Tyson Fury vs Muhammad Ali

60s Ali is weirded out by some of Fury's more awkward moves early on, but punishes him bad in the last half, knocking him down in the final round. Easy UD, Tyson doesn't win more than a few rounds as Ali moves too well and isn't intimidated at all by Fury's size.

1971-Zaire Ali uses his far superior ring generalship and tricks to foil Fury's cutest moves. Fury frustrates Ali in the clinches, as he's too big physically to manipulate the way Ali wants to, but it doesn't do the former much good. Ali lands what at first is a very pesky lead right again and again, but in the later rounds Fury ends up exhausted and very frustrated, multiplying the effectiveness of that right exponentially. He goes down twice from lead rights in the 12th and is staggering badly upon rising. Ali mostly lands a combination and the fight is stopped in 12.

 

I think pre exile Ali outpoints him handily.
Although Fury is a good mover for a man of his size everything is relative and I just can’t see him getting close enough to Ali consistently to cause him problems and he’d be picked off.
Post exile I think it’s closer although I think the Zaire Ali still had enough ring smarts and IQ to frustrate Fury.

 

Morph into 1971 Joe Frazier.

 

Young Ali wins a decision.
Older Ali, he could really struggle. Ron Lyle was ahead on the cards against Ali, surely Fury could go further. But this is Ali we're talking about..

 

Ali is not reaching Fury, Ali didn’t look to close the distance against the few taller fighters he fought, he relied on being the better boxer and throwing from the outside, he never looked to close the space, he got away with it against the likes of Bugner and Terrel because they don’t use their reach anywhere near as effectively as Fury, relying on throwing from the outside and not closing in against a much taller fighter who knows how to use theirs reach means you’re just gonna be on the end of the taller fighters punches, I’m not saying Haye is better than Ali, but he’d have more of a chance against a style like Fury’s because yes he’d be back foot, but he’d actually occasionally close the distance then move out at an angle, that is the way to have success against a taller fighter who has the weight advantage, Ali would be on the end of Fury’s punches

 

I want Ali to beat him. And he could. But using his outside fighting style to outpoint a guy who outreaches him by that much is gonna be hard

 

Fury might give him few issues early but Ali figures him out and wins a wide UD.

 

It would probably be a snoozefest.

Looking at Ali vs Terell, Ali did outbox him from the outside but he didnt have an easy time closing the range consistently, he would Pick a few shots carefully and keep the distance, admittedly he managed to slip about 95% of shots that Terell threw, his reflexes were so consistent its ridiculous. But Fury has the advantage when it comes to range, his Hans speed is good and both guys have Great gas tanks. So its Furys advantage in range and size vs Alis advantage in timing and reflexes. Close fight.

 

Fury wins on points. He's simply too much for Ali.
Yes Ali had a great time against some big boxers, but those were nowhere near as good overall as Fury is. Fury knows how to use his superior height and reach to his advantage.
Fury will use his reach to keep Ali at bay and tie him up if he ever need to. He can also wear Ali down in the clinches.

 

Fury beats any Ali with ease.

 

Great post.

 

Fury is going to have to rely on ring IQ, speed and foot movement/placement in an effort to out point him.

Things that Ali was infinity better at.

Outside of leaning on Ali and his longer reach, what else does Fury bring to the table?

Muhammad showed that with his speed he could overcome reach disadvantages against the likes of Liston and terrel. And his underrated strength would be IMO effective enough to give him the opportunity to disengage when Fury tried to wrap him up and clinch.

Ali UD.