Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson

Ali beats Tyson, late stoppage most likely.

Speed, a good left hand, heart, a chin and a dig in your right hand are needed to beat Tyson.

Ali has all these plus he's a master at psychological warfare, he would get under Mike's skin.

I understand why people look at Tyson and see a victory, but there's variables that come into play.

Although not as refined as Tyson's peek a boo style, Ali defeated and broke 3 similar intimidating fighters in Liston, Frazier and Foreman as evidence to show he has the tools for handling boxings destructive fighters.

 

@rumsdeld thanks for another great video.

Mike Tyson can beat any heavyweight in history, including Ali, if he hurts them with the fearsome power he had during the first part of his career. So there's no denying he could win but I don't think he would. The key difference is how well they take a punch.

Ali took punches from the best of them and his recuperative powers were fantastic. He could get hurt, maybe even sent to the canvas by Tyson but I think he'd recover.

If you look at Frazier's face by the end of the FOTC you can see it was a swollen mess. Ali caught Smokin' Joe with a lot of punches and I think he would have done the same to Iron Mike. The difference is that I don't believe Tyson had Frazier's fortitude, determination or heart. Tyson was more like a bully and I say that respectfully. If he could hurt you or cause you to become defensive he would bulldoze you. If he couldn't run you over and you stayed offensive-minded the fight had a good chance of going the distance.

I believe Ali would have weathered the early storm and found a way to keep Tyson off balance. Ali wins a 12 round fight by decision and stops a beaten up Tyson somewhere close to the end of a 15 round bout.

 

Tyson's chin is too good. Ali getting slept is far more likely.

 

I agree, but he hit post exile Tyson more, Ali got hit a lot during the 70`s, but his chin on average was incredible.

 

Ali didn`t have the power to stop Tyson.

 

Exactly,,there's absolutely no one on Tyson's resume that would make you think he'd beat Muhammed Ali. He lost to the best fighters he fought .What's his best win? a 38 year old Holmes who'd been inactive for 2 years? Michael Spinks? who had all of 5 fights at heavyweight? Trevor Berbick? Ali's victims are a who's who of the boxing hall of fame. Good point on the psychological warfare , Holyfield whipped Tyson's azz twice because he was a much tougher man mentally, perhaps no one was tougher mentally than Ali. Or as Teddy Atlas said," Ali won a lot of fights due to his character, Tyson couldn't do that because he didn't have any"

 

60s Ali > 80s Tyson (Ali W UD)
70s Ali < 80s Tyson (Tyson W UD or Late TKO)
70s Ali ~ 90s Tyson (91 Tyson from Ruddock fights beats FOTC Ali, but 74 Ali beats 91 Tyson)

 

Some analogy that mate.

 

100%. Another way of looking at it, Ali could be beat, but never deterred. Tyson could be beat and all his losses came from being deterred.

 

Tyson had all the tools to be the best Heavyweight ever. As Cus said, give me a heavyweight like Henry Armstrong and you'll have an unbeatable fighter. Tyson had the ability but was rushed in his progress which a lot of people seem to forget. He wasn't mature enough outside the ring which inevitably halted his progress in the ring.

Ali had his flaws like every fighter, but his main attributes were stronger than Tyson's.

 

Ali gets inside Mikes head takes him to deep water and drowns Him....

 

Fury puts them both in a headlock and parades them around the ring as trophies before body slamming them into submission

 

Prime for prime, Ali beats Tyson at least 9 times out of 10

I’m by no means a hater, I like Tyson, I’ve even read his autobiography Undisputed Truth (great book), but Ali is all wrong for him. Tyson wouldn’t even be the best opponent Ali ever faced.

 

Awesome video and analysis, thank you.

As a fan of both fighters , more so Tyson as prime Ali was before my time, it’s difficult to analyze even without my biases.

First, Douglas was a great stylistic example for Ali but, without question, not even in the same league as Ali ‘s attributes or as a fighter. The mitigating circumstance with the outcome of that fight is that I don’t think a well trained or focused prime Tyson showed up in Tokyo.

I’ve never seen another fighter that resembles Tyson, nobody even close. His style mixed with his size and attributes makes any comparisons pretty much a moot point.

Both Ali and Tyson possessed speed unlike any opponent either ever encountered. At least I can’t think of any. The other attribute each possessed was other-worldly reflexes prior to their hiatus’s from the ring.

Noting all of that, when I was younger, I was certain Tyson would beat Ali prime for prime. At some point, I realized Ali would most certainly take it. And as of late, I assume it’s too difficult to say either way with certainty, most likely a 50/50 chance.

‘The only way I know to answer the question honestly is to say that if I had to put money on it, I would bet on Ali. Then again, ask me tomorrow and you may get a different answer.

 

Ali got psyched by Bonavena. Tyson would have a lot of fun with him.