Tyson's Ideal Weight Class?

[kensei]

Hi everyone,

I would like everyone's opinion on what Mike Tyson's ideal weight class would have been. I believe his accomplishments at heavyweight make him one of the greatest of all time. That being said, at 5'10" tall, he was dwarfed by some of the monsters in the division (i.e. Klitschkos, Lennox Lewis). Does anyone think, as great as he was, that he would have been even more dominant at a lower weight class? Would his frame allow him to fight at lower weights? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[SuwoopBangin]

His frame wouldn't have allowed him to go any lower, but he would have been a crazy middleweight

 

[CrashStitches]

He's really stocky, but so is Toquinho. Tyson was where he oughta been.

 

[tgo007]

most hws are fat and slow. His size is only really a problem against the elite.

 

[Sunfish]

Tyson did OK at HW imo.

 

[XCuTioNeR]

Lw.

 

[mozfonky]

I've heard so many stories about mike that I don't know what to say. I've heard he weighed 175 when he got out of prison, I've heard he isn't much taller than 5-8. At his best he compensated for any difference with his incredible speed, the d'amato style which fluidly combined offense and defense and of course his intensity and power. Without all those working in conjunction he found himself in trouble against longer limbed guys. In his era he was a strong heavyweight but the further we got into the 90's the bigger the guys got. Anyone who'd seen him recently when he went vegan wouldn't have believed he was ever a heavyweight so who knows. He was stocky as hell, fought at 205 as an ammie but maybe he could have cut all the way down to light heavy.

 

[The Fan Man]

The cruiserweight limit was 190 lbs when Tyson fought and he was never lighter than 195 in the amateurs from the age of 15 on up. As a pro, he always weighed 230-240 before entering training camp where he would work that down to 220. There is no way he could have been Tyson and anything less than a heavyweight.

 

[daemonarch]

His frame wouldn't have allowed him to go any lower, but he would have been a crazy middleweight

LMAO...I agree, he would beat the shit outa Hearns...

 

[Sunfish]

LMAO...I agree, he would beat the shit outa Hearns...

HW Tyson would. Hearns was a long rangy Welterweight in his prime. It's like saying if manny could cut to 105 he would dominate.

 

[ZroC]

Hi everyone,

I would like everyone's opinion on what Mike Tyson's ideal weight class would have been. I believe his accomplishment at heavyweight make him one of the greatest of all time. That being said, at 5'10" tall, he was dwarfed by some of the monsters in the division (i.e. Klitschkos, Lennox Lewis). Does anyone think, as great as he was, that he would have been even more dominant at a lower weight class? Would his frame allow him to fight at lower weights? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Fixed. One accomplishment. Youngest champ.

 

[daemonarch]

HW Tyson would. Hearns was a long rangy Welterweight in his prime. It's like saying if manny could cut to 105 he would dominate.

Being a long rangy fighter doesn't scare Tyson. Most of his opponents were long and rangy comparing to him at least.

But if Leonard could KO Hearns then even Tyson would manage it even at middleweight I suppose.
Tysons strength was not his weight, he weighted lower then most of his opponents, so Tyson weighting same as anyone else wouldn't scare him.

I was sarcastic, btw,... just for the record

 

[Sunfish]

Being a long rangy fighter doesn't scare Tyson. Most of his opponents were long and rangy comparing to him at least.

But if Leonard could KO Hearns then even Tyson would manage it even at middleweight I suppose.
Tysons strength was not his weight, he weighted lower then most opponents in most cases, so Tyson wejghted in the same as anyone else wouldn't scare him.

I was sarcastic, btw,... just for the record

I got that but thought it was an interesting point.

I can't imagine Tyson at a lower weight because he was so thick.

Tommy had that power and we would need to know Tyson would carry his down the weights.

That's got me thinking and thanks for that. I'm not hijacking this thread into a Hearns Tyson thread so im out.

 

[mmascene]

He was fine at HW.

 

[Darth Shlong]

Straw

 

[djacobox372]

The cruiserweight limit was 190 lbs when Tyson fought and he was never lighter than 195 in the amateurs from the age of 15 on up. As a pro, he always weighed 230-240 before entering training camp where he would work that down to 220. There is no way he could have been Tyson and anything less than a heavyweight.

Disagree, Tyson's best weight was around 215, that's the weight he was one he fought holmes. It's not hard to imagine him dieting/cutting to cruiserweight (190 at the time). He'd easily make the current 200lb cruiserweight limit.

That said, there's no $$ between middleweight and hw.