Sonny Liston at 28 vs Mike Tyson at 20.

I don't think a version of Tyson existed that could handle a truly, truly formidable head to head monster like Liston.

Had he stayed on the right path? Absolutely. I don't think we ever saw Tyson's prime. I think we saw him close, and then begin to plummet.

Even at his best, he got hit with big punches. His offense was dynamite, he was fast, he'd be very very dangerous(Maybe the most dangerous heavyweight ever, early), but his defense has been horrendously overrated: Even guys he dropped in a single round got in power shots.

You don't want to get hit much by Liston, and frankly, Tyson never demonstrated he'd be able to consistently avoid that happening. I think in an absolute peak situation, a Tyson that is more myth than we've ever seen(Though I think with Rooney and without King, he WOULD have arrived there), he stands a real solid chance to get through Liston early. But Sonny is no Spinks or Berbick. To beat him, Mike would need to go rounds, he'd get hit, and he probably would get put away- He never broke down and put away a fighter better than Razor Ruddock.

60-40 in favor of Liston, imo.

 

Liston was no Spinks or Berbick but he wasn't Tucker or James Smith either .
And I think that Pinklon Thomas (who actually had an impressing chin) and Larry Holmes (who did have more than 1 good moment after his defeat 2 Tyson) do give some indication of how Liston would have fared . Liston was more dangerous than them but then he was less durable .
And a jab will not keep Tyson at bay , as was proven by these men .
Holmes knew it from d start , that his jab would have been ineffective , so he tried 2 set Tyson 4d right but Tyson wasn't waiting 4 him 2 get set 4 it , and Liston wasn't known 4 excessive speed either , and his power is very much overrated and was only "proven" vs fragile opponents .

 

Liston would win, too tough. Mike struggled with Boneclutcher, Tucker, when he got backed up had no idea.

 

Liston's a little taller, they were similar in weight, Liston had a much longer reach but Tyson was used to having the shorter reach and fought accordingly.

Tyson was much quicker. he had quicker hands, quicker feet, and quicker movements in general.

They both were strong and punched hard. They could both take a good punch.

I really feel that Tyson's power would be a bigger factor in this fight than Liston's. I'm not even saying Tyson punched harder... but when you factor in accuracy, defense, speed, workrate, and durability... Tyson gets the nod.

In these days Tyson was a good pupil. He trained hard, listened to his corner, and was well prepared for a wide variety of styles.

Tyson had beat the usual trial horses on the way up but he almost always beat them quicker and more impressively than anyone else did. He went on to beat-

Jesse Ferguson KO6- his most important fight at that point, Ferguson had beat James Douglas, he was stopped in 10 by Carl Williams, went on to lose by MD to James Smith and beat Ray Mercer

James Tillis W10- Tillis had fought for a World title, Tyson won about 8 out of 10 rounds and dropped Tillis

Mitch Green W10- Tyson won about 9 out of 10 rounds vs. the 6'5" 225Lb solid veteran

Marvis Frazier KO1- 30 seconds! Holmes had beat him in 2:57 of the 1st round but Frazier had wins over James Broad, Joe Bugner, Bernard Benton, James Tillis, Jose Ribalta, and James Smith.

Jose Ribalta- Tyson dropped the 6'5" fighter 3 times

Alfonzo Ratliff KO2- 6'4" former WBC CW World Champ

Trevor Berbick KO2- Tyson wins the WBC HW belt

James Smith W12- Tyson won 11 or 12 rounds vs. the 6'5" 235Lb solid Smith and the WBA HW belt.

Pinklon Thomas KO6- former WBC HW World Champ

...all before the age of 21

 

Liston was born no earlier than 1930 but some say as late as 1932. Even if he was born in 1932... that means at age 28 he had not yet fought Zora Folley, Eddie Machen, or Floyd Patterson x2. At this point he had beat-

Johnny Summerlin W8 x2- close fights

Marty Marshall 2 out of 3- L8, KO6, W10... Marshall broke his jaw

Bert Whitehurst W10 x2

Wayne Bethea KO1

Ernie Cab KO8

Mike DeJohn KO6

Cleveland Williams KO3 and KO2

Nino Valdes KO3

Willi Besmanoff KO7

Howard King KO8

Roy Harris KO1

I like Tyson by decision or late round KO.

 

When exactly did he struggle with Smith and Tucker? I guess because he didn't knock them out he must have struggled with them? Maybe you could give Smith a round vs. Tyson? Maybe you could give Tucker two rounds? So in these 24 rounds he lost 3 rounds at the most.

Liston keeps getting better every year despite the fact that he died over 40 years ago.

The word struggled gets thrown around way too much. Struggled is what Liston did vs. small Heavyweights like Johnny Summerlin and Marty Marshall. He won two close 8 round decisions vs. Summerlin (1 by SD). He lost an 8th round SD to Marshall (Marshall broke Liston's jaw in this fight). Liston beat Marshall KO6 and W10 in rematches.

You can also make a case that Liston "struggled" vs. Eddie Machen as well. Liston clearly won but Machen had his moments... way more moments than Smith and Tucker had vs. Tyson combined.

 

since when did Tyson score late KOs? He had one KO in round 7 but that was a rarity. If he dosent get Liston in 3 or 4,he is not going to get him by KO.

 

Which one in Round 7? Biggs or Ruddock?

He also knocked out Ribalta in the 10th.

 

i think styles favor liston.tyson rates very high h2h,but he would probably get his ass kicked in this one.probably the worst match-up for him,including foreman.

 

Sure Tyson talked the talk, but could he walk the walk against Liston? :think

 

Yes ok. You are right. So Mike had 2 late KO's in his entire career but he was an early KO guy,basically

 

Both are bullies...if you were not afraid of Tyson and punched back...fights over for him...Sonny was intimidated by Ali...he got into Sonny's head in 1964 and 1965...and we know what happened there...could go either way...depends on who gets in the first telling punches i guess...