Former undisputed world champion Mike Tyson is easily considered by many as one of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history. Many were particularly awed by the power he had in both hands and his uncanny ability to put his opponents out back in his heyday.
But according to one of his former trainers Teddy Atlas, Tyson may be getting a little too much credit.
“Was he one of the greatest punches of all-time? Yes,” Atlas said on a recent episode of the JRE MMA Show. “Could he punch from either side of the plate like Mickey Mantle, the greatest switch-hitter? Was he that in boxing? Yes! He could punch evenly, great with either hand from either side. Was he all those things? Yes! Was he great an intimidator as Sonny Liston? Yes! Was he a great finisher like Joe Lewis to an extent? Yes!”
“But he wasn’t a great fighter.”
Atlas defined a “fighter” as someone who is able to overcome a situation when things get rough. For the ESPN analyst, Tyson was not able to do this through all the losses on his record of 50-6, with 44 wins by knockout and two No Constest verdicts.
“I would say he’s 0-5. To me, a fight is not a fight until there’s resistance,” Atlas said. “Until there’s something to overcome. Otherwise, it’s just an athletic venture. It’s an exhibition. I think life is that. I think you don’t know if a lawyer’s a lawyer until there’s something to overcome in the courtroom. Something goes wrong.”
“A doctor’s not a doctor until he opens up this kid, a kid, just like he’s got at home, and arteries are bleeding all over the place (and) it’s not in the textbook. It’s not in the freaking textbook. And he gotta do it. He gotta figure it out, then he’s a doctor. He’s a surgeon at that level.”
“You’re not in a fight until there’s pressure. Resistance. Overcoming something. Otherwise, it’s just an exhibition. Tyson’s talent was so great. His physical ability, his talent was so overwhelming, just like somebody’s intellect, somebody’s charisma. Whatever. Beauty.”
Atlas did recognize Tyson’s talent level, but as far as his definition of a fighter goes, “Iron Mike” failed, which does not warrant the labeling of “greatness.”
“His talent was so superior, that the other stuff never got tested,” Atlas explained. “He was blowing guys out, and he never got tested if there was anything in the warehouse, so to speak. If there was anything inside. And then five times (that he lost), whatever the real record is, five times there was resistance. Five times, it became a real fight. Five times, there was something to overcome, and he failed at all five times.”
“He was only in five fights in his life, and he’s 0-5.”
Tyson ended his career with a sixth round TKO loss to journeyman Kevin McBride in June 2005.