This has to be the worst Tyson preformence ever. At least the Holyfield bout gave us something to talk about. If their is a Tyson-Lewis 2 I for one will not be interested. He showed nothing, I at least expected him to throw some wild punches maybe even connect on a few, but he just seemed content on letting Lewis keep hitting him with that jab. IMO Tyson is OVER! The only reason people will be interested now will be the same reason people want to see a train wreck, and after Tyson's "good-guy" act at the end I'm now even sure he has that going for him anymore.
of course Tyson couldn't connect.. Lewis just sat back and used his enormous reach advantage to keep a safe distance from Iron Mike... Mike couldn't get up and inside Lewis b/c everytime he got close, Lewis would just hold him or fall on his back (b/c Mike had to duck low to get up in Lewis's personal space)... and Lewis' pushdown of Tyson on the eventual KO punch was ludicrous... where the hell was the ref on that call???? Tyson's good guy act at the end seemed "too polite"... i.e. PR move... i'd be interested in Tyson-Lewis II... I would like to see how tyson alters his strategy to combat Lewis' obvious height and reach advantages...
I think Tyson's corner did a terrible job. It seemed like they never cooled him off so that Mike could get his snap back. It looked like his corner wasn't using any ice or those metal things to reduce swelling. The trainer used q-tips and rags... I hardly saw Tyson drink or get doused... It just looked amateur-ish in Tyson's corner. But I will credit Tyson for lasting as long as he did and for fighting a good clean fight. If anyone was unsportsman-like, it was Lewis with his holding and pushing. Twice, including the final knockdown, Tyson was pushed... IF there is a Lewis-Tyson 2, Mike had better train longer and harder, cause Lewis has his number....
it seemed like Tyson just didnt' have any stamina. He came out well in round 1 and in the beginning of each round made a few nice moves, but after that he would just sit back and get walloped. If there is a rematch, I would be interested b/c I think Tyson can do a hell of a lot better than he did 2day... he was barely even moving in the last couple of rounds. IMO no stamina.
Tyson in his prime would have won this fight. Then again, they are the same age. Tyson is almost always the shortest man in the ring. His oppenents used to say and think "I'll keep him away with my jab and he'll wear out." OF course Tyson was quoted as saying "everyone has a game plan, until I punch them in the mouth." Kudos to Lewis for not being intimidated by Tyson's rep and prodigous power. Would have been a different fight ten years ago though.
Some thoughts: I'd be surprised if Tyson Lewis 2 would draw as many viewers as tonight's fight. Tyson in his current condition cannot hang with Lewis. This isn't 1988. I agree a young Tyson would kill a young Lewis. I hope Tyson didn't underestimate Lewis. I think Tyson prepared hard for Lewis, but Lewis is just on another level. No doubt I wouldn't watch a rematch. I give Tyson the edge in Round 1, but after that he looked like a punching bag. I can't believe he stayed up for 8 rounds. Tonight's fight proved the only thing Tyson has left is his name. Until Tyson defeats a legitimate opponent, there's no way in hell Tyson deserves a rematch with Lewis. I think Tyson made some interesting comments at the end of the fight. Asking Lewis for a rematch and then being buddy buddy with Lewis just showed how desperate Tyson is. Whether Lewis pushed him or not, Tyson was going down sooner or later.
“ There's no way I could ever beat him. He's just too big and too strong. ” Then why does Tyson want a rematch? $$,$$$,$$$ Ah yes.
I've seen him look worse or equally as bad...remember Buster Douglas??? This is same song, second verse from that fight, as far as I'm concerned. In both fights he lost to a bigger guy who jabbed his ass over and over again. In both fights, Mike refused to go to the body to chop away. In both fights, Mike came in unprepared and relatively out of shape. If I'm Lewis, I say Mike doesn't deserve a rematch. He was thoroughly dominated...those aren't the kinds of fights that normally lead to rematches. Mike is about a year away from the ultimate fighting championship...or pro wrestling...or something like that. Remember, Larry Holmes said 10 years ago, Mike won't be alive after 10 years.
Word, MadMax. Sometimes styles make the fights and sometimes size differences cannot be denied...George Foreman totally destroyed the much shorter Joe Frazier. He must have knocked him down 9 times in two or three rounds (with the same kind of uppercuts that Lewis likes to use). At virtually the same time, Frazier beat Ali and lost two other rematches in very tough and close fighters. Frazier was shorter than Ali, but not to the overwhelming extent compared to Foreman. Foreman, in his prime, could not beat the same Ali who had lost to Frazier, but had superior ring intelligence and wasn't completely dominated physically. (Has this got confusing yet?) The point is that sometimes heart and skills and determination aren't enough the other guys is a lot bigger than you. When your heart is in question (Tyson's bite of Holyfield was only a new way to say "no mas" like Duran against Leonard) and your skills have diminished with age, in activity and lack of quality opponents, is it any wonder the fight turned out as it did? As MadMax pointed out, Buster Douglas proved that a bigger, *skilled* fighter could beat Tyson in his prime, even though Mike was clearly unmotivated coming into the fight. If Tyson continued to develop his skills that Cus D'amato and Kevin Rooney instilled in him when he was a teenager, he could have been devastating, rather than a side-show. What was intriguing about Tyson early on is that he seemed like he was more than a slugger. His defense and combonations used to much better. Having said that, I just think that Lewis has more talent and obviously more size. (and much cooler intro music!) Tyson has never beated a skilled fighter that was bigger than him, or in the prime of his career. Trevor Berbick, Frank Bruno and Tony Tucker (the dude with the awesome geri curl) don't count! I'm sorry to go on like this..it's a lot easier to talk about it than do it, and much more fun.
elvis -- honestly ,there was a period of time there where i thought mike was on his way to being the greatest boxer of all time. but that takes more than talent and a tremendous punch...it takes being able to fight a technical fight if you have to. mike gave up on being a great fighter...he stopped preparing...he stopped caring. interesting considering he's certainly a student of the game and should have been able to tell that...but i guess we're all somewhat blind to our own shortcomings.
Decent fight, I'm glad Iron Mike behaved so well and was such a sportsman. I really wanted to see Iron Mike back on top but Lennox was too much. I had a great time BBQing and chillin with friends watching it though.
Wasnt the Pay Per View price like $60.00, is it worth that much money to watch a Tyson vs. Lewis II? Me and my friends were thinking about pitching money in to get it, but we decided not to.
Watching Iron Mike these days, and back in his prime, the biggest difference that you notice is his defense. It was VERY underrated in his prime, but he was a very effective defensive fighter back then, albeit for short durations. His swivel, lean, and counter punching are almost non-existent now, and he still leads with his chin too much. When he had better defense he could get away with that, but now he's an easy target for the stick jab, and it opens him up. His vaunted power/intensity were always his most evident assets, but they were backed up by his ability to make his man miss/glance when he needed to, and to evade the straight jab to get inside. His power/intensity might not be that different now then when he was young, but his defensive shortcomings make it a very uphill battle...
No doubt! The first thing I said when I saw Mike was that he didn't look as cut as in previous fights. I seriously think he wasn't prepared for Lewis.
Tyson got his ass kicked. Picked apart completely and took punishment the whole night. The ref there loved to mess with Lewis, it seemed. Lewis was holding, but Tyson was doing his fair share. The first push was questionable at best - and the 'standing 8' was a blown call, period. Lewis would have put Tyson to bed right then and there. Not that it eventually mattered. The second 'push' wasn't worth the bother. It would have only delayed the inevitable.
Shouldn't have been a surprise, Tyson had only fought 19 rounds the past 5 years, and probably hasn't beaten anyone decent since Ruddock. The guy just isn't that good. Unfortunately, I'd pay to see a rematch, however. Elvis, interesting that you seem to know so much about boxing. You seemed to be right on in your Tua comparison in a previous thread. Also in your fighting styles theory, you can add as another example that Holyfield has beaten every single heavyweight that was worth a sh*t during his day, but just couldn't handle Lewis because of the style/size thing. And if it was just a push, why couldn't he get up?
Quit making excuses for Tyson. He got his butt handed to him and I for one am glad. He knew this was the last shot in his fading career and trained as hard for this fight as ever. He was in great shape. Lewis beat him up.
believe me...i'm not making excuses for the guy...not preparing is not an excuse, it's pure idiocy. but again..he came into this fight well overweight from his previous fights...he was clearly winded early on...he was NOT in "great shape." And he has no one to blame but himself....for this and for the way his entire career has ended up.
