We all know the Mike Tyson story and his roller coaster ride of a career but when you really look it, it's amazing how much of a difference Kevin Rooney made. With Rooney, Tyson record was 35-0 with 31 ko's and he was undisputed champion of the world. He had just destroyed Michael Spinks in 1 rd and was on top of the world and the Don King wanted full control of Mike and turned him against Rooney. With Rooney gone, the head and upper body movement left also...the angles left...the excellent jab left..the crushing body work and combination punching left. Mike became one dimensional. In his first fight without Rooney he was hurt badly by Frank Bruno, his second fight he destroyed a scared Carl Williams and his third fight he was Ko'd by Douglas. So we have with with Rooney 35-0 31 ko's and after Rooney he was 15-6 14 ko's and 2 nc...a prison stint for rape..in and out of jail, drug abuse etc. Had Tyson stayed with Rooney and stayed disciplined he possibly could have made it to Ali status. What a difference a trainer can make.

That is true, Mike Tyson could have been an ATG, but he isn't. But don't blame it on Don King or the lack of Rooney. Mike Tyson was the difference.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tyson would have had a better chance with Rooney, but I always felt that a big, strong, skilled heavyweight would eventually get Tyson just like it would have caught up with Marciano. Tyson had to be on all cylinders. That is tough to do.

Great thread indeed...very refreshing to read something new...
this is true..had he stayed his trainer and kept that discipline he would have been there with a Ali
but what made Ali the greatest of all time was of course what he did in the ring and the fact that he faced anyone...anyone
but also what he did outside of the ring....he has stamped his legacy as GOAT and that title will not be taken no time soon if ever

o and anyone who saw that fight knows Tyson beat Buster...it was a bogus ass count...but it was meant for Buster to win an he did his thing

True.

You're wrong there...The coun't had nothing to do with it. While the count may have been long, Buster Douglas wasn't too badly hurt. As soon as Douglas hit the canvas he banged his hand on the mat in disgust for getting caught with the punch. He was fully alert and waited for the referee 8 count before he got up. He didn't really have to struggle to his feet. So even if the ref had the right count Douglas was aware and waiting to get up.

I Blame Robin Givens for fukin up Iron Mike that was one crazy bitch !
Iron Mike Tyson is a Boxing Legend ,man i remember watching him as a kid,

Mike was going to derail no matter who was his trainer. Every man walks his own way in life at some point no matter what.

Atlas even said tyson was a devil in sheeps clothing even when Cus was alive. Tyson was going to go Tyson regardless imo no matter who was around him.

Tyson played into his media image as a SAVAGE BEAST... he is rather intelligent yet his concern for what others think and him being convinced that he was MANIC DEPRESSANT WAS HIS DOWNFALL... MENTALLY weak and immature... never grew up. Should have been hanging with Bernard Hopkins to get schooled on how to conduct himself and take care of his body instead of trying to embody the stereotypical black male "thug" bullshit image....

You have a lot of valid points. With that bein' said, I'm glad Tyson beat Don King's ass.

When Cost'd Mato(spell check) Mikes spirit died with him he changed rapidly.that man did so much more for mike than just train him.I'm happy for mike tho man.even thru all of his trials he definately deserves to be inducted in the HOF

the true turning point in tysons career was not the death of cus d amato... it was the death of jim jacobs... jim jacobs is the last man that had tysons true trust and that tyson actually listened to... the passing of jim jacobs gave king the opening he needed to get at tyson and he used the black angle and robin givens to get what he wanted... ousting rooney was the final key to the king control puzzle and the final ultimate demise of tyson as a peak fighter... everything after rooney is gone is a gradual decline in tysons skill set, mind set for the fight game etc... matter of fact if you go back to the post fight press conference after the spinks win tyson actually tries to retire, and king quickly interjects and has some words to say to laugh it off.. tyson knew then what was about to happen in his own little way and wanted a way out of the situation... he had money.. he was in search of normalcy that early in his career and life and for his part actually loved robin givens and wanted to have a life with her (doesnt mean she loved him back)... normalcy never came (he's probably just now getting to see what that is like this many years later) and his career went with it... tho tysons true prime was very quick (86-88) a great argument can be made that version of iron mike would have beaten almost all of the all time greats... there are only 2 that i question his ability to beat in their prime during those 2 destructive years of his career...

with all that said, in the end, only one person is to blame for the ultimate destruction of mike tyson... its not robin givens and its not don king... did they play a part in the destruction?... yes, for sure... but at the end of the day the only person that can be blamed is mike tyson... and you can argue he kinda got what he deserved for his act of leaving the team that brought him to where he was at that point and allowing king to jive him into leaving a group of guys that actually cared for his well being not just making money off of him... ray charles could see the transformation in tyson from the low key person he was to the militant, foul mouthed bad guy he would come to be under don king... karma is a mutha...

i take anything that atlas says with a grain of salt. he obviously despises tyson and never has anything good to say about him. which is a total slap in the face because he only became famous for holding tysons spit bucket.

tyson is an all time great regardless of what anyone thinks. while his prime was somewhat short, during this time there is no heavyweight in history that would have had an easy night with him.

He's also famous for puttin' a gun to Tyson's head for allegedly tryin' to rape his sister-in-law.