Your opinion of Mike Tyson's career

I was in elementary school- circa mid to late 80's- when Mike Tyson was coming up through the ranks and destroying everyone that stepped into the ring with him. He really did seem like the "Baddest Man on the Planet"- in boxing anyway, I think was one of his nicknames- until he ran into Buster Douglas, and then his longtime trainer Cus D'amato died (or did Cus die first?) Anyway, I know that those two events were the start of his downward spiral, both in the ring and in real life.

I was talking to a guy at work who is more into boxing than I am, and he was saying (about Tysons' early career) that "He never fought anyone good! They were all washed-up tin cans by that point! He just picked them so he knew he would win!" I made the point that how could he win all three belts if he never fought anyone "good", but he didn't really have a satisfactory answer. :dunno:

I don't really have time today to research the fighting history of every guy he ever fought- gotta go shopping, watch the kids and bloviate in other threads- so I thought I'd ask the resident boxing connoisseurs and aficionados on here if there's any truth to what this guy is saying. Any truth to this, or is it just anti-Tyson propaganda?

Your opinion of Mike Tyson's career