Most fighters are like Iron Mike Tyson. They choose a style from one of the greats and then emulate it. Mike Tyson chose his style from Jack Dempsey. Check out what Tyson learned from watching tapes of Dempsey that made Mike one of the greatest and most feared heavyweights of all time so you can start planning ahead your bets for November 28, against their Mike Tyson Odds & Mike Tyson Prop Bets.
Iron Mike Tyson Patterned His Style on Jack Dempsey
It’s rare to find fighters that have unique styles. A boxer like Manny Pacquiao has a unique style because he does a lot of things wrong. Manny gets away with it for some reason while most every other fighter can’t.
Julio Cesar Chavez had a unique style because, unlike Manny, he did everything right. Feet in perfect position, body in perfect position, hands in perfect position. JCC threw perfect punches. No fighter in history threw was as perfect at Julio Cesar Chaves.
Dempsey used his balance to slip and duck from punches
Don’t be confused by the words “head movement” and “slip and dunk”. For Dempsey, those things happened in conjunction. Jack moved his head, yes. But he didn’t just move his head. If a fighter does that, disaster can strike.
What Jack did was move his head while either slipping, moving his body slightly to counter the force of a punch, or ducking to force the blow to either glance or miss. Tyson used this movement earlier in his career to great effect.
Both fighters used defensive movement like slips and ducks to set up powerful counter punches. The best defensive movements in boxing are those that can set up a counter. Iron Mike and Jack “The Manassa Mauler” tried to set up a counter with every defensive move they made. That’s why so many of their opponents were caught off-guard.
Dempsey threw punches from both his hip and from a crouching position
One of Jack Dempsey’s best offensive moves was to throw punches from his hip. There’s a saying in boxing, “hips first, punches second”. The idea is to move your hips forward and have your hips guide your punches. That’s the way to throw a power punch. Mike Tyson copied Dempsey’s hip first and punches second style.
Tyson also copied Jack Dempsey’s throwing from the crouch stance. All boxers are taught that they must change angles in order to land punches. That’s how one boxer is able to land more punches than the other.
Boxing is about grabbing position, grabbing the best angle, from your opponent before throwing the punch. The boxer that “wins” more angle positions than their opponent will almost always win the fight. Why? Because by winning more angles, the boxer should land more punches.
Dempsey used the crouch stance to confuse his opponent. What angle was Jack looking to win? His opponents never knew. If the opponent guessed wrong, The Manassas Mauler threw a punch from the crouch.
Two reasons to do this. First, if you watch Dempsey, and the young Mike Tyson, they both always had their feet set in the crouching stance. In boxing, you must set your feet before throwing any punch even if it’s a jab.
Second, both Iron Mike and Jack Dempsey could provide more power from a crouch. The distance from their hand to their opponents body, or face in some instances, was much shorter in a crouch than when they threw the punch with length. Shorter distance for Dempsey and Mike equaled more power.
Mike Tyson can no longer do many of the things he learned from Jack Dempsey. One thing Iron Mike picked up from The Manassas Mauler that he never lost, though, was intensity. Mike knows that no matter the opponent, he must always bring the same intensity.
On Nov. 28, Roy Jones Jr. had better understand that just because it’s an exhibition, Iron Mike Tyson will bring the same intensity he always has, Jack Dempsey like intensity, into the ring. If he doesn’t, it could be a short night for Superman.
Frontline Battle Stats | Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California
November 28, 2020 | Bet Here
Boxer |
Mike Tyson |
Roy Jones Jr. |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Iron Mike | Captain Hook |
| Hometown | New York City, New York, U.S. | Pensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| Pre-fight record | 50–6 (44 KOs) | 66–9 (47 KOs) |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Style | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Recognition | Former undisputed heavyweight champion | Former IBF middleweight IBF super middleweight Undisputed light heavyweigh WBA heavyweight champion |
| Mike Tyson Odds | Roy Jones Jr. Odds |
