Tyson- was he ultimately too small for a HW?

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Talk about generating torque from your hips/legs.

 

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Another example was Marciano, and it's no accident that both Rocky and Mike were huge punchers -usually the shorter the arms, the more explosive the power will be because the force travels a shorter distance, leading to more power left on impact. It takes more energy for a taller fighter to throw punches like that. David Tua is another great example of this. Combine that with the torque from twisting? Lethal.

 

WHEN YOU DO THE MATH I THINK YOU'LL FIND THAT TOMMY WOULD INFACT AGREE.

 

There is a matter of being compact and powerful, then there is the other side about kinetic energy.. Trebuchet's could hurl huge stones according to their overall length and offsetting weight. A trebuchet with the same offsetting weight and much shorter length will hurl the same stone a shorter distance. There is also the aspect of what punch we are talking about.. A long right, or left cross? Or a short compact left hook? Going to generalize and say a long right cross is a better punch comming from a long, lanky puncher like Hearns.. A short left hook is going to be the more effective punch from a shorter, stocky type of big puncher. Or that will be the more effective punch for a short stocky fighter two fold.. They need to be in close anyhow to land, being in close is a safe place for a compact fighter to be.

The ability to knock someone out has as much to do with catching someone unexpected as it has to do with power.. The thing about Tyson was his movements were very quick.. The way he put punches together inside was something else.. You catch guys with speed and quickness in a devision that is normally dominated by fighters who are long and plodding.. Tyson brought something that hasn't been seen since..

Short compact movements, ability to close the distance fast and capitalize.. At his best he would use his jab to keep taller opponents honest. Teddy Atlas always talks about the smaller guys ability to use the jab at mid range to keep the tall fighter honest.. This means the tall fighter has to think defensively from mid to close range, instead of just close range.

 

Punching power comes from leverage and energy generated through the body, not size. Tyson, a small heavyweight, ripped through and destroyed the heavyweight division during his prime. That answers your question right there.

 

A lot of the tall guys Tyson beat were actually very light.

Tyson always had to be close to 100% because of his size problem.

A guy like Foreman did not.

So the thread starter has got it correct.

 

Fairy tale.

A fairy tale that many believe though.

They believe it because it comforts them.

To say that a fighter's problems are "purely psychological" is not rational.

 

Clazaghe is 6ft and pretty rangy. Actually quite tall for 168 isnt it? Well, not short anyway.

Oh and Tyson being short was intrinsic to him as a fighter.

ps he wasnt actually that "small" (220 isnt small), just on the short side.

 

Enough said:good

 

Tyson's downfall came with his lack of mental strength rather than anything else! A continued reign such as that of Ali or even medium reign like Lewis (I purposefully havent included Joe Louis due to the interruption of WW2 and his reign was just feakishly long) requires a desire that goes beyond winning a title. Unfortunatley for us all, Tyson didnt have that!

 

Too small? no, he was naturally 215-220lbs fighter. Too short? yes, he was 3 inches away from what might be considered an ideal minimum height to fight at HW, although that doesn't exist.

The problem with him was his mind, like everybody's saying.

He completelly lost his touch after prison, he was a different fighter for the second half of his carreer, and then, without his agressiveness, explosion, pressure and hunger, his lack of height and reach started to play against him.

 

Altho you're right, Tyson needed to be close to 100% right to fight big, good fighters, but it was clearly possible for him to do that. If he were naturally bigger with the same speed obviously it would be better for him. But the answer to the question is that he was not too small at hw (tucker, green, tubbs, golota, etc were all 6'3 plus and not "light"). It was sometimes harder for him, but he showed he could do it fairly well.

Someone like Eddie Chambers or Chris Byrd IMO is too small for HW.