Mike Tyson is one of the greatest boxers of all time. With a fight record of 50 wins and 6 losses, with 44 wins by KO, he has an impressive fight record, with an 86% win rate. Tyson is also the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA WBC and IBF titles simultaneously, and the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. He also holds the record for youngest heavyweight champion, winning the title at just 20 years old.
Iron Mike was undoubtedly the best in the ring in his prime. The first heavyweight boxer to be #1 in the Men's pound-for-pound rankings, Tyson was an incredible fighter. He won 26 of his first 28 fights by TKO, 16 of which came in the first round. Tyson was incredibly fast for a fighter in his weight class.
He brilliantly combined his agility and ferocious strength along with the “peek a boo” style taught to him by his mentor Cus D’amato which allowed him to weave in between punches. He would also frequently crouch when attacking, to let the “spring” in his legs add power to his punch. One of his more famous combos was a right hook to the body followed by a right uppercut on the chin. He often used it as a finishing move, because it usually led to a knockout.
Today, Tyson has shifted his interests from boxing. With a brief career in movies, acting in titles such as ip man and the hangover, Tyson spends most of his time growing marijuana. A big name weed farmer, he also has his own podcast, ‘Hotboxin with Mike Tyson.’
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What is Mike Tyson’s reach?
Tyson was never the biggest or strongest in the ring. With a height of 5’10”, weight of 100 kg and reach of 180 cm through his career, he was much smaller than his opponents. The average heavyweight boxer is 6’3”,weighing 108 kgs, with a reach of 194 cm. Thus, Tyson was at a size disadvantage in nearly all his bouts in the ring.
This may have been a disadvantage when it came to power, but Tyson used it to his advantage. His smaller size made him faster than most of his opponents, and he used this speed to weave in and out of attacks. In order to gain an advantage over opponents with larger reaches, he would fight close, and use all his whole body to pack more power into punches.
In order to fight people with more than 6 inches of a height advantage, Tyson built his body up in a way very few boxers have ever had to. He had one of the most brutal workout routines of all time, and while it didn’t give him the advantages many of his competitors were born with, it allowed him to fight them on equal footing.
His neck, in particular, was extremely strong thanks to his workout, in order to prevent getting knocked out by whiplash. He rarely worked with weights, preferring bag work to build punching power.
Thus, although not the most gifted of athletes, Tyson’s work ethic and fighting instinct allowed him to overcome his small size and win fights in a way that has never been seen since.
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FAQ
Q. Who has the longest reach in boxing?
A. Gogea Mitu, an 8’2” heavyweight boxer who suffered from gigantism, had a reach of more than 250cm. In modern boxing, Julius Long has the longest reach at 230cm.
Read here: What is Manny Pacquiao's reach?
Last Updated: July 23, 2021
