Definitely in my opinion. Talentless hacks like Tyson Fury, who if you shrunk down to 6ft 6 would get absolutely obliterated against anyone half decent, like his cousin Hughie! Guys like Povetkin and Stiverne were completely man handled against the huge behemoths in Joshua and Wilder. Dangerous guys like Sam Peter and David Haye were struggling against the likes of Wlad and Vitali Klitschko. Then even before that, you had a beast in David Tua struggling to land a glove on Lennox Lewis, and outboxed by a no hoper in Ustinov. The guys now are just too big. The cruiser weight division should go up to 239, and the heavyweights 240 plus! I don't even think this Usyk could take the titty masterDominic Brezeale's power, he'd end up like his friend Izu Lol.
But look at the names you're mentioning..... Haye has always been a banger with average all around skill and a shaky chin. Not a good mix for HW. Povetkin has a lot of skill and good power, but lacked the athleticism to compete. Being smaller is a disadvantage, being less athletic too also mitigates your skill advantage. Put Sasha in Haye's body and I'd pick him to have beaten AJ. Peter was never much but a crude plodder. And he was a large man, so not sure why he's mentioned. Tua, again, was a durable slugger who lacked top level skill. I don't think his height held him back, his inability to do anything but walk forward and throw bombs did. What happens with Usyk will give us a greater indication as to the definitive answer to this question. But regardless of that, no one will convince me that a prime Mike Tyson wouldn't be a top boxer in today's HW division.
stupid post. Cruiserweight from 176-239? So if you weigh 180 and cant make 175 you end up fighting 6'5 240lbers? doesnt make any sense
Try and avoid the general forum, Mark. Once you see The Lounge on here then you will realise why. It blew my mind.
A six foot heavyweight fighter with skills, some pop, and dedication to training would do just fine. Size and height are important, but often overrated in the heavyweight division.
Pretty much. Povetkin is legit 6'2 and he was too small. He had to do a lot of bobbing and weaving, lots of mike tyson combos and maneuvers to get any type of success in the ring.
to do that u need to be exeptional talent! there havent been one since tyson. Closest was Chagaev but as a pro he didnt seem to be in best possible shape. but was very skilled and smart boxer. as an amateur he beat savon twice and looked explossive like tyson. i think he would have been better pro if he continued to be pro after his first two pro fights in 1997. Also he would need someone like bill cayton as maneger or machmaker. I think for smaller guys u either make it or break it (morrison style) guys like chagaev and Boytsov are marinated too long by manegement and become less explosive slow usualy ate themselves out of condition, they have young mens fighting style! Basically u need "strike iron while its hot" with them! IMO
So you're saying a smaller heavyweight who fights in a skilled smart way and has success proves he's too small!?
A bully who didn`t crumble after being down an out against a power puncher, name me how many heavyweight champs from the past that punched harder than Wilder.
Mike never fought anyone as tall as Fury, that is a long way up to punch and Fury has an 85 inch reach.
I don’t think fury is 6ft 9 more 6ft 7 and half maybe 6ft 8 at best just like dyllian Whyte isn’t 6ft 4 he is 6ft 3 at best, but as far as Tyson and fury concerned As fury’s style consists of him bending down at the waist trying to avoid punches negating his (fury s) height advantage he wouldn’t be hard for a short fighter to hit if any good, but more importantly it’s not a long way for Mike to punch his body to bring his head down for the knock out even if fury’s style didn’t negate his own height.
It would be very tough to find a present day HW that could be competitive with the top 5 of the division while only measuring 6'0 or less. They'd need to be physically/athletically gifted enough and skilled enough to turn that weakness into a strength a la Tyson to get inside and wreak havoc or maybe possibly be primarily a counter puncher who fights off the back foot and can turn that lack of size into a strength if they were defensively talented and skilled enough by turning their lack of height and length into a much smaller target than most the top guys are used to targeting. Mike Tyson and Chris Byrd were past examples. Povetkin is the only current HW who gives up noticeable height/reach to the elite HW's and hang with them. I think he's 6'2 and somewhat strangely isn't very fast, explosive, or athletic. He is however very highly skilled with very good footwork, ring IQ, and ring generalship and also highly experienced against almost any conceivable style when taking his lengthy and very successful AM background into the equation. He's also not a murderous puncher, though he is a good puncher and seemingly becomes a better puncher against taller opponents as he is able to generate more leverage on his shots. So if one was to come along and be competitive and possibly successful against the elite modern SHW's, I think they would HAVE to resemble either Tyson, Byrd, or Povetkin, or a combination of 2 or all 3 to be able to pull it off. They would certainly be a very unique fighter in the modern landscape thats for sure. So to your question -- no, not impossible, but pretty ****ing improbable.
