Could Joe Louis beat Mike Tyson?

By modern I meant the past 30-40 years, 80s onwards. And to answer your question: Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Byrd, Wlad, Usyk.
Plus, it's not just about skill, that has never been enough to win. The SHWs of late have shown us that size matters a great deal.
And the HW division in the only division where the skill level has dropped in the last decade or two, in the other divisions it has plateaud since the 90s and stayed at roughly a similar level, give or take a few.

 

You have not answered the question.

What heavyweight who is active today, is more skilled than Joe Louis?

The only fighter you have named who is active is Usky, so I will go with that example.

Usky might be argued to be Louis's peer technically, albeit their styles are so different that the comparison is difficult.

However he is not significantly bigger than Louis, and he is not in Louis's zip code as a puncher.

If Usky could hit like Louis, Joshua would probably have left the ring in a body bag.

In may ways he is proof that somebody like Louis could prosper today.

As for the giants of the division, how far would their skill have got them if they had been the size of Usky or Louis?

 

Louis punched harder along with greater accuracy and precision. His defense was just as good (if not better) he didn't get hit very often and he was much more durable, he was better at 37 than Tyson was at 30. Louis had superior ring intelligence and positioning and was not one-dimensional like Tyson. Louis kayoes him inside 10 rounds. All due respect, I don't think you know what/who you're talking about.

 

Louis was not more durable than Tyson. I don't remember seeing Louis take as many clean punches as Mike did in the first 9 rounds of that Douglas fight. Yes, he was stopped eventually, but Douglas dished out quite the beating.

 

Have a look at the full Schmeling fight. Max just flogs him with right hands all night before he finally succumbs. I remember someone claiming the count of right hands was 72.

Buster is a lot bigger than Schmeling but Max was considered a decent right hand hitter and came in at #55 on Rings Greatest puncher list.

I'm not saying or arguing which was the greater feat but i think the Schmeling fight is pretty noteworthy at the very least. Douglas did flog the absolute bejesus out of Tyson, admittedly.

 

He got a head-whipping from Max Schmeling and lasted into the 12th round. He said in his autobiography that he didn't remember anything after the fist knockdown in the 4th round so he fought Schmeling for 8 rounds while being blacked-out. Btw, not getting hit clean is a good thing.

 

But we're arguing durability, Louis took punches much less well than Tyson did. Schmeling was a terrific right hand puncher, and Louis proved his durability by eating it throughout their fight. But Mike ate punches from bigger men than Schmeling, and much harder puncher in Razor Ruddock. The Lewis fight was a beating on a comparable level to the Schmeling fight.

 

Schmeling was a better puncher than Buster Douglas.

Louis literally walked through Max Baer's punches and Baer is one of the great one-hitter-quitters in HW history... The only times he got knocked down by a punch was when he got caught by surprise or got clipped in an exchange (Braddock, Galento, Buddy Baer, Walcott) the only times he got knocked out was when he was succumbed to a beating. I don't think size matters as much as you think it does, once you get over 190+ pounds I really don't think its much of a factor (in my opinion) Rocky Marciano had one of the greatest right hands in boxing history and he was only 187lbs. Ruddock being heavier than Schmeling doesn't automatically make him a bigger puncher and Max Schmeling actually had a higher knockout percentage than he did. Louis lasted longer than Tyson did fighting at a high-level, he was the 3rd ranked Heavyweight in the world when he got destroyed and passed the torch to Marciano. Tyson got beat by Kevin McBride and Danny Williams...

 

Cus didn't think Tyson could beat Louis

 

Better question is could Joe Louis beat Bone crusher Smith

 

Broken handed Max Baer, also no doubt is Ruddock a hard puncher than Schmeling regardless of weight or knockout percentage (which Ruddock has higher, but I don't value KO percentage very much)

Also, what does the fact that he got clipped in an exchange matter? He still got clipped. He wasn't clipped in an exchange when he was rocked by the 168 pound Billy Conn

 

Well the point is he got clipped by punches he didn't see coming or came at him quickly and those are the punches that have the most effect. Thats clearly an important point as not all knockdowns are the same. Conn was lightning fast and he landed a very quick combination which wobbled Louis who had clearly underestimated him. Jack Dempsey got wobbled by Georges Carpentier, does that mean he doesn't have a good chin? Schmeling was a better puncher than Ruddock - more accurate and more powerful, you can't compare grainy, partially degraded celluloid to pristine color footage, the footage often doesn't do the older fighters much justice as you don't see things as they would've appeared in reality.
Tyson also didn't have the heart or the character that Louis had, if he was getting outclassed he stopped trying to win, all his losses are by submission. As soon as Louis put that seed of doubt in him, it would be game over.
There's a video comparison of Tyson and Schmeling which proves that he hit with similar power and speed.

 

Schmeling wasn't a harder puncher than Ruddock. Also, Carpentier was a much harder puncher than Conn. He KO'd much more durable fighters like Battling Levinsky.

Also, I never claimed Louis had a bad chin. I'm just saying that Tyson had a better one

 

I disagree. Tyson hardly got hit until the Douglas fight and pretty much lost every competitive fight he had after that (with the exception of the Ruddock fights and one or two others), he never really had to rally or pull victory out of the jaws of defeat so I don't know you can say he was more 'durable'- the fights he lost were the ones where he got hit often and he never had a knockout after the 7th round. All of Tyson's losses are by stoppage. Tyson had 58 fights and Louis had 69 (if you include all the fights he boxed in the war, he probably has triple digits) and Louis was still good when he finally paid the piper. I don't really see where your 'better chin' argument comes from your only point seems to be 'Razor Ruddock'.

 

If we're talking about heart, then there's no doubt that Louis has more of it.

My better chin argument is Razor Ruddock because Ruddock was a murderous puncher that Tyson consistently ate punches from for two fights, and IMO was a harder puncher than anyone Louis faced (Baer technically hit harder but was injured in that fight). Another example of Tyson eating punches from a relatively hard puncher is from Lennox Lewis. I don't know what 'pulling victory from the jaws of defeat' has to do with your chin or durability. That has to do with your heart.