Do Mike Tyson and Kostya Tszyu Belong in the Hall of Fame?

Yes. Mayby Kostya got in a tad early as I can make a case for others who could have gotten before him. But he belongs. Tyson is a no brainer.

I always ask myself this question: “can you tell the story of the good and important things in this sport in this athlete’s era without mentioning them?” It’s not the whole of an answer, but I find it’s a useful quick sorting mechanism. I think you’d be hard-pressed to leave out Tszyu and it would be impossible to skip Tyson, so to me they’re both fine selections.

Kostya is one of my favourite fighters but after hearing Atlas and Tessitore on FNF saying that Tszyu probably wasn’t worthy, i analyzed his record and, to be honest, he beat a few guys who were past their best, beat a few good guys, and lost to two good guys, with the Phillips loss looking worse than the Hatton one, imo.
At forst o thought WTF is Tessitore the idiot talkng about here, but i can see where he is coming from.
Like they say, the Hall should require the highest standards for inductions.
I hate to say it but looking at his record, i think Tszyu is one of the lesser members of the Hall and probably should not be a first ballot entry.
Tyson should def be in, imo.

One argument for HOF inclusion in any sport is were they the best at what they did for a given stretch. Obviously the length of that given stretch is up in the air. But in regards to Tyson, whatever the competition, he was the best in the world in the mid-80s before losing to Buster.

And of course, if you want to go with the literal interpretation of Fame, there are few boxers ever that have been as famous as Iron Mike. That’s taking it a bit far, but like Brendan said above, you can’t tell the story of boxing in the 80s and 90s without talking about Tyson.

Not sure how someone can cobble together a reason Tyson doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. They would have to be pretty confused in my opinion.

Forget for a second all the particulars, like being the youngest champ in heavyweight history, or unifying the titles. For pete’s sake, look at some of the other guys in there. Like Boss Man says above, a no brainer.

Tszyu is a little arguable, I guess, but not Kid Dynamite.

Here is what I said about Tszyu in my book Planet Boxing::::Kostya Tszyu (31-2), fought from 1992-2005. Perhaps the most celebrated Russian fighter ever, Tszyu retired in 2005 with a deceptive 33 fights, for he had gone up against tough hombres virtually from the very start of his pro career. In fact, he beat Juan LaPorte in his fourth fight, and his second pro opponent had 33 fights. Known as the "Thunder from Down Under" because he had emigrated to Australia, he won the IBF Light Welterweight title in 1995 by stopping Jake Rodriguez in Las Vegas. He defended it successfully with his heavy hands until being upset by Vince Phillips in 1997. He rebounded by beating Ismael Chaves (40-5-3) in a WBC Light Welterweight Title eliminator, and then iced Calvin Grove (49-9) in the first round. In 1998, he beat Rafael Ruelas(52-3) in nine rounds to win another WBC Light Welterweight Title Eliminator, and then captured the interim WBC Light Welterweight Title by beating Cuban Diosbelys Hurtado (28-1) that same year. In 1999, the powerful Russian via Australia stopped Miguel Angel Gonzalez (43-1-1) to win the vacant WBC Light Welterweight belt. He then won 8 in a row including a blow out of former Mexican Legend Julio Cesar Chavez (103-4-2 at the time). During this streak, he also won the WBA Super World Light Welterweight title, IBF Light Welterweight title, and the WBC Light Welterweight crown. In May 2005, he lost his final fight when he could not answer the bell for round 12 against Ricky Hatton in Manchester, England. When one reviews his entire body of work, the only thing left is for the affable and articulate Tszyu is to receive the inevitable call from the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Oh yes, he compiled an amateur record of 259-11 before turning pro, but unlike so many amateurs today, he hit the road running and dispensed with walk-over fights.

My point is that if they waited a year or two, That would have been perfect.

You hit the nail on the head with McGuigan (or even Ingemar Johansson).

The bar has been set, and I think Tyson and Tszyu exceed that bar.

Personally, I don’t take the Hall of Fame seriously at all.

I’m not sure if you mean you don’t take the IBHOF seriously, or you mean you don’t take ranking greatness seriously?
My view is that defining greatness should be taken seriously.
I mean, fighter’s fight mainly for money, but also to find out who is the best.
And the Hall should be reserved only for the very best, imo.

I could make a case for Pone Kingpetch – 1954-1966 Chartchai Chionoi- 1960-1975 Venice Borkhorsor – 1968-1980 Samart Payakaroon-1982-1994 (Also a legend of Muay Thai boxing) Sot Chitalada – 1983-1992 Muangchai “J-Okay” Kittikasem- 1988-1999 Samson Dutch Boy Gym – 1992-2002. - Or Masamori Tokuyama (alias Chang Soo Hong) – 1994-2006 In-Jin Chi 1991-2006 Myung-Woo “Sonagi” Yuh – 1983-1992 In-Chul Baek – 1980-1990 Soo-Hwan Hong – 1969-1980 Ki-Soo Kim 1961-1969 (South Korea’s first world boxing champion).

But I would have put Yuri Arbachakov in there first because he was a pioneer of sorts given his Japanese home base—much like Kostya’s in OZ

The problem with the HoF is that it’s very political and sometimes very crazy with who it inducts (see: Jose Sulaiman and Sly Stallone). With Sulaiman, I was sure they meant to say “indicts” rather than “inducts.”

The non-fighters all made thier bones thanks to the warriors who risk(ed) their lives in the ring. That’s my point—though never a winning one—that the Hall should be restricted to those who had an immediate impact on the outcome of a fight. Trainers, corner men,referees, and boxers. Many actors and writers have their own Halls of Fame. I bet Sly has a STAR in Hollywood. They don’t need two. Who next? Dan Rafael? Gus Johnson? The BWAA has it’s own award program. I don’t need Bert Sugar in the Hall. Or Merchant? Or Suliman? Or King? Or Arum? Or maybe a Buffer. I need more fighters.

I personally thought it was crazy back when Ring was ranking Tyson the #1 P4P boxer in the world (something like two or three years running, if I recall correctly). A heavyweight as #1 P4P! But, regardless of how nuts I thought it was, it still happened. Tyson was bigger than the sport of boxing for a while.

I think part of the reason for lesser fighter’s being inducted surely has something to do with getting countries represented in the Hall.
I mean, McGuigan (N Ireland), Johannesson (Sweden), Tszyu (Russia), although, personally i think Kostya is more worthy than the former two.
I can’t think of anymore but i’m sure there are a few who maybe shouldn’t be in there.
It’s obvious that the US has produced the vast majority of the best fighter’s over the years, and i think it’s pretty obvious that some get in because of where they are from.
Would McGuigan or Johanneson have got in if they were American? Erm, gee, let me think. :)

Like Tyson did, deserves to be in.

But I realize some people deeply care about this stuff, and I do think the debates can be interesting.

So true.

Tyson. Yes.
Michael Gerard Tyson was/is like Muhammad Ali and Rocky. They all inspired and transcended the sport of boxing. Everyone wanted to fight Mike Tyson. Many fighters define their careers by Mike Tyson. After defeating Tyson, Lennox Lewis pretty much seen it all and done it all. His last fight against Klitschko was simply a footnote in his career. Tyson’s departure from the heavyweight division of boxing is similar to Michael Jordan’s departure from basketball. Take a look at the heavyweight division today without Mike Tyson. Casual fans really don’t care. I still find it odd that after years of defining what boxing is in America, fans simply don’t care about the heavyweight division.