50 and 6

I was listening to an interview from someone who was inside Mike Tyson’s camp. He said something interesting – to him, Tyson is 0 – 6, with 50 exhibition fights. He came to this conclusion by observing that as soon as it got a little difficult for Tyson, he lost. All the other 50 wins were easy and therefore, didn’t count.

First of all, I should say, this guy is not one of Tyson’s biggest fans. He did say “was he one of the biggest punches in history – Yes!” “Was he more intimidating than Liston – Yes!” “Did he have some of the best defence in heavyweight history – Yes!” He went on and on saying how powerful, explosive and destructive Tyson. Interestingly enough, he mentioned that that was the problem. The opinion was based on the premise that Tyson had so many physical gifts, he had a massive advantage over everyone he fought. Tyson was destroying everyone and there was an aura like never seen before in boxing. Then, Tyson ran into Buster Douglas who created one of the biggest upsets in sporting history by knocking Tyson out. Tyson had more success after this fight and then ran into Evander Holyfield. Holyfield didn’t give a crap how fast Tyson was, how hard he hit – Evander had been there and seen it all. When Tyson couldn’t intimidate Holyfield before the fight, or at the stare down in the ring, Tyson didn’t know what to do. In the first fight, Tyson lost and in the second fight was the infamous ear biting. In the opinion of the interviewee, that was Tyson’s way to get out of the fight as he knew he couldn’t win.

First, I need to explain that I am in no way comparing myself to Tyson. When I heard this guy saying these things about Tyson, it hit a raw nerve within me that has not been exposed for years. When I fought, most of my wins were in the first or second round, with only one win in the fourth round. There were two losses by decision and one by TKO. This always bugged me. If you got out the second round with me, you had a very good chance of winning. With the help of hindsight, if I fought each of the people that beat me ten times, then this would be the outcome: the first loss, 4/6; he was very big and strong and would win 6 of them. The second guy,1/9, the best fighter I ever fought and was another level, he wins 9. Then my last fight, it was a terrible preparation and I would beat this guy 9/1 in ten fights. I am sure that the three fighters would disagree with this and that is fine. They beat me on the night and that is all that matters. It must also be said that the people I beat on another night – they could win. There was one guy in particular who was a very good fighter and I just landed a good shot. On another night, it would’ve been a war. Does this mean that I am weak minded and as soon as someone gives a challenge, I looked for a way out of the fight? Then when things are going my way everything is good?

This got me thinking that in life (not meaning to get too deep here) we always have challenges and some we win and some we lose. In business, we are losing deals or winning deals. In sport, we are either winning or losing. In training, we are either wining or getting beaten. Everyone has areas in their life where they have more success than others. But with people like Tyson, who had all these physical advantages, they usually don’t know that they are above others. This is because it is normal for them. Yes, he knew he hit hard and was fast but had no idea how his punch felt. To give you an indication of Tyson’s physical gifts – when he was 12, he weighed 86kg and it was all muscle. I get what he is saying that people who have all these gifts have an easy ride and then they usually quit when it gets tough. Then you get the people that struggle and they are used to the struggle and they just keep on going. However, I don’t think this idea counts for someone that had 50 wins in professional boxing. Tyson had his issues, that is undoubtable, but he is one of the greats and he did have some tough fights. Buster Mathis Jr’s father, Buster Mathis was trained by Tyson’s coach and he knew the system. Every time Tyson went to do something, Buster knew what he was doing – Tyson won that fight. Then Frank Bruno turned up to fight in their first fight and Tyson had to dig deep for that win. These are two examples off the top of my head. It just doesn’t seem that you can win 50 pro fights without having some grit inside of you.

If we are honest, there are times where all of us have taken the easy option. This could be in any aspect of our lives. We just didn’t do it with millions of people watching in a massive fight. Maybe pro athletes are measured on a different scale and there is not a more difficult measure than a professional fight where someone has trained purely to beat you. For those of us that have not won 50 pro fights, it does seem a bit silly to say that someone who has had that success is lucky and weak minded.     

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor