Raúl “Tayzon” Flores Castro has just put Mexico at the top of the strength sports world.
On September 5 in Birmingham, England, the 26 year old Mexican strongman lifted 511 kilograms, or 1,126.6 pounds, in the deadlift, setting a new world record at the Giants Live World Deadlift Championships.
With that lift, Flores surpassed the previous world record of 510 kilograms, set in 2025 by Icelandic strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, known around the world as “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones. Flores broke Björnsson’s record by just one kilogram, but that single kilogram was enough to place his name at the top of one of the most prestigious records in strongman.
Flores is now the world record holder in the deadlift, making him the strongest man in the world when it comes to the lift.
He did it in front of a Birmingham crowd while wearing a deadlift suit, lifting belt and straps. The bar moved quickly from the floor, but the final portion of the lift became a battle of sheer strength and determination. Flores eventually locked out the weight and secured the record.
Then he turned toward the crowd and pointed to his tattoo.
The gesture had a story behind it.
A promise to Tayzon
The nickname “Tayzon” was not chosen simply because it sounded powerful.
It was the name of Flores’ dog.
According to reports after the record breaking lift, Flores had promised that after his dog died, he would make the name Tayzon known around the world.
Years later, standing on a stage in Birmingham with more than half a ton on the bar, he fulfilled that promise.
After completing the lift, Flores pointed toward the tattoo of his dog.
He was not just lifting 511 kilograms.
He was carrying a promise with him.
From Ciudad Victoria to the top of strongman
Flores was born on May 9, 2000, in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Giants Live lists him at 1.75 meters tall and 165 kilograms.
His path to the international strongman stage began in powerlifting before he moved into strongman competition in 2021.
The deadlift quickly became his specialty.
In 2025, Flores lifted 480 kilograms at the Mike Strongman competition, a mark that established him as one of the most powerful deadlifters in the Americas. Later that year, he competed at the World Deadlift Championships in Birmingham and lifted 453.5 kilograms.
That performance helped put the young Mexican athlete on the international map.
One year later, he returned to Birmingham with a much bigger goal.
The world record.
A record once thought almost impossible
The deadlift has become one of the defining tests of modern strongman.
In 2016, Britain’s Eddie Hall became the first man to officially deadlift 500 kilograms in competition, crossing a barrier that had once seemed almost impossible.
Björnsson later pushed the record to 510 kilograms.
Now Flores has taken it to 511.
The difference may look small on paper, but at this level, adding even one kilogram is an extraordinary achievement.
The 511 kilogram lift is more than 1,100 pounds, meaning Flores successfully pulled a weight more than three times his own body weight from the floor.
Mexico has a new strength icon
Flores’ victory represents one of the biggest achievements by a Mexican athlete in the history of strongman.
For years, the sport’s most recognizable names have largely come from countries such as Iceland, Britain, Poland and the United States.
Now a 26 year old from Ciudad Victoria stands above them in the deadlift record books.
His story is also a reminder that the biggest moments in sports do not always begin on the world’s biggest stages.
Sometimes they begin with a young athlete, a barbell and a goal that seems too large to reach.
For Flores, that goal was 511 kilograms.
He reached it in Birmingham.
And when the bar finally hit the floor, Mexico had a new world record holder.
Raúl “Tayzon” Flores is now the strongest man in the world at the deadlift.
