Tyson vs Ali

lightning fast explosive left hooker with clever set up and great defence. cleaner puncher than frazier, and I don't believe Tyson at his best couldn't handle resistance, he had a terrible night with douglas and just kept coming throwing bombs to the end.
Its a dangerous matchup for ali, Tyson was good at exposing defensive flaws and ali liked to let his combos go so plenty of opportunity for fast unsighted counter bombs.
Ali had a great chin and was never kayoed but he was hit and hurt plenty, and often with left hooks as he loved to carry his hands low after punching. So I think Tyson could definitely succeed where liston and foreman etc failed, he was very different stylewise to them.
Tyson would be hard to hit clean early, but the big advantage ali had was his unbreakable heart, and late stamina, plus he really knew when to pour it on. its a good fight I pick Tyson but id never bet against the great ali.

 

Tyson was more of boxer-puncher than Frazier. Sure, he was very aggressive, but he looked to set things up with the jab and drew leads to find openings. Frazier would come forwards regardless if there was an opening or not and then try to find the opening on the way in or just punch at whatever he could hit. I'd say Tyson was more dependent on his timing and his skills clicking than Frazier was.

 

Hard one. There are good arguments for both sides. Ali did leave big openings with his low hands and Tyson could of course exploit that. Especially with a left hook. And Ali didn't have the kind of power to really discourage Tyson early. Mike walked through some real hards shots from Tucker without slowing down, and I wouldn't say Ali punched harder than that or even as hard.

On the other hand, an old Holmes largely frustrated Tyson for three rounds with his movement (even though Tyson won all rounds) and Pinklon Thomas had good success keeping Tyson off with not much more than his jab really until he tired. Prime Ali was of course lightning fast on his feet and had a razor sharp jab and right hand. He also wouldn't fade like Tucker and Thomas did.

To win Tyson would have to keep up the intensity he showed in the first three rounds against Tucker, and not just walk through rounds like he did against Thomas (his impressive finish has obscured the fact that he didn't do much between the first and last round). I'm not saying he'd automatically win if he did, but he wouldn't stand much chance of winning if he didn't.

And the funny thing is that Tyson never in his career showed he could keep up real intensity for a full fight. Green, Tillis, Tucker, Smith and Ruddock all let him set a modest pace for most of the fight, rarely took him out of his comfort zone. Douglas was the first one who consistently throughout a fight fought when Mike didn't want to fight. Holyfield was the second.

Ali didn't take many breathers during a fight in his prime. He kept that jab up all night with the right always in wait. Even when in the relatively poor shape as he was against Chuvalo, he rattled off jabs and combinations through 15 rds.

On the other hand, he had his flaws that he covered up with speed. Tyson had the speed Liston didn't have and the strength and power that Patterson didn't have. He as also a master finisher. So he was more equipped to exploit those flaws than anyone else Ali fought in his prime.

So you tell me. If I had to bet, I'd bet on Ali but he's also the reason why got interested in boxing. If Tyson was the reason, I'd perhaps swing the other way. It's a close one anyhow.

 

Tyson did not like being taken into the later rounds....Ali would take him there for sure...Ali just to Classy and He would F*ck with Tyson's mind for sure.!!!!

 

I think older Ali would be a tougher out than prime Ali.

 

I think prime Tyson stops Ali. He was faster, smarter, more powerful, and better defensively than Frazier and rope a dope would be suicide against Tyson's fast combination punching.

Could Ali run and box all night against Tyson, I don't think he could.

 

I took LL 8 rounds to KO a past prime Tyson but Ali does it in?

I do agree that Ali wins, just intrigued by the KO thats all.

 

Tyson in his prime was a better fighter than all of those.

Shavers with all due respect, should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Tyson (unless its about punch power).

Tyson never gassed at his peak, like Foreman did.

A peak Tyson was better than the 40 year old Liston.

I do believe Ali beats Tyson, but if there was one guy who could catch Ali and ko him or stop him, it would be Tyson.

 

When did anyone get into Tysons head?

If there was one guy that could give it to Ali verbally, it would be Tyson.

Wasnt it Ali who was peed off when Terrell and Patterson called him Clay?

Wasnt it Ali who got annoyed when Bonavena kept referring to him as Clay?