfield and Lewis.

I think Ali would have frustrated Tyson ... Tyson gets mad and makes mistake after mistake ... Ali jumps on one of those mistakes eventually and then we have the Thriller in The Bronx

[PMDawg]

Without looking, who is the best boxer Mike Tyson defeated?

That's a fair point, because it's probably Spinx or Holmes. I still stand by what I said though. He had everything he needed to become the best, or at least top 3. But he flamed out for a lot of different reasons. The main one being he is crazy.

[PMDawg]

That's a fair point, because it's probably Spinx or Holmes. I still stand by what I said though. He had everything he needed to become the best, or at least top 3. But he flamed out for a lot of different reasons. The main one being he is crazy.

ETA: He was definitely the most fun to watch until Fury and Wilder came along.

[Cowboydawg]

ETA: He was definitely the most fun to watch until Fury and Wilder came along.

No doubt. I used to love watching him fight. The key was to get him into a boxing match which meant surviving the first few rounds. And not many in his era could do that. He was way more talented than Holyfield but Holyfield was just a good smart boxer. I would have loved to see what Tyson could have done if he had kept his head straight.

[Coach34]

I agree. I made my original opinion after watching a lot of those Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Tyson replays. If Tyson could have kept himself focused, there would be no debate. But he didn't and it is a fair debate over several decades of some great boxers.

The same thing was said about Ali in the 60's. People forget Ali also lost 4 years during his prime because of refusing to be drafted into the army. He was 30 and older in the 70's when he resumed his career. You could have added another 8-10 wins to his record if he doesnt lose those 4 years- and take away the late losses because he probably wouldnt have needed to fight just because of money

Ali in his prime and Tyson in his are without a doubt the best we have ever seen. But also cant leave out Marciano- 49-0 is 49-0. Especially when its 43 KO's to go with it

[Coach34]

NO boxing conversation about the greatest heavyweights of all time should be had w/o mentioning Joe Louis. Best ever, it's hard to say. Ali, Louis and Marciano are top 3, IMO. Put them in the order you'd like.

Marciano beat Louis- altho Louis was 76 when he did.