Mike Tyson is a true one of one. He was the first and only 20-year old heavyweight champ, was once the highest-paid athlete in the world, and his devastatingly quick KOs made you question if purchasing the fight on pay-per-view was worth it.
Like many other retired fighters, Tyson has recently caught the boxing bug again and appears to have reignited his passion for the sport at the age of 53. Yes, he may be old enough to get an AARP card, but after looking at his Instagram, it’s obvious he still has some gas left in the tank.
What separated Tyson amongst his piers outside of his ferocious punching power and larger than life persona was his muscle-bound hulking physique. His bulging biceps and assertive shoulders definitely played a part in his dominance both before and during the fight. Here, we’ve wrangled together the most impressive photos of his physique.
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Mike Tyson Becomes Youngest Heavyweight Champ – 1986
With Tyson’s victory over Trevor Berbick in 1986 he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever at the age of 20. Becoming a heavyweight champ before the age of 25 perched Tyson in boxing history next to the likes of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Lewis, and others who have achieved this feat. Heading into the fight. Tyson was 27–0 with 25 knockouts. As you’d expect Berbick was blasted by the young phenom, and the legend of Mike Tyson was born.
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Mike Tyson Weigh-in vs. Tony Tubbs – 1988
By 1988 Iron Mike has cemented himself as a once in a generation knockout artist. He had earned the chance to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world with a bout against Micheal Spinx, but first he had to go through Tony Tubbs. After Tubbs managed to stay out of harm’s way for a round, the inevitable happened at the end of the second round. Tyson made his way through the defense, and finished the fight with a TKO.
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Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas – 1990
Tyson’s loss against Buster Douglas may have been a thunderous shock to the world in 1990, but just by giving him the eye test, it doesn’t look like his physique was the issue. When Douglas won, he was a 42-1 underdog, but still managed to KO the fighter who’s never been put on the canvas before. Tyson has since stated that at this time his personal life was spiraling out of control, and didn’t have any desire to fight the formidable Douglas.
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Mike Tyson Weigh-in vs. Donovan “Razor” Ruddock – 1991
Five years after being crowned the youngest heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson was still rampaging through the heavyweight division and inching closer to a potential super-fight with Evander Holyfield. However, before he got there he needed to put an end to the Donovan “Razor” Ruddock controversy. In their first bout he won by TKO, but some felt that the fight was called early. A rematched ensued, and Tyson emerged with the unanimous decision victory. These back-to-back fights ended up being Tyson’s last bouts before his 4-year absence.
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Tyson vs. McNeeley Face-off – 1995
Tyson’s bout with Peter McNeeley was billed as his return to the sport of boxing haven been away for over four years. Although the fight ended due to disqualification because of McNeeley’s corner illegally jumping into the ring during the bout, the real cause was Tyson hitting power. He dropped McNeeley several times in the first and was on the way to putting in more damage before McNeeley’s corner put an end to the punishment.
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Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno – 1996
Despite Frank Bruno losing by TKO at the hands of Iron Mike in 1989, he was up for the challenge again in 1996. Bruno, who had an impressive physique of his own was no match for Tyson who pummeled him to a TKO finish in the third round. With this victory Tyson regained the WBC heavyweight title.
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Mike Tyson – 1996
At this point in Tyson’s career he had already been incarcerated and emerged with an even more ferocious physique. In 1996 Tyson won back the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles before losing the WBA title to his rival, Evander Holyfield.
Sidenote, there’s an entire tiger in this photo and it’s still a debate to who is the more dangerous predator here.
