“I don’t want to hit as hard as Mike Tyson,” said no one ever. Anyone that’s ever boxed or done any kind of fighting has always at least once thought what it would be like to punch like Mike. Mike Tyson had a very unique combination of speed, power, and beautiful form when throwing a punch. He was one of the most devastating punchers in the history of the sport and walked down and walked through his opponents like no one ever. In this article let’s talk about how you can get as close as possible, to punching like Mike Tyson.
It Starts With the Stance
One thing about Mike is he had a very unique stance thought to him by the great Cus D’Amato. Cus taught the peekaboo style which was made famous by Mike and Floyd Patterson. This way of fighting favored punchers and fighters that wanted to be exciting but effective defensively. It was the perfect mix between aggression and defense, but it is also the best for generating power punches.
This stance allows you to get more leverage from your feet, and put more back and shoulder into your punch than a typical boxing stance.
For this you want to do a few things:
- Chin Down
- More Squared Up
- Shoulders High
- Leverage from legs and hips by bending your knees slightly
This stance is power-friendly and is the start of punching like Mike.
The #1 Rule for Punching Like Mike Tyson
If you’re going to punch like Mike, and there was only one thing you could do to try and do it, it’s going to be this: throw every single punch to the best of your ability. That means with perfect form, as fast, and as hard as you can. The thing is, most people can only do this for a minute before they gas out and go back to being average. Mike spent 8 hours a day in the gym, and not once did he ever throw a bullshit punch in practice. He worked on getting in good enough shape to be able to throw hard for as long as necessary. If you ever watch Mike train, he never threw a lazy punch, that’s part of the reason his punches developed the way they did. He designed his body and his mind to be able to throw as hard and as fast as possible, with perfect form, EACH time out.
This is what you have to do in order to achieve your hardest and fastest punching potential. You have to constantly push your limits of how hard and how fast you can punch and stay there. Never throw a BS punch in practice.
The difference between the greats before us and the come and go contenders, is that the greats were able to be excellent for the entire fight, not just in sports. That’s what made Mike an animal in his prime.
So when you’re training, evaluate each punch you throw, and ask yourself if you did that to the best of your ability. Eventually, your brain will begin building the right neural pathways to make it a habit for you to throw your punches as hard/fast as possible. This will also train your body to do the same, and over time you will develop the muscles and the density that are built for speed and power, and if you keep pushing, you will eventually reach your maximum potential, which is where Mike Tyson was at.
Form
The form is important, but we’re going to assume you know the basics of turning your hips and pivoting. The only thing you want to do differently with a Mike Tyson Punch is rolling the shoulder over, rather than out when you throw it. It should be just about hitting your ear when the punch is at completion. This will sacrifice some distance, but it will give you a much more compact, dense punch when landed, and put more of your lat and shoulder into the punch, which spells lights out if landed with speed.
A Ton of Shadowboxing and Heavy Bag Work
Cus D’Amato has always said that shadow boxing is where you build habits, and Mike said the heavy bag is where his punching power was developed.
When it comes to shadow boxing, it’s the one exercise that truly gets you ready for a fight. In a fight, you will miss more than 50% of your shots. When shadowboxing you miss all of your shots so this will teach you how to throw with speed and power without losing your balance. You want to make sure to always follow the rule above when shadowboxing.
You want to do a minimum of 5 rounds a day at full capacity of punches.
The next step will be to get on the heavy bag. One thing that you will notice about Mike when he hit the heavy bag, is it was far from a cardio boxing workout. He really focused on perfecting each movement every time he engaged. Whether it was a punch he threw or head movement before and after, he would do it, re-evaluate, then do it again. He would also have the feedback of his coaches.
It is important to hit the bag to your full potential as your muscles and bones will build density from the impact, which will make your punches harder.
Strength Training
Mike was said to always say that his body was “built to absorb punishment” and if you look at his fights, it’s absolutely true. When he would get hit by a heavyweight, he would brush it off and return a knockout blow in exchange. This is because everything from his neck down was built like an armor plate. However, this also meant that he has more mass, pure muscle mass, to put into his punches. The man was like a tiger, a walking muscle machine.
The thing is, he didn’t have bodybuilder’s muscles. His strength training routine consisted of ZERO weight lifting in his prime. according to Mike Tyson’s workout, his strength training consisted of the following;
500 dips
500 pushups
500 shoulder shrugs
2,000 situps
500-2,000 squats
30 minutes of neck bridges
When talking about Frank Bruno’s physique, he said that “lifting weights had as much to do with fighting as cheesecake.” Now while he may not be the best at analogies, he certainly got the point across, because cheesecake doesn’t have much to do with fighting.
This workout will turn you into an animal because it gives you functional strength. Just about every movement is a compound movement and it builds muscle connectivity. This is good for both building strength and muscle endurance, which is necessary for fighting. Unlike powerlifting, which only builds strength.
Mike Was More Than a Puncher
One thing you want to keep in mind when wanting to learn to punch like Mike is that it’s far from what made him special, it was just one of the many things that made him special. Many guys in heavyweight boxing can punch. The difference with Mike is that he did EVERYTHING well! His style was impetuous, his defense was impregnable and he was ferocious! Seriously though, he was a masterful boxer who had an incredible defense, incredible counter-punching ability, and his speed, power and IQ were unmatched. This only downfall was he wasn’t able to maintain the level of discipline that got him to develop that style and punch the way he did.
It All Starts With the Work
If you want to punch like Mike there is going to be a level of effort that you’re going to have to put into it. You’ll have to be adamant about your boxing training and your strength training and be in good enough shape to do it simultaneously. Mike was a result of a lot of hard work and dedication in order to become the man he became. Sure it helped that he had mass, but many men do, and many men aren’t Mike Tyson.
