JT said on 24/Apr/06
I watched a few fights on youtube.com (great site for videos, BTW) with Tyson and both Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. The boxing TV angle is usually misleading (it's often shot from a level a bit above the boxers' heads), but I can't see Tyson being 5'8" or even 5'9" next to Lewis (6'5") and Holyfield (6'2"). He did not look that short. I'd give him 5'10" but I can't rule out 5'11".
Boxing4life said on 22/Apr/06
NOT 5'9"!. go to
Click Here look in the pictures section with Hagler and Tyson. Hagler is 5'9" and don't say he's 5'8" just to make your point.
JT said on 19/Apr/06
I'd give Tyson 5'10", with 5'11" a stretch. BTW, I saw Holyfield at LAX back in the late 90s (he was flying to Vegas to fight (destroy) Tyson). I'm 6'4" and Holyfield did look around 6'2". I didn't check out his footwear.
OnCapeCod said on 18/Apr/06
ALWAYS announced as Frank2 said at "Five foot eleven and one half inches!"....he is 5'8" without shoes. His head/neck is hyper-abnormally large...but he was not bigger than me in any other dimension except waist while being tailored.
Editor Rob said on 13/Apr/06
Just throwing down another boxer quote:
Sugar Ray leonard: "I was 13 and 5ft 8, a few inches shorter than I am now". So he has claimed 5ft 10...guess better upgrade stallone to 6ft now ;-)
Frank2 said on 9/Apr/06
The last Tyson fight I watched which was the infamous fight where he bit off a portion of Evander Holyfield's ear, they clearly stated he was 5'11.5" as Tyson came into the ring.
TJ said on 7/Apr/06
Tyson was never 5'11.5. That was always ridiculous. I have most of his fights on video, going back to even the amateur days. On a few occasions, the commentators note that he's smaller than listed. 5'10 is mentioned, which is quite possible. There's no way he's as short as 5'8.
Frank2 said on 6/Apr/06
If he was at his tallest 5'10.5" then why was he no taller than 5'9" Tony Danza? And Danza is 5'9". When Tyson appeared on Who's the Boss he was still young and at the time was the Heavyweight Champ so I doubt he had lost an inch and a half by then. My point is that official heights are mostly bogus. We live in a make believe world so I do not accept anything stated by press agents, studios, even the military when it comes to the heights of celebs. I worked in the biz far too long to take what's handed out without being skeptical.
Anonymous said on 6/Apr/06
Tyson throughout his career was listed at 5'11, 5'11.5, and at one point I believe 6'0, at his tallest he was 5'10.5
Frank2 said on 6/Apr/06
And for those who only believe what's official, Tyson is listed as being 5'11-1/2" at the start of all of his boxing matches. You'd think they'd have measured him correctly, but obviously the press agent got to the fellow doing the measuring.
Tyson appeared on an episode of Who's the Boss and was about the same height as 5'9" Tony Danza.
Alex said on 5/Apr/06
Jason, 5'10 looks accurate for Tyson. He could be 5'9.5 though. Hes not shorter than that though so 5'7.5-5'8 is out of the question.
riddler said on 3/Apr/06
Tyson really is probably no more than 5'8-5'9
deepestvoice said on 3/Apr/06
My brother met Mike Tyson when he was walking in a mall and he said he was 5'8 or 5'9 max. Any type of superstar like Hogan or Tyson that can do things ordinary people can't will be billed as larger than life. There's no way someone can tell me people's heights like Hogan, Tyson, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Evander Holyfield......won't be exaggerated if for no other reason then to sell their show as larger than life. All of the people I listed were probably billed at least 2 inches above their acutal height. Also, a 1989 Tyson and a 1989 Holyfield would have been an all out war and Tyson would have been much more competitive in his prime than in 1996 when he wasn't the same warrior. Buster Douglas broke Tyson's will a little bit when he made Tyson realize he wasn't invincible. Lewis took any fight out of Tyson he had left with that 2002 beatdown. Williams and McBride would have been 30 second KO's in 1989 or earlier.
Jimmy said on 5/Mar/06
Onecapecod, you've listed a picture with a Solarized effect and I'm meant to decude that he's wearing lifts in that? Come on, at least put up a reasonable argument.
Plenty of people stood upto Tyson and got KO'd regardless!
Williams, McBride and Douglas all fought tentatively until they saw that Tyson was beatable. Besides, I don't think you'd have the audacity to say that to his face, you're an internet warrior my friend. Nothing more than that.
5'9 is his normal height, 5'10 is the height with shoes. If you have any qualms about that, I could give you Mike's number in Arizona and you could take it up with him if you wish to do so? No? Ok then Interner warrior.
TNTinCA said on 3/Mar/06
I agree with TJ.
You can say what you want about Mike with regards to his bad habits, but you cannot deny his abilities when he was in his youth. I saw many old bouts when Tyson was 19-20 years old. The man was unbelievable. Give credit where credit is due. You can dislike his conduct if you want, but don't make claims that he was a totally hack in the world of boxing. That is not the case. As TJ indicated, he peaked early in life for a heavy weight. When he got into his 30s and lost some of his speed and power, he couldn't hold up to bigger men.
TJ said on 2/Mar/06
Hey OnCapeCod, Tyson did not crumble every time someone gave him a fight. What crap. The man peaked VERY early for a heavyweight and simply wasn't any longer the same figher in the later years when he fought Holyfield and particularly Lewis. If you think that the Holyfield results would have been the same in 1986, you are dreaming.
Jimo said on 2/Mar/06
OnCapeCod, it would be funny if u found tyson just around the corner and told him all that s***. I bet u would pee on yourself!
anyways, mike is around 5-10 and never wore stupid lifts to prove anything.
Frank2 said on 2/Mar/06
Mike was never more than five ten and they always lied when they listed him at his fights as being five eleven and a half. He once appeared on Who's the Boss and was hardly any taller than Tony Danza.
OnCapeCod said on 1/Mar/06
Sorry to burst your bubble fanboy but here is a snap of Tyson on his ass (as usual) which is colour inverted to plainly show the ACTUAL thickness of his custom elevated boxing shoes.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/NBForrest/TysonOnHisAssAgain.jpg
...open in any graphics program and look at his left foot. Tyson wore these because he was a self-loathing coward & bully that folded EVERY time someone gave him a fight...not surprising since his criminal record consisted of mugging OLD WOMEN. My uncle played handball against Jimmy Jacobs competitively so I was privvy to the real truth about "Bummy Ike". Now you'll have to find another person to bull$hit. The end.
Jimmy said on 28/Feb/06
OnCapeCod, what a load of nonsense! Tyson wears lifts in the RING?!?!?!? What purpose would that serve? Boxing shoes are designed to be as thin as possible to allow maximum flexibility and pivoting of the foot. Boxing shoes with lifts would restrict Tyson's movement in the ring, not to mention it would make him extremely uncomfortable and not allow him to get his shots off effectively. There goes that theory!
Tyson is around 5'9 in height (without shoes), perhaps around 5'10 or a little taller with normal footwear on.
Here is a picture of Tyson v Williams at their press conference. Williams is a legitimate 6'1.5 tall (187cm). Now, I'm guessing (just a suggestion here, Cod) that Danny is wearing shoes at this press conference, which would give him a height of around 189cm or so or there abouts. Tyson looks around 4" shorter (taking into account the tilt of Danny's head), so that leaves him at around 5'10/11" at that particular moment with shoes on. Take away the shoes and 5'9 (a little more even) doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all.
http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3845/tysonlouisvillewilliams13se.jpg
Besides, 5'10 isn't short at all, it's the average male height and probably will stay that way for another 10-20 years. What is impressive is that Tyson - a small heavyweight - was able to knock out men of 6'5+ in his prime with relative ease. That man is and was a walking powerhouse and the fact that he did it with such such a disadvantage is a testament to his ring achievements and his greatness.
OnCapeCod said on 25/Feb/06
I'll once again repost what the editor disallowed last time it was entered....I have seen Tyson MANY times both as an amateur & pro boxer and AT LENGTH (2+ hours) at a custom shirt shop called "Papillion" in the mall at Short Hills (NJ). He is 5'8"...he wear lifts in his ring shoes which is why they are black (Dempsey tale aside)and also why he has been rocked back on his heels when hit with a good punch HABITUALLY. The end.
Editor Rob
interesting enough, but how do we know he wears lifts though?
Glenn said on 24/Feb/06
when he gets in the ring,they say he is 5-11 1/2.I remember 20 years ago he was listed as 5-9.
THE BOTTOM LINE said on 23/Feb/06
Iron Mike Tyson is a legitimate 5-8. With his black boxing shoes, he is 5-9.
DestroyandDestruction said on 16/Feb/06
Mike Tyson is 5'11". He looks short compared to all of these heavyweights because they are 6'2", 6'3", 6'4" and above.
TheMan said on 30/Jan/06
Yeah i think Tyson was always around the 5,10 mark. He's never looked like near 6,0. It would be bad if we did shrink that much lol.
TNTinCA said on 28/Jan/06
I agree with Horatio. Age related shrinking is not something that usually occurs til well into middle and old age. Tyson is 40 years old and I don't think he would have shrunk any since his 20s.
Amazing that he often weighed 215 - 220 lbs for fights considering his height. And that is at a low body fat percentage. Kind of gives you an idea of how much muscle was behind those punches. ;-)
Horatio said on 25/Jan/06
Usually people don't shrink between the age of 20 and 40. If Mike Tyson is 5'10", then chances are that he was always 5'10".
Chris said on 30/Dec/05
I was a few feet away from Mike Tyson in Vegas. I'm 5'10 and Tyson seemed to be a bit shorter than me.
gman said on 4/Dec/05
shortest heavyweight champion was james toney 5'9'' and tyson is taller then 5'9'' david tua i saw tyson in london 5'10'' i'd say
Brett said on 4/Dec/05
He does look short, I saw that last crocodile dundeed where tyson did a 30 sec cameo, and he was shorter then paul hogan whoes like 5'9" or 5'10".
Boxing fan said on 4/Dec/05
He's listed as 5'10" in the boxing records archive, probably the shortest heavyweight champion since 5'7" Tommy Burns (1906-1909). Like Burns, Tyson made up for it with power, speed and a much longer than average reach proportionate to height.
TJ said on 23/Nov/05
I have Mike's entire career on video and in a very early fight the commentator says "Tyson is listed at 5'11.5, but is really only about 5'10. I've always thought that and his recent comments seem to confirm it.
Gman said on 19/Nov/05
saw him at canary wharf in london walked past me, was only a yard away im near 5'11.5''- 6' he was like 2 inches shorter. most likely 5'9''
kaner1 said on 25/Oct/05
Height and weight is one of the most "flexible" facts in sports and entertainment anyway. In basketball in particular they always list people by their height in shoes and apparently add an inch or two to that, which is ridiculous. I'm 5'10 in socks, so I tell people I'm 5'10, not "well I'm 5'11 1/2 right now but I might slip into some wingtips later so I average out at 5'11 for the day."
Have you seen some of those NBA draft official measurements and compared them to the claimed college height? Often hilarious. Some of the forwards often lie by as much as four inches!
My guess is that if Tyson is claiming to be 5'11 1/2 then he probably is around 5'10 going by the standard exaggeration matrix . . .
aba champ said on 24/Oct/05
does it matter what size tyson is he 5ft 11 so what size dnt matter trust i fighted 6ft ppl and over and i knocked them out tall ppl got glass jaws size dnt matter does it matter wat size tyson is he a killing machine that all 2 it
CasperUK said on 5/Sep/05
Go to Klitscko.com and Mike Tyson takes a tour of Kiev with reigning WBC champion Vitali Klitscko (6'7) and then come back and tel me Tyson looks anywhere remotely near 5'11. Tyson at most looks 5'9 or 5'10 next to the giant Ukrainian champion. And that's with shoes on.
TheMan said on 27/Aug/05
Mike Tyson is 5,11 he's listed as 180 now i saw it even in a fight of he's unless even in boxing they make up heights. He was facing danny williams who was listed as 6,1 actually he's closer to 6,2 with only a cm in it he's like 187 and he was listed as 6,1 still so if they were going to lie theyd lie about him and list him as 6,2 actually they might as well of but still didnt. Mike Tyson is indeed 5,11 thats just fact so he's height needs to be changed.
longrob said on 5/Aug/05
I'm a boxer in vegas and I have spoken with Mike many times. He is not 5'9! I have seen him without shoes while changing and judgimg by the other guys around I would put him at about 5'10 or maybe even 5'10.5. He looked short next to McBride because the guy is a shoeless 6'6
Mike said on 8/Jul/05
My friend who is 6 feet met him in person, calls him short and says that he is 5'10". Then again, he is a solid 6 footer.
ez said on 6/Jul/05
in one of his old fights, angelo dundee commentating thinks that they over state his height from around 5'9 (what he thinks) and 5'11 1/2 (what they put)... i thought that too.. either way hes short like people thought he was, its just heavyweight boxers are giants.
CasperUK said on 18/Jun/05
People focused more on Tyson quitting than McBride beating him. McBride didnt do anything special in the fight, Mike just quit. However in the stand-off you could see just how small Tyson was compared to McBride a clear 9" in my opinion. Even against Evander Holyfield Mike looked around 2-3" shorter and Joyce Carol Oates in 1986 commented that Mike looked well short of his listed 5'11.5 height - back when Mike was in his prime and in great health too. I dont think he's ever been that tall. I think his height was stunted by D'Mato from an early age to make Mike a more effective fighter. I mean Mike was running 3 miles per day with 100lb weights on his back when he was 16, that surely must have stunted the mans height. That said other than that he is a genetic marvel, 200lbs at age 13 - awesome.
Mr. R said on 15/Mar/05
Okay, I have seen Mike Tyson in Vegas. I was having dinner at the MGM Grand after the Billboard Awards. I heard this commotion coming down the way, and I looked up and saw that it was Tyson surrounded by about 20 folks. As he came my way, I stood up, and as he passed me, I measured him at 5'10". Also, I grew up in the same city as Sugar Ray Leonard, and saw him several times. We knew for awhile that they were overestimating his height. At his tallest, he was 5'9". He has definitely shrunk. Lastly, I did the Kimmel show last October, and Jimmy is a straight up 6'1".