I found this video while watching other boxing videos. Any of the boxing aficionados on this site think he’s legit. It’s simple but informative. If his other videos are the same, I was wondering if it’s worth the time to watch them.
Guy seems pretty good. Fits my understanding of the peek-a-boo style and it’s pretty much an analyzation of how Tyson fought.
I like that he mentioned the angles that the movement must create too. That was an underappreciated part of Tyson’s game, and therefore an underappreciated part of Cus D’Amato’s teachings.
Its a good analysis yeah, I agree with most of the guy’s points and he also touches on the fact that the hands are up for counter punching not defense as most people assume. Tyson never really “covered up” so to speak until post prison where he seemed more content to search for one shot. The hands are in position so when tyson bobs, he’s immediately ready to fucking blast you in the face, or at least that would be my analysis of it, I could be wrong. But D’amato being an old timer I doubt he would’ve relied on gloves as the primary method of defense like so many low level pros do today.
I think the peekaboo style is also somewhat mislabeled as a system for shorter fighters, simply because everyone associates it with Tyson. For Tyson specifcally, sure, to win against a division of monsters he needed to take advantage of being on the inside, getting leverage and angles and constantly applying pressure, but there’s nothing in the style itself that says it can only be tailored to pressure fighters or shorter fighters. It’s all fundamentally sound IMO, and there’s absolutely no reason it couldn’t be applied to other styles. I think there’s a few fights out there that show Tyson in his youth could and did outbox a few guys when they weren’t being cooperative. The bonecrusher fight he gets sick of chasing smith and starts getting the better of him at long range.
I don’t know, I used to emulate tyson a few years ago, and did pretty well with it for a while, but I didnt really feel like it was for me and I dont feel comfortable constantly applying pressure. But more and more as i go on, I can’t help but appreciate a young tyson’s perfection in it’s simplicity. I feel perhaps his technical prowess was underrated because he lacked or didnt care for any flashiness.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Its a good analysis yeah, I agree with most of the guy’s points and he also touches on the fact that the hands are up for counter punching not defense as most people assume. Tyson never really “covered up” so to speak until post prison where he seemed more content to search for one shot. The hands are in position so when tyson bobs, he’s immediately ready to fucking blast you in the face, or at least that would be my analysis of it, I could be wrong. But D’amato being an old timer I doubt he would’ve relied on gloves as the primary method of defense like so many low level pros do today.
I think the peekaboo style is also somewhat mislabeled as a system for shorter fighters, simply because everyone associates it with Tyson. For Tyson specifcally, sure, to win against a division of monsters he needed to take advantage of being on the inside, getting leverage and angles and constantly applying pressure, but there’s nothing in the style itself that says it can only be tailored to pressure fighters or shorter fighters. It’s all fundamentally sound IMO, and there’s absolutely no reason it couldn’t be applied to other styles. I think there’s a few fights out there that show Tyson in his youth could and did outbox a few guys when they weren’t being cooperative. The bonecrusher fight he gets sick of chasing smith and starts getting the better of him at long range.
I don’t know, I used to emulate tyson a few years ago, and did pretty well with it for a while, but I didnt really feel like it was for me and I dont feel comfortable constantly applying pressure. But more and more as i go on, I can’t help but appreciate a young tyson’s perfection in it’s simplicity. I feel perhaps his technical prowess was underrated because he lacked or didnt care for any flashiness.[/quote]
Awesome post. Tyson at 21-22, in my opinion, was one of the most technically gifted heavyweights in history. I think his skill in those years after D’Amato died and before he went to prison is almost unmatched. People think he was just a wrecking ball in human form, but I think Tyson in his prime was an artist, and certainly the most formidable fighter I have ever watched. Even more so than Liston, maybe, although I think that’s a close one. Tyson’s footwork and balance, his judgement of range, his ability to open up angles in the blink of an eye, and then his punching technique to deliver finishing shots to both body and head with either hand and any punch is truly remarkable, and not something many fighters in any weight class throughout history could have replicated.
The whole peek a boo/bob and weave thing really started with Dempsey to my mind, who was certainly a big guy for his generation at 6’1 180-190lbs. He showed very effectively that even a taller (or at least not shorter) fighter could box off the front foot with that crouched style.
[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Its a good analysis yeah, I agree with most of the guy’s points and he also touches on the fact that the hands are up for counter punching not defense as most people assume. Tyson never really “covered up” so to speak until post prison where he seemed more content to search for one shot. The hands are in position so when tyson bobs, he’s immediately ready to fucking blast you in the face, or at least that would be my analysis of it, I could be wrong. But D’amato being an old timer I doubt he would’ve relied on gloves as the primary method of defense like so many low level pros do today.
I think the peekaboo style is also somewhat mislabeled as a system for shorter fighters, simply because everyone associates it with Tyson. For Tyson specifcally, sure, to win against a division of monsters he needed to take advantage of being on the inside, getting leverage and angles and constantly applying pressure, but there’s nothing in the style itself that says it can only be tailored to pressure fighters or shorter fighters. It’s all fundamentally sound IMO, and there’s absolutely no reason it couldn’t be applied to other styles. I think there’s a few fights out there that show Tyson in his youth could and did outbox a few guys when they weren’t being cooperative. The bonecrusher fight he gets sick of chasing smith and starts getting the better of him at long range.
I don’t know, I used to emulate tyson a few years ago, and did pretty well with it for a while, but I didnt really feel like it was for me and I dont feel comfortable constantly applying pressure. But more and more as i go on, I can’t help but appreciate a young tyson’s perfection in it’s simplicity. I feel perhaps his technical prowess was underrated because he lacked or didnt care for any flashiness.[/quote]
Awesome post. Tyson at 21-22, in my opinion, was one of the most technically gifted heavyweights in history. I think his skill in those years after D’Amato died and before he went to prison is almost unmatched. People think he was just a wrecking ball in human form, but I think Tyson in his prime was an artist, and certainly the most formidable fighter I have ever watched. Even more so than Liston, maybe, although I think that’s a close one. Tyson’s footwork and balance, his judgement of range, his ability to open up angles in the blink of an eye, and then his punching technique to deliver finishing shots to both body and head with either hand and any punch is truly remarkable, and not something many fighters in any weight class throughout history could have replicated.
The whole peek a boo/bob and weave thing really started with Dempsey to my mind, who was certainly a big guy for his generation at 6’1 180-190lbs. He showed very effectively that even a taller (or at least not shorter) fighter could box off the front foot with that crouched style. [/quote]
Yeah I honestly struggle to find a flaw in a young tyson that isn’t somehow related to just tyson himself (supposed lack of heart, potential inability to go the distance if pressured - although again, another commonly leveled criticism that I think he proved more than once he could fight into the championship rounds if needed etc).
Then again I suppose we’re talking about a lightning strike type of a fighter, in that the stars aligned and an athletically gifted young man happened into a legendary boxing trainer who was at the peak of developing his theory and the fragile psyche of tyson also made for something of a pliable clay. D’amato broke him down and built him up and was able to produce what I guess he would’ve called his masterpeice, much like how George Benton felt Whitaker was his master work.
I don’t think we’ll see something like it again in our collective lifetimes.