You aren't beating Tyson with a jab; his whole game was slipping the jab. You aren't beating Tyson by staying away from him; that let's him use his fast feet and change angles on you. My personal belief is that he would beat Ali and that it would be easy. Ali doesn't do much to dissuade Tyson from coming after him, and all he does in close is hold. Tyson would hit him and hurt him coming in and Ali would grab to survive, or he'd catch Ali with a hook leaning back or a right hand as he skipped to the left, hurt him and finish him. Ali was no defensive genius, he was so bad fundamentally but he was fast. He'd be faster of hand and foot than Tyson but not enough to make it work.
I dont think it would be easy but a Tyson win is not unrealistic and vice versa. Tyson would represent a much sterner test than Frazier and Foreman, because he is a two fisted textbook KO fighter with no real technical flaws, not just a almost exclusive left hooker with stamina or a no defense slow questionable stamina power clubber.
You can beat Tyson with the jab, followed by the right cross. Douglas proved it. Tucker made the template but didn't have the ambition or confidence to put it into full practice
Tyson had very fast hands, but feet? I feel he was rather slow, and was troubled by good movers. A great jab will trouble any fighter, its not a weakness on Tysons side.
Most of the trouble he gave Louis was with flurries of hooks to the head and body. Ali was more a one-two,straight punches guy in general). I think this is my all time dream fight due to the clash of styles.:yep
Douglas had a far more thudding and powerful jab than Ali. Maybe not consistently , but in that fight he had. I wasn't supposed to say that but I said it. Tyson would walk , dodge and slip right threw Ali's jab. Douglas had vicious uppercuts for him when he did that. Ali has no upper cut to speak of. Ali wins Tyson by keeping it long and on the move. But Tyson has underrated foot work. Had a better jab and was more powerful than Frazier. Mike could get him out early given how Ali is a slow stater and often gives up the first couple of rounds
Huh? Nobody ever got Ali out early, Only Zombie Ali was stopped late vs. Holmes. Ali in his prime, or even FOTC & vs. Foreman-huge fights where Ali was highly motivated-did not start slow. Vs. a Cleveland Williams-huge puncher if limited-Terrell, Foley, even Chuvalo-his absolute prime + biggest later fights-he started quick. Ali also used an uppercut sometimes, including to finish folks or penetrate a guard. Neither did much inside, but Ali was much better at tying up. Tyson did nothing on the inside, even tended to be pushed back by those who may not have been stronger. Ali did not tie up often at his peak, but could do it well.
And Tyson beat and outjabbed Tucker easily. Everybody can say similar excuses like broken hand,bad shape, mental problem,lucky punch,too high altitude,too low altitude, ambition,confidence,stupidity,hepatitis etc. Only the ring performance is important and Tyson outclassed Tucker. Douglas skill wasn't enough he also had a big heart.
It's ridicolous when the "intelligent" -without boxing knowledge- boxing fans use the Douglas example against Tyson. I don't know only one case when these objective fans used the Mercer-Lewis example when the fat, out of shape Mercer (who was a 42 years old Holmes victim) outjabbed the prime "jab tyrant" tall Lennox Luigi.
Ali ain't knocking Tyson out. A close decision he could win, yes, but the one person who ends up getting ko'd would be Ali. Tyson would be the best fighter Ali ever faced, and vice versa. I feel Tyson was plucked from the streets because Cus knew that style of Ali copycats were coming up the heavyweight ranks in herds. Plus Tyson was constantly fed this style since his inception. 50/50 fight but I lean towards Tyson. I always do.
Tyson was stopped five times, Ali one, the odds would not be on tyson stopping ali. I do think it would be a decision though. I dont think it is a clear case that tyson would be the best fighter ali faced, liston, frazier and foreman is a damn good trio.