Joe Louis vs Mike Tyson

Are we talking prime on prime? Joe Louis is by far my favorite fighter of all time but unfortunately 2 out of 3 times Tyson KO's Louis.

Edit: Louis had great side to side and footwork but he was small, short reach, not a lot of body movement, showed he could get hit with short rapid counters like in the Schmelling fight, and I just don't think he would be able to withstand the continuous early body/head attack of a prime Mike Tyson.

 

Tyson by mid round KO..

 

He showed pretty devastating close range power with Frazier, Francis, Etienne, Norris, etc, shorter compact fighters of Louis' size. In the days of Louis the bob & weave head-up head-down movement had not been introduced into the sport the way Cus had perfected it for Tyson/Patterson so I don't see the short choppy jab of Louis doing as much damage as it did to the older scrappy more stationary fighters Louis faced.

 

tyson is a 75/25 favourite for me here.

 

Whoever lands the first flush shot wins.
Got love for both, can't pick.

I give the generic answer.

 

i don't agree, tyson can take a punch, louis can't.

 

Iron Mike in 8.

 

i'd pick tyson by 5th round KO... louis was just about the same size as tyson with maybe a couple inches in height advantage... but louis got knocked down alot against lesser punchers than Tyson... i love louis but i see tyson usually winning this fight all the time...

 

As for the idea that Joe Louis is short: shorter fighters have it easier with Mike. Mike's power comes largely from his body movement. His compact stature allows him to shift momentum effectively compared to large, skinny guys. The taller the guy, the more movement he gets and the more power he gets. Weapons like the double uppercut are practically useless against guys near Tyson's size. He doesn't have as much room to move around when he's fighting shorter fighters. The question is whether Tyson can take Louis' power and cope with being hit from range and then tied up constantly.