re: Could in the prime Mike Tyson be unified world champ today?

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Jack Dempsey destroyed a 245 lb Jess Willard despite weighing 187 1bs

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The one legendary fighter that Tyson is most often compared to is Jack Dempsey who was one of his ring idols. Like Dempsey, Tyson was an aggressive bobbing and weaving perpetual motion machine that rushed his opponents from the opening bell. "Like Tyson, Dempsey fought out of a crouch, constantly moving in a bobbing and weaving fashion so taller men would be forced to punch down at a mobile target. Both learned to pressure their way inside and unleash furious volleys of head and body punches. Both ended a lot of fights early with devastating power." Tyson was a bigger, faster, stronger and more powerful version of Jack Dempsey. Famous trainer Angelo Dundee said after his fight with Trevor Berbick, “Tyson throws combinations I never saw before. When have you seen a guy throw a right hand to the kidney, come up the middle with an uppercut, then throw a left hook. He throws punches . . . like a trigger.”

The type of opponent who gives Tyson at his peak the most trouble are the bigger sized sluggers like Sonny Liston and George Foreman, or an exceptional quick handed out-boxer like Muhammad Ali. Foreman, in particular, is a bad match up for Tyson. Tyson used to watch the film of Frazier-Foreman (I) with his mentor Cus D'Amato, who had no idea Foreman could one day be a Tyson opponent. Cus used to tell Tyson that no heavyweight who ever lived could beat Foreman by going to him, and swarmers like Dempsey, Marciano, and Frazier couldn't beat him in a million years. Tyson never forgot it and when the opportunity came for them to fight in 1991 Tyson was not interested.

Tyson’s weaknesses as a fighter were not physical but rather were psychological. If Iron Mike could not intimidate his opponent he tended to fade as the bout progressed. He had a front-runner mentality and became frustrated if he could not gain control of the bout in the early rounds.

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