{"id":67306,"date":"2017-05-26T03:35:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T08:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=67306"},"modified":"2017-05-26T04:06:11","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T09:06:11","slug":"remembering-mike-tyson-triumphs-setbacks-and-much-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=67306","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Mike Tyson’s Triumphs, Setbacks and Much More\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Donald \u201cBraveheart\u201d Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI tell you, my friend, greater fighters than I have lost.\u201d –Mike Tyson<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The current heavyweight scene is one of the most interesting in any sport. It has villains the like of which could grace a WWE convention. We have a new villain, of course in Shannon \u201cLet\u2019s Go Cheat\u201d Briggs, 60-6-1, 53 KO\u2019s, but before we had Lucas \u201cBig Daddy\u201d Browne, 24-0, 21 KO\u2019s, as well as Alexander Povetkin, 31-1, 23 KO\u2019s holding the torch that said, \u201ctouch not\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then we have the current cloud and furore around both Hughie Fury, 20-0, 10 KO\u2019s, and big cousin Tyson Fury, 25-0, 18 KO\u2019s, who are still awaiting some news about their failed tests. They are however still relevant and with Hughie likely to be in line to finally face Joseph Parker, 23-0, 18 KO\u2019s, for the WBO strap and Tyson back in training they will arrive back like cats looking for pigeons. <\/p>\n

Parker gives us the exotic as he is from New Zealand, whilst we have the old guard in Wladimir Klitschko, 64-5, 53 KO\u2019s, who, along with his brother fought for a decade to show that heavyweight boxing could survive without America. It did, but its existence was hardly what you would describe as thriving.<\/p>\n

And, so we have a highly impressive American champion in Deontay Wilder, 38-0, 37 KO\u2019s, who has perhaps suffered because he is not as lauded and valued as others despite having the most impressive of records on paper. He has shown that the American market is a massive element in this mix as it has given us such massive and iconic figures in this sport. He now has a foothold for the US in the biggest and richest prize in sport.<\/p>\n

Then we have the British contingent outside of the Furys. There is the still to decide his future, David Price, the brawlers Derrick Chisora and Dillian Whyte, the cultured fighter with a big mouth, David Haye and the new kids on the block \u2013 Tony Bellew and the brilliant Dave Allen (You MUST get a look at this guy \u2013 he fights on the Brook\/Spence, JR. undercard) as well as the brand-new Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce, ready to make their own mark.<\/p>\n

It is a time filled with characters and stories that shall be legendary at some point.<\/p>\n

It is a time which has been dominated though by one name in the UK \u2013 Anthony Joshua, 19-0, 19 KO\u2019s. Where the Klitschko\u2019s tried to prove they did not need the American market, that night in Wembley showed that Joshua does not need the US pay per view hassle.<\/p>\n

What has been the most impressive though is his 19 wins and his 19 knockouts. The last man to have such an explosive win return rate is a pugilist who tends to divide people \u2013 his first 19 fights were all knockouts too. I am afraid I was never a fan though I marvel at his record. He was a force and one that seemed consistently unstoppable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIron\u201d Mike Tyson, 50-6, 44 KO\u2019s, was a man who made his name through explosive action, developed as a phenomenon with many admirers and deserved plaudits but ultimately corrupted his own legacy. My Publisher, \u201cBad\u201d Brad Berkwitt is going to give away an autographed copy of Tyson\u2019s autobiography \u201cUNDISPUTED TRUTH\u201d when his show hits 1500 subscribers. To be able to have a chance at winning, click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I have read it and it is a decent read; it did not change my mind about him though.<\/p>\n

Whilst the more humble Joshua is likely to win over people, Tyson was more likely to blast them. We can remember over here his disgraceful behavior at a press conference with Lennox Lewis. We have the images of him biting Evander Holyfield. We know all about his rape conviction as it is raised each time he wants to visit the UK.<\/p>\n

But what a phenomenon he was in his 20 year boxing career. The heavyweight scene right now could be seen as a mirror image of himself. We had the villain as he always was and when he bit Holyfield or brawled in press conferences he certainly was that. Revelations in his autobiography tell us he was also a user of drugs that would have found him in the deck with Briggs, Povetkin and the like.<\/p>\n

Tyson was also the linear champion, like Tyson Fury. He never held the WBO belt like Hughie might manage to, but there again that presumes he can beat Joseph Parker \u2013 Tyson fought for it once and lost to Lennox Lewis, many think Hughie may do the same when in against Parker.
\nLike Deontay Wilder, he is not the American Dream but he is the guy who was the USA\u2019s heavyweight representative on the planet.<\/p>\n

Tyson went on in the sport, like the Klitschko\u2019s did though the Ukrainian brothers have made their money and invested it wisely. As Wladimir decides whether or not to return, Tyson kept coming back. It got to the absurd level that his fight with British boxer, Julius Francis, was such a mismatch that Francis sold the advertising space on the soles of his shoes! Tyson never got to the Roy Jones, JR. level of boxing as a circus side show but he certainly went on beyond his time.<\/p>\n

He was, like many of the current crop of British boxers, a brawler, a hopeful and had a big mouth. He also had a massive set of tricks and the ability that came good for him over the 20 years he was active in the sport. His legacy has not been one that many would look at with envy but his presence is one that still hangs over the sport. Is Joshua his heir? No, he is not. Nobody is as we have a bigger and more democratic landscape than we have ever had. It means that the way to the top is not as obvious as it may have been \u201cback in the day\u201d from 1985 to 2005 when Tyson was an active participant in it.<\/p>\n

The machinations that will follow in 2017\/18 to get to the undisputed real King of the Castle will unfold. One thing from the Tyson story we need to learn is how to protect boxers from themselves, regulate the sport properly and make it a spectacle of pride and not shame. Shannon Briggs brought his nail gun to the ring to look for its coffin, we need to make sure it is in rude health so he, and others, cannot be the ones people remember long after the bells have rung; that would be a legacy worthy of any let\u2019s go champ\u2026<\/p>\n