Who was physically stronger between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson?

It's interesting that you should mention Superstars. Holy's best overhead press / jerk around this time would have been 240, IIRC. Which is quite good, but I don't know that it's consistent with repping 360 for 10.

 

That's why I say that Holyfield benching 360 for 10 reps at a shredded 215-220 pounds isn't as far fetched as it sounds when you factor in everything that Holyfield had going for him. If I had top of the line strength coaches and PEDS and could afford the highest protein steaks to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis, 360 for 10 reps wouldn't be hard to get to.

On the decline bench press, I did 335 for 9 reps a few weeks ago. And im about the same age as Holyfield was when he fought Mike Tyson.

So I don't doubt the numbers that Holyfield claimed.

 

BS Jakey, you’re mad underselling a 400lbs bench - here is a D1 wrestler weighing about 230lbs doing 400lbs at the time as a 1rm with over a decade of lifting exp. Good on ya.

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Tim Hallmark sucks at math. Going from a 190 pound bench press to 360 pounds is a nearly 100% increase, not a 33% increase. Having long arms makes it harder to be a great bench presser, but even with that caveat a bull like Lennox Lewis if he trained exclusively could bench >400 pounds, ditto for the Klitschko boys.

 

Evander definitely had highly functional neck/cranial strength. Almost without peer.

Just ask “two heads” Hasim Rahman.

 

400 pounds is a lot of weight. Not saying it isn't. But I can do it, I've seen others do it and people like me don't have all the advantages that Holyfield had. Remember, the man was a 215-220 pound PED fueled mass of muscle that doubled as a heavyweight champion and had top of the line strength coaches every bit as good as those used in D1 athletics. I would not be surprised if Holyfield had some of those same coaches working on his team.

Holyfield wasn't just some guy who went to the gym and lifted weights. Not only that, Holyfield was likely more genetically gifted at building muscle and strength compared to the average person.

 

I remember reading that Holy worked out with the Atlanta Falcons offensive line in the weight room during one of their offseasons.

They would take their pulse up to a certain point (so at full exertion, not at rest) and bench 225. Holyfield did more reps at 225 than any of them. These are 300-pound men who move weight around for a living and their livelihood is dependent upon them working out with weights to maintain their abilities to push people around. I forget the exact number but I think it was more than 30.

I knew a guy who played about five years as a backup OL in the league and he did 39 reps of 225 at the NFL combine (he was highest that year) but that was from being at rest. He never lifted weights before college — just a tough ol’ country boy. As a teenager he worked at the local feed-and-seed store and was known to stack two 100-pound sacks of concrete atop each shoulder and walk four at a time out to peoples’ pickup trucks when they bought it. He was basically a human wheelbarrow, haha.

To answer the topic, Evander was stronger than Mike Tyson. I don’t recall Mike shoving bigger heavyweights around like rag dolls — when he was in close quarters with the Bonecrushers and Ruddocks and such, he didn’t move them with ease the way Holy moved Tyson.

 

Good catch, I could believe that EH improved by 33%, a 190 for 1 to a 250-55 for 1. I have been close to EH and if he is a big bench presser I would be the most surprised person on this board. If someone told me that while doing boxing training he dead lifted 360 for 10, maybe. But 250-55 is about the most I'd believe on the bench.

I wouldn't believe anything more than that without video proof. If he was genetically strong or gifted on the bench press, he would have been able to bench press more than 190 when he was first tested.

 

If my memory is correct they were doing military presses where the weights are on a rack parallel to your chest and you get under it and lift it. Mark Clayton wasn't a big guy, about the same height as Floyd, obviously heavier and he smoked the 6'6" 266 pound Mark Gastineau. Back to the bench. For an athletic guy over 200 pounds a 400 hundred pound bench is attainable, but not easily reachable. I"ve seen it with my own eyes.

 

If Evander outbenched the entire Falcons team there isn't a doubt in my mind he could bench-press 400 pound. I suspect there is at least one guy on every NFL team that can bench press 400 pounds. Your average nose tackle and center are 6'2" to 6"3" and 300 to 330 pounds, not long armed. That's little more than their weight.

 

This is assuming his trainer is telling the truth.

Not that it's totally unattainable, especially for someone of Holyfield's dedication and athletic background. But boxers and their camps can also exaggerate their performances to build hype, mess with their opponents, etc.

 

What’s your bench routine? Curios.

 

I use lots of dumbbells presses to help my barbell bench. Last time I did a few sets of incline dumbbell presses with my heaviest set a pair of 150s for 5 reps and then declined bench press with 365x3 being my heaviest set

 

I changed how I lift because of that SI article lol, now I bike to the gym and run first, high bpm is a different ballgame I pretty much feel like I might pass out by the time I start lifting

Tyson was strong but Holyfield was just on a different level at that point

 

Holyfield was stronger, but it was also due to how he positioned himself to take advantage of Tyson's stance.
There were times where Tyson was able to resist or push him back (like when he bite him the second time).
Holyfield's strength played a key role in his two victories.