Could Joe Louis beat Mike Tyson?

H2H with all factors considered Tyson should beat everyone but he didn't.

I'd make him favourite over Louis but it would be a very interesting fight indeed.

 

Louis is getting knocked out

 

I would favor Tyson, bit Louis has a decent chance.
Fans tend to be too extreme in their predictions.
The question was "could" Louis win-of course it is both possible, & he has a good chance.
It would be better to ask who wins, or who is likely to win.

Tyson was just on the edge of his prime when he fought James "Quick" Tillis.
His 20th fight, all of what is considered his prime fights came within 2 years-except Spinks was a bit over 2 years later

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Starting from that time on he lost most fights in the rest of his career-only beating a few of the mediocre at best boxers-finishing at 42-22 (11KOs)-1.

Against Tyson, it was really close, the brief knock down likely making the difference & giving Tyson a fair decision.
But Tillis did better later in the fight. But despite discovering dietary/allergy issues & adjusting, the rest of his career was pretty bad. Also from Wikipedia:

Surprisingly, Tillis' heart and will to fight has been questioned quite frequently by boxing analysts, even his co-manager Beau Williford told to the press the night before the fight considering that James was on a three-times-in-a-row losing streak, that his professional career as a boxer would be ended most likely if stopped by Tyson. Trainer [url]Angelo Dundee[/url], who worked with Tillis for the Weaver fight and some subsequent fights, finally gave up his job, he said: "James had no spirit to fight." In the pre-fight interview he told the ESPN staff that he found that spirit. To prove Dundee was wrong, Tillis violated almost all the Dundee "No-Nos" in the Tyson fight:[url][1][/url]

• Fought out of the squared-up stance, instead of the closed sideway stance.
• Sometimes fought with both hands down.
• Switched to southpaw and back to orthodox.
• Lead with his right hand.
• "Left-hooked with a hooker."
• Got tangled in wild exchanges.

Tillis was a little shorter than Joe Louis, his weight (208) a minuscule amount over peak/1942 Louis, & Louis must have been stronger.
So Tillis neither needed to be "modern" sized or be elusive to make it really close.
Neither did he need to fight what seemed to be a wise strategy.
Tyson was not sick or otherwise indisposed.
The Brown Bomber certainly was much better. It is in no way close.
Tillis did nothing Louis could not have done.
The difference in how much Tyson improved was clearly LESS than the difference in skill & head to head prospects of Louis vs.Tillis right?

Given all this, can anyone honestly say Louis would not have at least a decent chance against Tyson?!

If not, take them to the Funny Farm right away!

 

Yeah,,,until Louis hits him on the chin....Tyson couldn't carry Joe's gym bag...

 

Tyson obliterates Louis

 

He didn't cause he wasted his talent and went down the path of alcohol, drugs, women and not training.

 

Chances are, Tyson hurts Louis early and never let's him off the hook. Horrible, dangerous fight for Joe.

 

I'd favour Tyson quite heavily to win, but yes, Louis 'could' win. He hit plenty hard and fast and if he made Mike sit up and respect his power early on, there's every chance that a class operator like Louis could take the W.

 

Nonsense.

 

Louis doesn't stand a chance against modern ATGs

 

Louis definitely has the tools to beat Tyson, and vice versa, it's an incredible match up. But if I had to pick, I think Louis triumphs in the end.

Tyson was a great starter, and his power, speed, explosiveness and eratic head movement could very well puzzle Joe at first, but I don't think Tyson would knock him out. Louis' chin gets underrated, it's not of the same qaliber as Ali's but he is not losing by getting hit a few times against anybody, in fact I think Louis' chin is comparable to Tyson's since both of them only got really hurt after a severe amount of punishement was unleashed on them, the only difference is Louis actually had the heart and will to actually punish his opponents even worse in return. And some Knockdowns like against Braddock and Galento were obviously just flash KD's. Mike on the other hand took his beatings like a man and was ferocious as well at first, but it always seemed like his viciousness and fury always left him when things were going bad for him and he would just accept his fate.

And while it may be true that Louis never fought anybody like Tyson, the opposite is true as well. This time Tyson is facing a puncher who is actually just as good if not better than him. Both of them could seriously hurt each other at middle range where they are about even, but Joe could also fight very well on the outside by using his jab and on the inside as well. Tyson was too short to ever do anything on the ouside and he never learned how to fight on the inside and just clinched as a result, making a "silent agreement" between himself and his opponent saying that both of them were safe inside. And Tyson has the exact forward style that puts him were Joe wants him.

Overall, I think Joe probably stops him at some point late in the fight in a very good fight.

 

Yes very true. As Teddy Atlas said, Tyson was rushed. Cus skipped corners with his social development to get him through as quick as possible before he died. Tyson was a child in a man's body. Tbh all that money and fame would do that to many athletes.

 

AJ was thoroughly outclassed by a cruiser and KO'd by a walking cheeseburger..

 

I'm favoring Tyson, Joe might have a chance if he can get past the 3rd round without getting seriously damaged but I Just think Louis is there for Tyson to attack.

 

Nice, Grey. I think this is as close to watching an actual Louis-Tyson fight as we're going to get!