What is mike tyson's legacy?

Question

what will you, personally, remember mike tyson for being?

for me, he will be remembered as one of the saddest stories and greatest wastes of talent in the history of sports...he was pound for pound the best boxer in the world, and was on the straight line to being one of the greatest heavyweights to step in the ring and maybe to be one of the best pound for pound fighters ever...then came the loss to buster douglas, and then came the rape conviction, and then came the attack on holyfield's ear, and all of a sudden the wall of invincibility came tumbling down...and you could see the ensuing results, the unveiling of his drug problems and substantial debts, and continuing legal trouble...he SHOULD be remembered for being one of the most talented fighters of this generation, but he WILL be remembered for being a headcase

it's time for the rest of you guys to weigh in on this one

Answer 1

I think he was a good fighter, I think he had the physical make up to be great. I don't think he had the mental make up to be great. He was a product of his own experiences, as we all are. He had an awful childhood. He had his deamons and still at 40 can't overcome them. I don't think Cus would be able to get him to overcome them as well. I think that would have been to much to ask of Cus or anybody for that matter.  Although he would have been more prepared, to fight for longer in his life. But sooner or later his own indulgences would have caught up to him. I believe his downfall wasn't due to women or Don King. I think they aided it, but his downfall was a product of being young & have money, which enabled him to call his own shots in life. He is responsible for the choices he made in life.

He will be remembered as a good fighter and his name will always be attached to "what if" questions. But to judge his career, you can only judge what he did accomplished, not what if's!! He was the youngest heavyweight champ ever, he unified the titles. He lost to Douglas at 24, and that was the biggest upset in boxing probably ever.

The rape situation will be attached to him forever, in people's memory.

The ear biting will be remembered forever and the general circus atmosphere that accompanied the press confrences and the end of his career. Considering the begining of his career, that's sad!

Answer 2

Tyson revitalized the heavyweight division when Larry Holmes just left.   He was intriguing & everyone was excited because his fights could end with one punch.   As someone else said when Cus died & then Mike let trainer Kevin Rooney go & let a lot of leeches around his talent & non training couldn't get him by some fighters.   If he had stayed with Kevin Rooney, continued to train hard & not had lost 3 years due to his imprisionment he might have never lost a fight during his prime!!!!   He is one of the top 10 of all time.

Answer 3

With out any doubt he had the deadliest upper cut .He was an amazing fighter.But he always lacked endurance and any one who could take him to more than 5 rounds had a chance of beating him.His speed and height helped him to knock out opponents within minutes.My personal opinion , Tyson and Roy Jones are both the best boxers of all time .As for the rape thing , I am not sure if he did it and hes got a temper that gets him into trouble again and again.I have learned not to judge people by  if they loose there temper or not. I have seen many charming people who in truth are assoles and many hard tempered people who in truth are good souls.Us humans can be easily misguided so it would not be right to judge Tyson.

Answer 4

legacy?people are still awestruck by the sheer power and fighting skill of the guy nearly 20 yrs after he woke up boxing again!The real talk is what he could have gone on to achieve had his life worked out differently,total respect for him.

Answer 5

Ill remember him as one of the best heavyweight boxer ever that had so many greedy people around him and at the end of the day left him with nothing......

Answer 6

Mike tyson's legacy...A fighter with a killer instinct. Trained by the best let down by the rest.

He became frustrated by the fighter that would have made him the greatest,lost control and bit off a piece of his ear.

He had no choice after that but to become the bad boy of boxing,the evil 'i will eat your children' type guy. Unfortunatley for Tyson,this isn't the wwf/wwe.

Answer 7

Iron Mike will be remembered as " Could have been......Should have been.....but wasn't "

Answer 8

Well tyson will always be remembered as the best heavyweight outside ali.  But he should be remembered as a brother that was robbed of his stature by greedy ex-wives, promoters, coporate big wigs that put everything in his path to destroy him and when he took the path that "they led him down"  quickly turned their back on him and left him dazed and confused. When all tyson wanted was to fight and be happy. The worse part about this is that tyson isnt the only one  wake up people...

Answer 9

An extremely talented boxer who, after the loss of trainer and mentor Cus D'Amato, began to spiral downhill.  Hanging out with the wrong crowd, drugs, rape, then the in ring problems.

Answer 10

I loved watching mike tyson fight in his younger days.  He punched so hard.  The opponents could not take it even if they blocked it.

Answer 11

for me, he will be rememebered as the greatest and the most exciting boxer ever to step into the ring. I honestly think mike tyson (prime) before d'amato's death was the best and the greatest heavyweight boxer in the boxing history. His fighting spirit, big heart, determination was only a fraction of what he showed the fans.. His impregnable, tight defense, power, strength, speed, and accuracy. Combinations of a great inboxer, brute force of a slugger. This man had it all. Too bad he IS remembered as just a "ear biter" =/ i feel tyson is more than that. but his unfortunate incidents with the law, holyfield and other stuff outside the rings deterioated him into a lesser human being. but hey, he's only 41.. who knows if he'll pull off a george foreman? (to my wishful thinking tehe)

Answer 12

There have been a lot of boxers, baseball players, football players, and participants in other sports who earned the "flash in the pan" label because "what could have been" was much greater than what actually was.  

In Mike Tyson's case, the loss of Cus D'Amato surely hurt, as did the loss of Jimmy Jacobs.  But Mike himself fired Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney.  And he raped Desiree Washington without the help of anyone.

At some point, Mike must be held accountable for the difference between what could have been and what was.  Even if he wasn't as great as he seemed to be, he could have been much better than he turned out to be.  

You're right about how Mike WILL be remembered, and that's unfortunate.  But he is responsible for his behavior, and neither Cus nor Jimmy nor Teddy nor Kevin could have prevented him from self-destructing.  Mike was the horse who could be led to water but, after awhile, wouldn't drink.  

I don't think Mike was as great as many think he was.  He was ferocious, but he never had great stamina.  His record, even early on, wasn't that impressive when he had to go beyond the 5th round.  And his opponents were the the best, either.  It's not his fault that Muhammad Ali had retired and Larry Holmes was well past his prime when he fought him, but he did not get to face the best fighters of his era.  

I think Ali would have toyed with Tyson, and Holmes would have taken him apart as well.  NOBODY could attack Sonny Liston the way Mike attacked his opponents and live to tell about it.  Ernie Shavers probably hit harder than Tyson did, and George Foreman had a great jab backed up by great power.  Tyson would have had trouble with those guys.  

Be that as it may, Tyson was one of the most exciting fighters of all time.  He was a great "fighter."