In a recent podcast, Tyson stated that at 5'10", he was the shortest one in his family and that even his sister was taller than him. To me, that sounded like he may have missed his genetic height potential, possibly due to malnutrition as a baby or child. Imagine if he had grown to be 6'1" or 6'2" at least. Do you think he would have been better, or would he have lost speed?
Eh, he didn’t starve, he was a fat kid who got beat up for the first time protecting a meatball sub lol lack of sleep maybe? But then IDK he was in training at something like 13 years old? He was also like 180-190lbs??? lol - in the boys home they’d be getting 3 square meals a day designed with all the essential nutrients in mind like prisoners, At Cus’s he was spoilt and pampered for greatness, I don’t think so, it’s possible he was just meant to be short.
He has also said Cus used to have him walk around with weights in his backpack because Cus didn't want him to get too tall
I highly doubt it tbh, all his other measurements are completely in line with a man of his height. Someone whose height I absolutely think was stunted is Sonny Liston. His physical measurements are absolutely out of sync with his height. His 84 inch reach (which may’ve been exaggerated) his hands, and feet size match those of a much taller man. From memory he actually had the advantage over Foreman in many physical aspects including calf size, and biceps. Considering he was abused as a child, raised in an extremely-limited income household, made much worse by the fact that he had many siblings. With that many mouths to feed, off almost zero income, I don’t think there was a surplus of food to be going around. I’d say it’s very very likely Liston was malnourished as a child and it stunted his height.
Maybe at 6'0 or 6'1 he would have slightly less problems with taller fighters. But I don't see him being as successful as he was above those heights, because his style was made in order for his stature. A comparison can be made with Tommy Morrison who had a similar style while taller (6'2 I believe). I think Tyson was quicker and had better fluidity in combinations.
He would have been better for sure because his cardio issues came from the amount of weight he needed to carry at 5.10 to be successful with his style. And even if Tyson changed nothing up he'd be able to carry more weight have more power and be more effective. Tysons style was built around needing to finish fighters early. And that all comes back to being 5.10.
Tyson grew very quickly, and it seems to me that by the age of 14, he had already reached his peak height and weighed around 200 lbs. Everyone thought he would be a giant, but that wasn't the case.
Richard Ramirez was heavily abused, starved, sleep deprived and addicted to opiods since the youngest age possible. He was 6’1 with incredible bone development. External factors have very little to do with height to my knowledge.
Sometimes it’s just the hand that you’re dealt….someone has to be shortest person in the family…..they can’t all be the same height…for example “ The Von Erichs “ were a family of professional wrestlers…one brother was 6ft6 …and another was 5ft9
I always felt that Mike Tyson’s cardio issues were exaggerated….he didn’t lose to Buster Douglas because he ran out of gas …he was getting his ass beat from the opening bell …And Evander Holyfield just bullied him around the ring
