Tyson Names Biggest Hitter

Cus really scared him with that Frazier-Foreman footage.

 

Interesting he mentions, “that mass.” Is he talking absent-mindedly of the young Foreman, or does he have old Foreman in mind? Because he & Foreman were the same weight in their pomp.

 

I’ve often said that when Foreman dies they need to ship his skeleton to the Smithsonian.

He had a level of bone density that I get is off the charts. His fists are the size of a couple of frozen turkeys — I remember seeing him getting gloved up before an HBO fight and it took two men pulling and tugging to stretch it over his fist.

I also think he had a general muscle density (make no mistake that bigger-bellied George didn’t have a layer of muscle under that dad bod paunch) that exceeds normal folk.

What Tyson said applies to either version.

 

Tyson was a lean 215 lbs peak. Foreman was 220 lbs so close but I actually think his natural weight was closer to 230 lbs when young. He would drain himself a little as his trainer thought being lighter improved stamina.

Foreman had a very thick bone structure so he could easily carry 230-235 lbs in his prime.

 

True, I was just going by their fighting weights, both around 220. There was no difference in mass in the ring. Possibly Tyson is assuming Foreman was heavier, or he’s thinking of the older Foreman.

 

Agree with Mike.

Foreman was huge in terms of skeletal frame and bone density. He also had natural and heavy muscle.

Huge fists too - and for Foreman to comment on the massive size of Liston’s fists - well, that’s really saying something re Sonny.

I will say though, Mike is very much the self deprecating fellow these days. He was quite the mass himself at peak and hit like a truck, speed and combos aside.

Mike’s reinvention (or peeling away the menacing veneer to reveal his true self) is very similar to that of Foreman’s later age metamorphosis.

Both rock solid ATGs and still so very valuable to the sport of boxing long after their careers ended.

 

Tyson is more of a genetic freak than Foreman. He was a shredded 220 in his first post-prison fight. At a billed 5'10" (which he's said is a lie and that he's really 5'9"). That's nuts.

 

Not sure about more but Mike was insanely shredded out of prison - his first official work out provides for a great vision of that fact.

Mike was so good he actually made you forget the height and reach he was giving up - in fact, taking those disadvantages on board, it enhances what he did achieve - at least imo.

Joe Frazier too. If you saw Joe on the street besides the likes of say Foreman, Ali, Bugner etc., you’d think he had no business even climbing into the ring to fight such big fellas.

PS - Tbh, I think Mike topped out at 5’10” but no more. He could be about 5’9” to 5’9 1/2” these days.

Patterson was another guy whose height was overstated imo.

I think it’s important to know their true measurements where possible - even if they were less than what they claimed the truth can serve to even better appreciate what they brought to the game in terms of pure skill and their inherent physical qualities otherwise.

 

To look at, maybe. In terms of what their bodies could do, Foreman was as freakish as Tyson.

 

Tysons skeletal structure is that of an ancient neanderthal. Tyson had bigger fist, neck, biceps, quads, glutes and Hams than Foreman.
If anyone's skeleton should be donated to the Smithsonian it should be Tyson's.

 

FWIW, Tyson named Evander as the hardest puncher he ever fought in The Ring’s Best I Faced series.

 

So much math.

 

Gold!

 

So Tyson says that weight counts? Who knew?