Can a shorter than average height boxer dominate heavyweight boxing like Klitschko?

[Mr Objecitivity]

Here we go with people & their "Prime Mike Tyson" logic.. lol
If a guy could stay at range & box, Mike couldn't have done a great deal(Douglas).. Prime Lennox Lewis would have KOed Mike Tyson even in his prime, because he knew how to clinch/hold & shut out inside work.. But unlike Klitschkos, Lennox used to slug it out too, but he wouldn't do it with someone like Tyson..

Coming to the OP question, since Tyson, the HWs were well over 6'3 & all had a long reach & knew how to use them & a shorter guy like Tyson/Frazier would be good but never rule like the other taller HWs...

So you're claiming no matter how good a short boxer is, they can never defeat modern day taller heavyweight boxers? In other words, being short is unsuitable for shorter boxers irrespective of how much skill they have?

As for Mike Tyson, he was barely even a natural heavyweight. The guy was below 5 feet 10 (in real life when I saw him in person). In truth, Mike Tyson shouldn't survive even 30 seconds against giants and natural heavyweights like Lennox Lewis or the Klitschko brothers.

Mike Tyson probably doesn't even have a 1% chance of beating Lennox Lewis or the Klitschko brothers, not even a punchers chance. Even if they had both their hands tied behind their back and let Mike Tyson hit them with his hardest punches flush on their chin multiple times, Mike Tyson may have still lacked the power and strength to KO such heavier + skilled boxers.

Mike Tyson's power was exposed to be near useless against much heavier super heavyweights like Danny Williams, Kevin Mcbride and Brian Nielsen. Three of those guys were nearly walking through Mike Tyson's hardest flush punches. It's as if they weren't even bothered by those punches whilst making it seem like Mike Tyson was in a lower weight class throwing punches on heavier men from a higher weight class that were near ineffective. Not to mention, Mike Tyson injured himself from landing flush punches on Danny Willains where Danny Williams was barely effected but Mike Tyson injured his knees, just to add to the fragility and how weak Mike Tyson was against such heavier men.

Truth is, Mike Tyson lacked the strength and power to KO opponents after they reached a specific weight. Mike Tyson was far too small over all, his body was far too fragile and weak, his hands were far too small to KO opponents that were of the weight and size of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, possibly even if they stood there letting him land his hardest punches.

[Redd Foxx]

Truth is, Mike Tyson lacked the strength and power to KO opponents after they reached a specific weight. Mike Tyson was far too small over all, his body was far too fragile and weak, his hands were far too small to KO opponents that were of the weight and size of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, possibly even if they stood there letting him land his hardest punches.

That's a baffling statement. He absolutely had sufficient power to ko them, and he did ko guys that size. And, Lewis and Klitschko were finished by guys who weren't monsters.

Landing ko punches (which are often unseen punches) on high level boxers is challenging because higher level boxers have better reflexes, observation, defense, etc. That's why they're less inclined to be ko'd. Not because Tyson couldn't generate the power.

[Mr Objecitivity]

That's a baffling statement. He absolutely had sufficient power to ko them, and he did ko guys that size. And, Lewis and Klitschko were finished by guys who weren't monsters.

Landing ko punches (which are often unseen punches) on high level boxers is challenging because higher level boxers have better reflexes, observation, defense, etc. That's why they're less inclined to be ko'd. Not because Tyson couldn't generate the power.

Then why did a boxer like Danny Williams (with a bummy record) and a journeyman like Kevin Mcbride nearly walk through Mike Tyson's hardest, most powerful flush punches whilst barely showing any affects to such punches? I'll tell you why! Because those guys were far too big and heavy to be affected by single punches from Mike Tyson. That's because he was too small as a heavyweight and his body was too fragile, soft and naturally weak against true super heavyweights. This is evident by the fact Mike Tyson's hardest punches were tickling guys like Danny Williams, who had over 50 pounds of weight advantage over Mike Tyson and was able to laugh Tyson's hardest punches off like they were nothing. So much so that Tyson ended up injuring himself without being able to put a dent on Danny Williams, which he then also failed in his next fight against Kevin McBride. just as miserably. Kevin McBride was also too strong, too durable, too tall and too heavy for Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson knew his best days were over as soon as modern heavyweights (Klitschko brothers) entered the scene. The new breed of heavyweights are something beyond the capacity of Mike Tyson.

[Redd Foxx]

Then why did a boxer like Danny Williams (with a bummy record) and a journeyman like Kevin Mcbride nearly walk through Mike Tyson's hardest, most powerful flush punches whilst barely showing any affects to such punches? I'll tell you why! Because those guys were far too big and heavy to be affected by single punches from Mike Tyson. That's because he was too small as a heavyweight and his body was too fragile, soft and naturally weak against true super heavyweights. This is evident by the fact Mike Tyson's hardest punches were tickling guys like Danny Williams, who had over 50 pounds of weight advantage over Mike Tyson and was able to laugh Tyson's hardest punches off like they were nothing. So much so that Tyson ended up injuring himself without being able to put a dent on Danny Williams, which he then also failed in his next fight against Kevin McBride. just as miserably. Kevin McBride was also too strong, too durable, too tall and too heavy for Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson knew his best days were over as soon as modern heavyweights (Klitschko brothers) entered the scene. The new breed of heavyweights are something beyond the capacity of Mike Tyson.

I didn't read past the first sentence because it's based in delusion. You choose the last two guys he fought, when he was shot and hated boxing? What about Bruno, Holmes, Berbick, and other guys 6'3" (same height as your example Williams) and taller who he absolutely wrecked??
Anyhow, that's rhetorical because I'm not coming back looking for an answer.

[Reloaded]

Yeah Mike fought Douglas in his prime and came up short.. my point was people put too much emphasis on prime Mike Tyson and start their mythical analysis.. All I was saying was, a prime Mike Tyson would have lost to Prime Lennox, Holyfield or a really good tall HWs who could stay at range and box him..

Agree fully with this, Mike wasn't really all that great, he had power that put fear through the HW ranks, until a good boxer that didn't fear him beat him, then Evander a former LH beat him, Lewis is too big, Ali too big too slick and too good of a chin, Klit is too big and tight boxing, Mikes biggest name win was Holmes who was shot to sht and Spinks who was a LH.

Mike was a public enigma more than a truly great fighter, he was dynamic and powerful that destroyed average HWs while the elite beat him, just like GGG is blasting through the MWs until he fought a big guy that could really fight, where as G won Mike lost, the same invincible bubble got burst.

[Mr Objecitivity]

I didn't read past the first sentence because it's based in delusion. You choose the last two guys he fought, when he was shot and hated boxing? What about Bruno, Holmes, Berbick, and other guys 6'3" (same height as your example Williams) and taller who he absolutely wrecked??
Anyhow, that's rhetorical because I'm not coming back looking for an answer.

No disrespect to Mike Tyson. He was one, if not my favorite heavyweight boxers in history and he might've been the best heavyweight P4P and inch for inch relative to his own size.

However, I believe he had real limitations. I'm not one of those fanboys who believes their favorite boxer has unlimited capabilities or is somehow superhuman.

I chose his last few opponents because heavyweight boxers on average started to become heavier during the 1990's, especially after Mike Tyson returned from prison.

It's no coincidence that Mike Tyson could barely faze the likes of Nielsen, Danny Williams and Kevin Mcbride even with his most powerful flush landed punches. They all have one main common similarity: THEY WERE ALL MUCH HEAVIER THAN MIKE TYSON!

AS for the boxers you've mentioned, Larry Holmes was a lighter heavyweight by modern standards. He was only 10 pounds heavier than Mike Tyson. The same applies to Trevor Berbick. Heavyweights during Mike tyson's era in the 1980's were much lighter than heavyweights from the mid 1990's and upwards. The average weight of heavyweight boxers from mid 1990's became higher.

Frank Bruno was likely Mike Tyson's most impressive KO over a modern sized super heavyweight. With the exception of Frank Bruno (And maybe a few others), Mike Tyson's KO suffered significantly against heavier + skilled modern super heavyweights.

Even in the case of Frank Bruno, it wasn't just the power of Mike Tyson which caused the KO but the lack of survival ability and the mental weakness of Frank Bruno.

[Jedi Vader]

So you're claiming no matter how good a short boxer is, they can never defeat modern day taller heavyweight boxers? In other words, being short is unsuitable for shorter boxers irrespective of how much skill they have?

As for Mike Tyson, he was barely even a natural heavyweight. The guy was below 5 feet 10 (in real life when I saw him in person). In truth, Mike Tyson shouldn't survive even 30 seconds against giants and natural heavyweights like Lennox Lewis or the Klitschko brothers.

Mike Tyson probably doesn't even have a 1% chance of beating Lennox Lewis or the Klitschko brothers, not even a punchers chance. Even if they had both their hands tied behind their back and let Mike Tyson hit them with his hardest punches flush on their chin multiple times, Mike Tyson may have still lacked the power and strength to KO such heavier + skilled boxers.

Mike Tyson's power was exposed to be near useless against much heavier super heavyweights like Danny Williams, Kevin Mcbride and Brian Nielsen. Three of those guys were nearly walking through Mike Tyson's hardest flush punches. It's as if they weren't even bothered by those punches whilst making it seem like Mike Tyson was in a lower weight class throwing punches on heavier men from a higher weight class that were near ineffective. Not to mention, Mike Tyson injured himself from landing flush punches on Danny Willains where Danny Williams was barely effected but Mike Tyson injured his knees, just to add to the fragility and how weak Mike Tyson was against such heavier men.

Truth is, Mike Tyson lacked the strength and power to KO opponents after they reached a specific weight. Mike Tyson was far too small over all, his body was far too fragile and weak, his hands were far too small to KO opponents that were of the weight and size of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, possibly even if they stood there letting him land his hardest punches.

[Reloaded]

There is an old saying " All things being equal a good big man will always beat a good little man"

What that is saying is its not just the size its the ability that goes with it, a great little guy will beat a not so great big guy, but when all things are equal the big man will win.

[Fury4daWIN]

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread a small heavyweight has to be exceptional to overcome the physical and stylistic disadvantages he'd face against naturally bigger men. That generally translated to being faster, more explosive, at least as physically resilient to punishment as the bigger men if not more so, and more vicious in going about getting the knockout, since it's hard to maintain a high energy style for more than a few rounds. This type of fighting is not really suited to longevity since it burns your body out and relies on physical capabilities that tend to erode when you get into your thirties.

A taller fighter in comparison can afford to fight in a more cerebral and laid back manner since he has a lot more tools at his disposal that can allow him to fight in a less risky manner. This allows them to take less punishment over the course of a career (if they're smart) and to capitalise on their physicality long after they've peaked.

A smaller fighter can still reach the pinnacle of the sport and become the undisputed best in the world, but I have a hard time envisioning them staying there for long. Too much physicality needed, too much wear and tear.

[Fury4daWIN]

You also have to bear in mind that in today's clinch happy environment shorter boxers face even more disadvantages. Povetkin might have had a chance against Wlad if he'd been allowed to fight on the inside every time he got close instead of being frontal dry humped. That was never a problem for shorter fighters in the past since refs were much stricter on that kind of thing.