Greatest Heavyweight Boxer of all time

[Phoenix]

I would have loved it if Teófilo Stevenson had defected from Cuba to fight Ali. What a war that would have been. Stevenson may have been the absolute best ever, but never really had a chance to show it other than three consecutive Olympic heavyweight golds. It is said that in his 20 year amateur career he won 301 of 321 fights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/sports/teofilo-stevenson-cuban-boxing-great-dead-at-60.html

 

[Yakuza Rich]

At his absolute peak, Mike Tyson was the greatest boxer of all-time. He had a kind of strength that you simply don't see in boxing. A lot of guys could knock you out with one clean blow, but Tyson could knock you out even if he barely connected. As an amateur he KO'd a guy by punching through his defense, that's power.

He wasn't a top-5 heavyweight of all time, even at his peak.

There's no way he could have beaten Foreman in his prime. Foreman would have made mince meat out of him. Ali was too smart, could jab him to death and had much better defensive skills.

Tyson had incredible punching power, but so did Ernie Shavers and Ken Norton.

I think Larry Holmes in his prime would have dominated Tyson. Same with Lennox Lewis.






YR

 

[Arch Stanton]

I would have loved it if Teófilo Stevenson had defected from Cuba to fight Ali. What a war that would have been. Stevenson may have been the absolute best ever, but never really had a chance to show it other than three consecutive Olympic heavyweight golds. It is said that in his 20 year amateur career he won 301 of 321 fights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/sports/teofilo-stevenson-cuban-boxing-great-dead-at-60.html

Very true. He was an awesome amateur fighter. Political ideology denied us seeing how good he could have been.

BTW, there are so many really old posters here that saw those old fighters box. :laugh2:

 

[trickblue]

He wasn't a top-5 heavyweight of all time, even at his peak.

There's no way he could have beaten Foreman in his prime. Foreman would have made mince meat out of him. Ali was too smart, could jab him to death and had much better defensive skills.

Tyson had incredible punching power, but so did Ernie Shavers and Ken Norton.

I think Larry Holmes in his prime would have dominated Tyson. Same with Lennox Lewis.






YR

Obviously we'll never know these things... Rocky Marciano was also known as a very smart fighter. He was a bit smaller but you don't go undefeated being a dumb fighter... he also beat Ezzie Charles twice...

 

[StarBoyz83]

Iron mike Tyson!! Hands down!! Boxing has been pretty lame since he left and i havent really watched it since. Would pay a dollar to see anybody fight except mayweather and pac man and id pay 5 buck to see it no more. I wanna see knock outs not a 12 round jab / pitter pat scoring fest.

 

[JackWagon]

Ali would pitch a tent and camp in Tysons head. Then beat him up from outside cause Mike wouldnt get past his jab.

 

[JonJon]

Your talking pound-for-pound fighters though. Everyone of those guys don't last a round fighting heavyweights.

Oops, must not have read the title correctly. Sorry about that.

Since we are talking heavyweights, I would have to go with Tyson when he was trained by Cus D'amato. He was unbeatable then. He had very fast hand speed and one-punch knockout ability. He used combinations and the jab back then which set up his lethal left hooks. He also actually used defense back then and had a signature bob and weave to get inside taller opponents and land big shots.

After D'Mamato left and Tyson got the big head thinking he could just knockout opponents with one punch without even training, his skills went down hill. He stopped using his signature defense and also stopped using his jab and combos. Instead, he just threw haymakers all day and hoped one would land. This technique didn't bode well considering his lack of proper training and endurance. Late in his career, if he didn't knock his opponent out early, he would get tired and beaten up late in the fight.

Mike in his prime with D'amato

[youtube]7FgS3kCv79I[/youtube]