could mike tyson have been a cruiserweight?

[good right hand]

ridiculous??

i have always wondered this, his weight at his best was about 215lbs. but i think tyson could lose power, weight and strength to get to cruiser weight if cus thought it was a good idea.

[lefthook31]

The way he crushed heavyweights why would he want to be a cruiser? The heavyweights of his day were closer to his weight anyway. A big heavy was 225-230

[good right hand]

The way he crushed heavyweights why would he want to be a cruiser? The heavyweights of his day were closer to his weight anyway. A big heavy was 225-230

that is a very good point, i guess im just thinking about mythical match ups like him vs holyfeild or quawi at cruiser:think

[TBooze]

No, Heavyweights make money, the Cruiserweights of the 80s, meant (Holyfield aside) nothing.

Look at it like this, any Cruiserweight with a bit of ability soon moved up to Heavyweight...

[ricardinho]

He could have held both titles at the same time if he wanted to

[janitor]

ridiculous??

i have always wondered this, his weight at his best was about 215lbs. but i think tyson could lose power, weight and strength to get to cruiser weight if cus thought it was a good idea.

A lot of cruiserweights weigh 215 lbs on fightnight.

[kolcade4]

No, Heavyweights make money, the Cruiserweights of the 80s, meant (Holyfield aside) nothing.

Look at it like this, any Cruiserweight with a bit of ability soon moved up to Heavyweight...
that is a extremly good point, more like the cruiserweight division was more of a developing heavyweight division. a minor league or a college type situation.

[AlFrancis]

Are you talking about a cruiser back then 190 or a cruiser now 200 pounds.
Don't see Mike doing 190.

[McGrain]

Mike could probably make 200lbs. But he couldn't deploy that high energy style I don't think.

[TIGEREDGE]

without steroids tyson and most heavies would be around the current cruiser limit (at a lean body weight)

[SpanishArcher]

without steroids tyson and most heavies would be around the current cruiser limit (at a lean body weight)

Aha. I see. So when Mike came to Cus at age 13 he weighted 190 pounds, and 6 years after he was around 215. So it was steroids who helped him get that extra 25 pounds, not body growth. Strange. When I was 13 I was around 150 pounds, when I was 20 I was 180. Dont remember eating no pills or powders :think
So by your logic there are no natural heavyweights. Every person on the earth has a maximum of 200 pounds lean bodyweight and if they want to get over 215 they must use steroids? :thumbsup

Hey buddy, if you couldnt get muscle mass up without the use of sterioids during the time of your growth or later, dont assume everyone else cant. :good

[he grant]

No. He was 215 at twenty for Gd's sake ...

[TIGEREDGE]

Aha. I see. So when Mike came to Cus at age 13 he weighted 190 pounds, and 6 years after he was around 215. So it was steroids who helped him get that extra 25 pounds, not body growth. Strange. When I was 13 I was around 150 pounds, when I was 20 I was 180. Dont remember eating no pills or powders :think
So by your logic there are no natural heavyweights. Every person on the earth has a maximum of 200 pounds lean bodyweight and if they want to get over 215 they must use steroids? :thumbsup

Hey buddy, if you couldnt get muscle mass up without the use of sterioids during the time of your growth or later, dont assume everyone else cant. :good

hey bollcoks i never said nobody could be a natural heavyweight. i just said most heavies in the last 20-25 years

he was a fat 190 pounds. mike also was one of those that shot up really quick but stopped growing early. he was 5 11 from 16-17

tysons 80's pysique was achievable naturally but i still believe he juiced in those days. i have managed to naturally build my body up to a lean 215 pounds when i have only concentrated on building muscle

tyson had to do a shit load of cardio, sparring and bag work that would destroy any chances of his body gaining that sort of muscle mass naturally

look at the physiques of frazier, ali, louis and marciano and compare it to tyson and heavyweights of modern times. there is a massive difference in there muscle size and density

please dont give me that shit about eating and training habbit improving

AND DONT GIVE ME THAT SHIT ABOUT TYSON BEING THE SAME SIZE FOREVOR FROM WHEN HE WAS 15-16

there is a massive difference between his size when he was 15-17 to when he was 19-20

[Seamus]

No way he makes cruiser. as stated above he broke the 200 lb mark at about 15 years old. If, and a big if, he starves himself down to 190 and bounces to 215 by fight night (25lb weight gain after the weigh in) he is wasted from this yo-yo effect. 215 is where he fought best. Much above that and he faltered. Much below and he would be frail.

[itrymariti]

No. He needs to be bulky.

[Losfer_Words]

IMO, he could have domonated LHW, CW and HW. It's incredible to think what the guy achieved at a weight where so many others are/were a lot bigger than him. When you see other fighters boiling down to the lightest they can get it really puts Iron Mike's legacy into perspective, IMO.

[TheGreatA]

IMO, he could have domonated LHW, CW and HW. It's incredible to think what the guy achieved at a weight where so many others are/were a lot bigger than him. When you see other fighters boiling down to the lightest they can get it really puts Iron Mike's legacy into perspective, IMO.

Light heavyweight? Tyson would've had to cut off his arms or his legs.

Tyson could have made today's 200 lb cruiserweight limit but don't forget that in Tyson's time the limit was 190 lbs. I can't see Tyson being able to lose that much weight.

[OBCboxer]

I don't think Tyson could've shed 25lbs. to become a Cruiserweight. Even if he somehoew managed to, he would too drained to fight with that same high energy style.

[Losfer_Words]

Light heavyweight? Tyson would've had to cut off his arms or his legs.

Tyson could have made today's 200 lb cruiserweight limit but don't forget that in Tyson's time the limit was 190 lbs. I can't see Tyson being able to lose that much weight.

I don't think Tyson could've shed 25lbs. to become a Cruiserweight. Even if he somehoew managed to, he would too drained to fight with that same high energy style.

I did mention 'boiling down'. I'm obviously not talking about a natural weight.

[mr. magoo]

I think its possible that he could have made the weight, but due to his type of frame, I'm not sure that it would have best suited him. Still, I could see him barely getting down to perhaps 190-194 and easily anialating guys like Carlos Deleon, Bert Cooper, Nate Miller, Henry Tillman, Leroy Murphy, Dwight Qawi, and Ossie Ocasio. Evander Holyfield at cruiser might have been a different story though. I think Holy was better suited to that weight than Tyson would have been, and probably would have won a match within those perameters.

[Seamus]

Just curious. Do the folks who think Mike could have shed 25 lbs and been anywhere near the force he was, do these folks ever work out? Have they ever participated in any sport at any level above school playground stuff?

[janitor]

Just curious. Do the folks who think Mike could have shed 25 lbs and been anywhere near the force he was, do these folks ever work out? Have they ever participated in any sport at any level above school playground stuff?

I certanly don't think that Tyson could have made 190 lbs.

I think he might perhaps have made the curent cruiserweight limit of 200 lbs under the curent liberal weigh in rules. At 215 lbs it is possible that he could dehydrate himself down to 199 lbs for the weigh in then turn up at 215 on fight night. If we are realistic then a lot of cruiserweights today routinely do this.

Of course some physiologies can handel it better than others. You could never be sure untill you tried it.

It is all prety academic at the end of the day because he clearly didnt need to fight at cruiserweight. There was nobody over 200 lbs capable of taking him or even coming close to doing so.