Despite all the matchup debates, would Tyson have fought Muhammad Ali or would he duck him?

I don't think Tyson ducked Foreman by i believe his handlers avoided Foreman without Tyson's knowing.

I believe the same would happen for Ali, barring its an Ali that came out of 3 years retirement. Tyson's handlers would probably see that as prime opportunity

 

If Tyson fought Lewis and got his face beaten in half the night you better believe that he would fight light-hitting Ali.

 

Tyson never ducked Foreman. If you actually paid attention to some of the other threads, including threads that you've started you would have come to the same conclusion.

And I have no doubt in my mind that he would have fought Ali. And depending on which he Ali he fought, He would have beaten him too.

 

Ali, any version of Ali, was susceptible to the left hook. Muhammad Ali regularly got knocked down by left hooks.

*Sonny Banks knocked Muhammad Ali down with a left hook in the early 60s.
*Henry Cooper knocked Ali into La-La Land with a hard left hook in 1963.
*We saw Joe Frazier give Ali hell in three fights with the left hook, even knocking him down once. Beating him with the left hook.
*George Chuvalo and Floyd Patterson landed left hooks on Ali but didn't have what it took to really hurt or finish him.

Now imagine a prime 87-88 Tyson under Kevin Rooney. Not the headhunter he became, but the well oiled machine with head movement and a left hook from hell. Styles make fights. I say Tyson wouldn’t have ducked Ali because of this.

 

He wouldn't have ducked if we're talking the 60's-70's when Ali was champ and there was only 1-2 belts. Assuming his life runs the same way and he's motivated to fulfill Cus D'Amato's dream he'd be willing to fight anybody.

What happens afterwards is open to interpetation. Does he still lose his mentor and let don king and another woman (replacing givens) ruin his life? Then in all likelihood he loses that burning fire and focuses more on big paydays and partying. If he doesn't fight Ali prior to this inevitable downard spiral, he likely wouldn't unless Ali became a huge ppv attraction and/or Ali's physical abilities deteriorated.

If you do the opposite and have Ali born in day 1962 instead of 1942 then it kind of deoends on who gets the belts first. If Ali gets one or all belts fight has to happen, end of discussion. Neither man, especially Ali, would be content to walk around claiming to be the real champ. If Tyson becomes undisputed first like normal and then loses to Douglas I cant see him facing anyone as good as Ali prior to the prison sentence. He was desperately trying to preserve his brand and invincible image. Post prison I guess his tram might be willing to make the fight before the holyfield fights if Ali is a big enough attraction. But definitely not after unless there was huge public demand and huge paydays on the line.

 

Well, good point but Mike was pretty fried by then. LL wasn't.

Mike was also stomped by both Holy and Douglas...neither of those men were capable of the kind of punch Ali could muster when he came off his toes. And Ali had a legitimate heavyweight punch with both hands (again, almost entirely when he went flat-footed.)

Of course Mike would have avoided him. Ali was easily twice the fighter any of Mike's opponents besides grandpa Larry, Evander, Lewis.

Ali also was so much better than Tillis, Bonecrusher, and Ribalta it's ridiculous.

60s Ali makes Mike look like a joke, spinning him around, slapping him disdainfully with pitty-pats, landing combination after combination. Mike would have a hard time landing flush. Ali finishes him like he did Brian London, in a borderline supernatural display of speed and focus.

Mike was a great, great fighter. But (though he certainly had heart, the Douglas and Lewis fights more than prove that), he didn't have the championship courage of Ali, Foreman, Holmes. Once he got really hurt he was quite often done; either he slowed his attack down by 75% or got finished off not too long after.

When Ali and Holmes went down, they got back up and more than once turned into viciously vindictive, taking-care-of-business champions.

 

Ali would have him beat before the bell even rang.

8 weeks of personal insults just like every other Ali foe had to face. And Muhammad would be making fun of Tyson's english usage/squeeky voice/teeth/intelligence and on and on.

So 8 weeks of insults would have Tyson fighting the wrong fight against this guy once the bell rang. Even fighting his fight, it'd be the biggest mountain Tyson would ever climb.

 

I gotta agree with this. Ali was a master of getting into his opponents minds. Tyson would be so angry at this guy, and self doubts would be also filling his mind. The fight would resemble the Douglas loss with Tyson getting stopped around 10.

 

The interesting part is that after he lost the belts to Douglas his appetite for top competition was actually pretty high. Remember after blasting out Tillman in a gimme fight, he fought contender Alex Stewart (who seemed to give everyone else a good scrap) and wasted him in 1 round. Then after he took on the feared Donovan Razor Ruddock twice before pursuing bouts with Foreman and Holyfield.

King had mentioned a possible fight with Riddick Bowe or Lennox Lewis as well in a press conference if they didn't get Holyfield. It was only after Frans Botha that Tyson's attitude in facing the best fighters disappeared. Everything up to Botha suggested he's willing to fight the best. Post Botha with Norris, Francis, Saverese and Nielson was a reflection of his willingness to step it up.

But with Ali, I don't believe Tyson would have ducked. Beating him would really be contingent on which version he ends up facing.

 

Well first I see this forum has not changed much during my sabbatical, unfortunately. 2nd I can’t believe I get called a Tyson detractor from time to time (although not as often as 10+ years ago).

Regardless of transporting Ali to the 80’s or Tyson to the 60’s is largely irrelevant to me. Tyson at his rise, prime and peak wanted to be the best. He set his sights on the belts and unifying them. I don’t think he would care who had the belts, he was gunning for them ALL. So simple answer no he wouldn’t be scared, no he wouldn’t duck someone...would he win? We can debate that adnauseam and if you search the history of this forum we have.

But this is revisionism at its worst to suggest that 85-88 Tyson would duck or avoid anyone.

 

Tyson wasn't afraid of Ali like he was Foreman , he;d fight him and get KO'ed