Simple question. Who wins in a fight, Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson. This is, of course, assuming both fighters are in their primes at the time of the event (late 80's for Tyson and late 60's/early 70's for Ali).
Simple question. Who wins in a fight, Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson. This is, of course, assuming both fighters are in their primes at the time of the event (late 80's for Tyson and late 60's/early 70's for Ali).
prime? i think tyson. at his absolute peak he was amazing. ali was great much,much longer though in my opinion. but i'm no boxing expert.
No one could beat Tyson in his prime, no one.
Tyson won 90% of his fights on sheer intimidation alone. Most of his opponents were just looking for a place to fall. It all looks great on the highlight reel but look what happened when he faced opponents not scared shi*less of him.
Ali was faster than Tyson. Had a better jaw than Tyson. Was a MUCH better defensive boxer than Tyson. Was much taller than the relative midget, Tyson. Beat two men that would have destroyed Tyson (Foreman and Liston).
Prime to prime, Ali TKO's Tyson in 9.
p.s., Foreman would have KO'd Tyson in 2.
Ali before his Vietnam escapade was truly the greatest. Tyson would be incapable of intimidating him. Would've been a great fight ala Manila, but Ali KO's the short man in 10.
Ali prime vs. prime
Ali the rest of the time
I would say that Ali is the guy who is going to win this 9 out of 10 times but the power that Tyson had can't be overlooked. If Tyson could give him one of his viscous punches it might be enough to win it. So I don't think a guy like Tyson can be so easily overlooked due to his ability to get the fast TKO.
Chuck Wepner could take on both of them at once. No sweat........
well maybe a bit of blood.
Tyson would win. Rope-a-dope wouldn't work. Tyson would just bear in and nail him. I hate to say this, since I admire Ali far more than I admire Tyson.
SeniorElGimpo wrote:
Simple question. Who wins in a fight, Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson. This is, of course, assuming both fighters are in their primes at the time of the event (late 80's for Tyson and late 60's/early 70's for Ali).
There is not a doubt in my mind that Ali in his prime, or even past his prime, would have beaten Tyson in his prime. And fairly easily at that.
Tyson was a brawler who beat the crap out of a bunch of second rate chumps on his way to the top. He never faced the type of competition Ali faced on the way up and while he was on top: Liston, Frazier, Foreman, etc...
Also, even if Ali was out of shape and having a bad night, he would not have lost to a fighter like Buster Douglas.
When Tyson actually faced a good fighter like Evander Holyfield, he didn't have a chance. Holyfield toyed with him.
Some of this is not Tyson's fault. Heavyweight boxing was on its way down by the late 80s. It's even more of a joke now. Can anyone name the current heavyweight champions of the world?
Foreman was a badass...don't let those grill commercials fool you. In the 70's, he was Tyson, a taller and heavier version of Tyson. And look what happened to him--Ali was already past his prime and kicked his butt.
dingles dongle wrote:
No one could beat Tyson in his prime, no one.
How can you say that? When was Tyson's "prime"? In 1988 he was on top of the world, but by early 1990 he was past his prime while still in his 20s?
February 1990 Tyson got his ass kicked by Buster Douglas in Japan. I was in Manila that night watching the fight live. It was ugly. It dawned on me that very night that Mike Tyson was a bit of a fraud. Buster Douglas, a second rate fighter himself, showed the world how Tyson could be beaten. Tyson never recovered from that. His career was shit afterwards.
Sure, he had a lot of personal and legal problems that affected his career. But he never made a successful comeback from that night. Ali came back several times from defeat to win again. And he had legal problems too in the prime of his career.
Because his personality was so dominating, it is easy for many to overlook some of Ali's tremendous skills. He was an unbelievable defensive boxer. He could make solid punches become glancing blows like no other. His ability to take a punch was also legendary, per his first Norton fight where he went 10 rounds with a broken jaw. Like someone else said, Ali, pre-suspension, is in a class of own in heavyweight boxing history.
No one thought Ali would beat Forman, he knocked him out. In his prime Forman was a monster. He lifted Joe Frazier off the ground with an uppercut.
I think Ali's speed and brains would lead him to a KO over Tyson. I wish we could find out.
ESPN has shown many rebroadcasts of Tyson's fights in the past year or so. I always thought he was a beast and in his prime unstoppable. However, after watching the fighst again I wasn't all that impressed
His defense was not all that good and he didn't handle himself well when the other fighter either stayed in close or could weather a few flurries.
My vote is Ali he won the tough fights, most of them, against some pretty stiff competition.
When I saw the thread title, I thought it would be about who would do better at the Olympics or something.. Allyson Felix or Tyson Gay.
mcordi wrote:
No one thought Ali would beat Forman, he knocked him out. In his prime Forman was a monster. He lifted Joe Frazier off the ground with an uppercut.
I think Ali's speed and brains would lead him to a KO over Tyson. I wish we could find out.
Let's talk a little about George Foreman. Foreman in his prime would have beaten the crap out of Tyson in his prime. At the age of 42, George Foreman took an incredibly fit Evander Holyfield in the prime of his career the full 12 rounds and almost knocked him out in the 7th. A much younger Tyson got his ass kicked by Holyfield.
Then, 3 years later, Foreman knocks out Michael Moorer in the 10th to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history. I'm fairly convinced George Foreman in his early 40s could have given Tyson a run for his money.
Mike Tyson simply was not a great fighter. He does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with the likes of fighters like Joe Louis, Ali, Foreman, and many, many others.
Ali probably would win. His skill level is way above tysons. I would say though if Tyson hadn't F'ed up his life along the way, he would of eventually been unstoppable.
Ali probably would win. His skill level is way above tysons. I would say though if Tyson hadn't F'ed up his life along the way, he would of eventually been unstoppable. He was only in his early 20s. after he went to prison the first time he was on the way down. He never truely peaked as a fighter. its a shame.