Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas questions Mike Tyson’s greatness.
Tyson, the youngest boxer to ever win a heavyweight championship, is widely considered one of the greatest and most notable figures in the sport’s history. He was the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles simultaneously.
While Atlas doesn’t question Tyson’s skills, he has one criticism.
“I don’t know if he was ever great,” Atlas said on the Lex Fridman Podcast. “I know he was sensational. I know he was the greatest mix of maybe speed and power ever. I know he was one of the greatest punchers from either side of the plate, left or right. There’s been great punchers with just the right hand like Earnie Shavers and Deontay Wilder and Max Baer. I don’t know if there’s ever been anyone who could punch as good as (Tyson) did on either side with either hand other than Joe Louis and a few others.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been such a combination of speed and power to that pure level that he had, and it was a pure level. I don’t know if there was ever as good a fighter as Tyson was for maybe one night he was great. He wasn’t tested, but he might have been ready to be tested that one night against Michael Spinks when he took him apart in 90 seconds. I think I saw a great fighter that night. I don’t think you can be great unless you have all the requirements of being great.”
If Tyson doesn’t qualify as a great fighter, then what does it take to be truly great? Atlas explains.
“To not rely on someone else’s weakness to be strong, to be strong on your own,” Atlas said. “Too often, (Tyson) relied on other people’s weakness, whether it’s by being intimidated or whether it was because his talent was so much greater than theirs that it was like putting a monster truck in there with a Volkswagen.
“The Volkswagen was going to get crushed. No matter how much horsepower the Volkswagen might’ve had under the hood, it was going to get crushed. The monster truck was not going to allow it to be a contest. To be able to find a way when your talent wasn’t enough – he didn’t find a way when his talent wasn’t enough.”
Atlas pointed to Tyson’s big upset loss to Buster Douglas in 1990, when he said Douglas matched his will and didn’t get intimidated. He also referenced his two losses to Evander Holyfield, whom Atlas doesn’t think was as talented as Tyson.
“A fight is not a fight until there’s something to overcome,” Atlas said. “Until then, it’s just an athletic exhibition contest. Yeah, who’s a better athlete? Who’s got more quick twitch fibers? Who’s more developed in those physical areas?
“But a fight is not a fight until there’s something to overcome. So, if you go by my definition, not Webster’s, pretend it means something, Mike Tyson was only in five (six) fights in his life. The fights where there was something to overcome, he didn’t overcome it.”
Like boxing? Be sure to visit Boxing Junkie for all your coverage of the sweet science and follow @BoxingJunkie2 on Twitter.
