Mike Tyson

Tyson was a short heavyweight who fought like a middleweight. Cus D'Amato's peek-a-boo system turned his height disadvantage into a weapon — constant head movement below the opponent's eye line, explosive entries off angles, and devastating hooks from a crouched position. His finishing sequences almost always followed the same pattern: slip outside the jab, rip a left hook to the body, then come upstairs with the right uppercut. That body-to-head sequence was his bread and butter. The peek-a-boo guard kept both gloves at the cheekbones, elbows tight, chin tucked. Movement was all lateral — cut the angle, close distance, explode. When the opponent backed up, Tyson cut the ring with short, choppy steps and pressured them to the ropes. His decline came when opponents figured out that if you kept him at range and made him chase, his gas tank emptied by round 6.