Tyson- was he ultimately too small for a HW?

No. Ali altered was sucessful altering his style in the second half of his career because he was still a dedicated, hard working, phenominal athlete with a very good trainer. All Tyson had going for him later on was that he was a phenominal athlete. Tyson's problems was his mental approach to the game in the latter half. He was big enough to do very well into the early 2000's if he put in the work and was dedicated. He'd have problems with legit 6'5 guys and bigger (lewis, klitchkos) who could fight but they're still few and far between and also I think he showed his speed could equalize things to a degree (he still had very good speed for short bursts late in his career). Also, he would've had to really work to lose muscle to make the 190 lb limit. Obviously if he were 6'3 with the same build and explosiveness he'd have been better off (and practically unbeatable) but he was big enough.

 

Tyson's only problem was what was going on inside his head not his height.

 

I use to think that. If Tyson was a cruiserweight he would have been even more of a beast. His height and short reach was really hard for him to over come against big heavyweights with long arms.
To me he could have fought at cruiser or heavy

 

yeah your right. If he was at Cruser, man I could only imagine. He would have been destroying people. I think the jail sentences is what did it to him, along with DK as you said. If he never went to jail I think he would have bee champ probably to this day to be honest. B/c other than Lennox Lewis. If he was still in boxing shape all the time with Rooney in the corner, the field of heavyweights we have today. Mike would have KTFO in his prime rather easily.

 

His inside game was maybe so effective because he was a bit shorter, and had those shorter arms that were so devastating with those short inside hooks and uppercuts.

So maybe his smaller size was a great asset. You can't argue with his effectiveness at that size, cause once he wormed his way inside and started nailing his opponent with those crisp, short hooks and uppercuts, they were done.

Had he been 6 foot 3, and had longer arms, I venture to say that his inside shots would not have been as powerful or as effective. If he were taller, his outside game would obviously have been more effective, certainly, but I think the hinderance to his inside game would have taken alot away from him.

Tyson was perfect, as he was.

 

Tyson's style was a high energy style. As he got older, it was less effective becuse you just had to hang on till he wore himself out.
I always wondered if Tyson could develop a James Toney like style as he got older. A style where he was more defensive and countered. This would conserve more energy. With Tyson's hand speed and power, this would be a dnagerous fighter indeed!

 

Lack of discipline was his downfall,not lack of size........the man was unstoppable until outside interests and problems ****ed him up...

 

Tyson kicking anyone from 86 to 90 says that "size doesn't matter", especially when they lay on their back looking at birds singing.

The demise of Tyson as a HW king was related to other things than size.

 

No --- he wasnt too small for heavyweight.
But --- it definately was not to his advantage.
In order to be successfull, Tyson made up the difference by his speed, power, strength and his style and execution.

 

Maybe . . . but that's what makes the guy great . . . being that small and yet be able to dominate the division in a period of time is an accomplishment.

He could have continued his reigh longer . . . if he didn't mentally self destruct. And for that . . . no excuses.

 

Tysons short size actually worked in his favor getting tremndous leverage and making him hard to hit, he could go downstairs with brutal efficiency and then throw the hook upstairs or that uppercut. It was his lack of focus and weak mental game that failed him in the end. He no longer punched in combination and was much slower but paramount of course was the stupidity of turning his back on the support system Cus had left for him.

 

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I think so too. He had a bully mentality and once he found out that guys won't just fall over or show fear, he didn't know how to react. I guess you could say that he didn't know how to adapt with different circumstances.