The Champ
Iron Mike...nuff said.
Despite all of the nonsense and drama that has surrounded him over the years, Mike Tyson is the man. I'm KNOW plenty of folks can and will debate this but, I will argue until I die. The youngest heavyweight champ ever. How many people have had as many fights under a round? How many boxers were as feared as Mike Tyson. Hell...as it stands the two people I don't want to have to see are my mother and Mike. Before it get's pointed out let's address the ear issue. Yes he bit Holyfields ear(s). Yes it was unprecedented. The thing I hate the most about the whole debacle was no one seems to address Evander's headbutting. I've heard people (like George Foreman) mention it, but for some reason he is not hated as much as Mike. Dude was getting off headbutt combos and what not. I may not have chosen to bite his ear, but he might have caught a jab to the adam's apple or something. I personally can't stand Holyfield. But let's judge the field. Lennox Lewis was a good champ, but he was purely tactical. If you had problems with a left jab he would left jab your ass for 12 rounds and take the win. I don't want to see a tactical boxing match. I wanna see a dude get knocked out and Mike Tyson was one of the best at it. I hear concerns over tomorrows fight that Mcbride is taller and bigger than him. So what?!?!? I can't remember a fight when Mike was the same size as his opponent. He made a career of chopping down big dudes. I think that was part of the allure. That this man who I probably look down on just kills big dudes. I remember one of his more recent fights where Mike is digging in Brian Nielsen up until the seventh round. During the break The corner men is talking to Nielsen and you hear dude say: "Stop the fight." His corner man is calling him all kinds of bitches and what not and then he tries to put the mouthpiece back in and dude locks up and starts shaking his head like a child that doesn't want to eat. I have never seen anyone bitch out of a fight like that. I think his corner man gave him a worse verbal beating than the physical one he got from Mike. Beyond all of the hype and circus the plain fact is that Mike is the Ali of my time. Think about it...when you are 50-60 years old and some young dudes are talking about the current champ and how he is them man, you'll probably say, "Mike Tyson would've whipped his ass." What other heavyweight or this era can we hold up as such an example of dominance. Lewis was good but even he fell to Hasim Rahman. As a Baltimore native I did think it would be nice to see Rahman win, but when the conversation came up my exact quote was: "Lewis took Rahman to lightly and dude got in a good ass hit, he's about to give that belt right back." And that was the Homer in me talking! My biggest beef with the dislike of Mike is...people say he's savage and uncivilized...YO! his job is to whop your ass! He's not an ambassador or a public speaker, his job is to beat dudes down. I don't need him to be charming. The fact reamins that no fighter rules forever and Mike is a fighter. His glory years may be behind him (I could say that for Heavyweight boxing at the moment as well) but when he was on top he ruled...with an iron fist. When I think about a Champion, my minds eye will produce Mike Tyson walking into the ring with those black shorts and that white towel with the hole cut in the middle draped over his shoulders and across from him some 6 foot plus guy shaking in fear.
posted by Amadeo at 10:47 AM
4 Comments:
Damn dawg. Had I just focused in on Mike Tyson solely in my own post, I would've hoped that my writing had been as good as this one. I LOVED Mike Tyson. I'll admit, I fell out of favor with him, but not because of the stuff he did in the ring (sans the earbite issue) but the things he did outside of it.
Mike, like some of us has demons. He's had a life that wasn't very glamourous, he didn't grow up in the best of conditions, and he only knew how to do the one thing he did best. And that was beat yo' azz to a pulp. Mission accomplished. No one did this better than Iron Mike.
Remember how folks would go crazy with him when he simply approached the ring to PE's Welcome to the Terrordome. HOw true to that record was he? Mike was in his opponent's heads before the fight even began. I know you must've liked what he said at the press conference man. That was some lovely sh#@. As a fellow Brooklynite, I wish him the best tomorrow. I'm also hoping he can rise in the Heavyweight ranks where he belongs. It can use it. Great post dude.
For me growing up when I did I always think of Tyson as the man. Who else had dudes quaking in their boots like that. And I remember back in the days that was like the nickname every highschool in my spot gave to the baddest scariest m.f the one who would kick your ass just for looking at him
He's a god damned genius.
Mike Tyson on Fear:
"I'm scared every time I go into the ring, but it's how you handle it. What you have to do is plant your feet, bite down on your mouthpiece and say, 'Let's go.'"
Mike Tyson on Discipline:
"Without discipline, no matter how good you are, you are nothing! One day, and I might not be around, you're going to meet a tough guy who takes your best shot. He'll keep coming because he's tough. Don't get discouraged. That's when the discipline comes in."
Mike Tyson on Self Control:
"I'm on the Zoloft to keep from killing y'all."
Mike Tyson on America:
"I'm just a dark guy from a den of iniquity. A dark shadowy figure from the bowels of iniquity. I wish I could be Mike who gets an endorsement deal. But you can't make a lie and a truth go together. This country wasn't built on moral fiber. This country was built on rape, slavery, murder, degradation and affiliation with crime."
Mike Tyson on his own Inner Strength:
"The one thing I know, everyone respects the true person and everyone's not true with themselves. All of these people who are heroes, these guys who have been lily white and clean all their lives, if they went through what I went through, they would commit suicide. They don't have the heart that I have. I've lived places they can't defecate in."
I agree with you 148% when you say that Michael is a boxer, not an ambassador of public speaking. The man was bred to be a fighter from a young age; what exactly did we think would happen to him? He would go on to discover the cure for AIDS? People need to relax. Anytime folks see an "angry black man", they wanna get up in arms. Who do they want fighting? Urkel?
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