Why do some people try to claim Mike Tyson couldn't hang with today's "giants"?

Those guys (the 6'6 ones) were all journeymen, not skilled fighters.

In today's top 25 you have:

Tyson Fury 6'9 280 pounds
Anthony Joshua 6'6 240 pounds
Deontay Wilder 6'7 240 pounds
Joe Joyce 6'6 270 pounds
Martin Bakole 6'6 275 pounds
Robert Helenius 6'6 1/2 240 pounds
Tony Yoka 6'7 240 pounds
Efe Ajagba 6'6 240 pounds
Hughie Fury 6'6 245 pounds
Zhilei Zhang 6'7 280 pounds

There are 7' journeymen nowadays, but nobody takes them seriously, rightfully so. How many guys in the top 25 were 6'6+ when Tyson reigned? 0. Vs 10 today. Nearly half of the top 25 are 6'6+ now, and way over half of them are 240+. Yes, 6'6 journeymen existed, and Tyson was skilled enough to beat them. No, 6'6 240 pound contenders did not exist during Tyson's reign. And the ones who did exist historically were 1 at a time, there is point in history pre 1990 where 3 of the top 25 were 6'6+, now 10 are. All are 220 pounds plus now. The heaviest/tallest man Tyson faced as champion was lighter and shorter than every single person on the list above, with his heaviest title fight opponent, Tubbs, being 6'3 and 238 pounds.

 

Maybe, but he was also far smaller. He wouldn't be able to maneuver on 6'6-6'9 280 pound beasts as easily as he beat 6'3 220 pound contenders in 1987.

 

Stop with the nonsense of Wilder being 240 lbs. Wilder is LIGHTER than Tyson. Wilder was 219 lbs in his fight vs Luis Ortiz

 

Tyson beats everyone around today IMO

 

Mike Tyson is an anomaly for his time, and he would be in today’s time.
Does Mike Tyson even have one fight against a boxer who is shorter than him?
But that's why he had his "speedkills" ideology / philosophy.
And what champion can say that the 1988 Mike Tyson version would win easily, and that he means it?

 

219 when fighting old men and journeymen, 232 and 238 when fighting Fury. The weight gap was still clearly too big.

 

Wilder has been over 230 lbs. just twice in his career. The last 2 fights vs Fury. Wilder is not a superheavyweight. Not even close. Look at his weight for the previous 5 fights:

219.5
223.5
212.5
214.5
220.5

He is clearly a 215-220 lbs type of fighter normally. Tyson weighs exactly the same as Wilder. There is no massive size difference between the two fighters. Wilder is not troubling Tyson because of size.

 

Nobody pumped up the Klitschko dominance, it was described as the worst era in boxing history.
Although many heavyweights from their generation have been relevant in today's overrated era.

 

He's 9 inches taller, that's a huge detail to skip over. Besides the fact that he weighed over 230 twice and above 225 several times during his title reign, a 9 inch height advantage while being the same weight is a huge advantage.

Even if you don't consider a 230 pound 6'7 guy a super heavyweight, it's just fine, because Wilder never beat a single super heavyweight contender in his entire career, so he's in the same boat as Tyson.

 

Mike was used to fighting bigger men, and like he said before fighting Bruno, he is such a massive man how can i miss.

I believe he would do far better against the heavies of the last decade than some people think.

 

Tyson Fury would break Iron Mike mentally before the bout even begun.

He'd snort him under the table

 

Because their wrong. Usyk ain't a giant and he outboxed Jushua with ease. Tyson would have floored him.

 

Fury KOd Cunningham. He didn't struggle, he switched off, got floored, then won every second of the rest of the fight.

It happens.

 

Tyson wouldn't have struggled with the Klit brothers. He'd land a lot of shots on them. Wlad would get KO'd early.

Wilder would get KO'd in 1 round, same with Joshua.

 

Actually I would give Tyson more chance to KO Usyk than any other HW in history of the sport.