How many fighters 218lbs or under could have beaten a prime M.Tyson?

No, how exposed you keep your chin and how prepared you are for a punch (both things that improve with experience) are absolutely vital to how well you take it. If you just sparred a bit, you'll know this.

 

Those that answered anything other than "Tyson" in the Which Former Heavyweight Champ Has The Most" Rose Coloured Glasses," Wearing Fans? thread and read this thread should go back and change their answer. Only honest thing to do.

 

It wasn't his best effort, I'd agree with that, but that doesn't in any way translate into Tyson "destroying" him. Actually, the brawling he did (and stayed away form more in the rematch) was evidently much more effective against Tyson and would likely have served him better in such a match-up. Against Bowe he was more effective when moving, but he didn't move much at all against Tyson - rather beat him down in the trenches.

 

That's ridiculous. Ruddock hit hard to be sure, but he is somewhat overrated power-wise.

 

Yes, that is true. But that's besides the point I was making, and that is that if Ali ever exposes his chin against Tyson and gets hit clean (the way he did vs Cooper), he will not get up (Tyson hit harder than Cooper). And even if he does, he will be dizzy and Tyson will finish him.
Anyway, I'm glad you pointed this out, cause it also shows/explains why far bigger punchers than Cooper (who fought Ali) were not able to KO him. It's cause none landed as clean as Cooper. Imagine Foreman landing a similar punch on Ali's jaw, Ali would be out and cold. And so would most HWs, if not all.

 

Yes, Ali improved after Cooper. Just as Tyson improved after Tillis.

All she wrote.

 

Actually, that's one where I agree with Mark. Ruddock wasn't the most skilled, but his power was silly. Definitely bigger than those guys'.

 

Ruddock lacked the skill of the other men. But yes he hit hard.

 

I wouldn’t think many would confuse the power of Holy and Douglas w Marciano. Foreman I believe said holy hit about as good as Ali power wise. I don’t think anyone would say Ali hit as hard as Marciano. Foreman may not be the best source but he’s the only we’ve got to place us back so far. Side note Ali and Marciano have a common opponent in Archie who happened to help train Foreman.

 

Yeah, but one shouldn't get too hung up on power. Tyson faced many heavier hitters than Holy, and Foreman faced a fair number of harder punchers than Ali, but it was the accumilation that got them. They were night impossible to put away with one punch, you needed to wear them down and then put the coup de grace.

So the question was rather - can you hit them frequently enough over a sufficient amount of time?

 

You probably know that many modern boxers pull their punches and don't put all their body weight behind them for fear of being countered. In Holy's case, it was even more recommended that he avoided being countered by a huge puncher like Foreman.
So given that they don't hit with everything they got, it is hard to compare punching power.

 

I have to really question your ability to watch a boxing match and accurately describe what's going on if you think Holyfield was holding back against Foreman. Those were some of the most brutal combination punches in HW history. People were amazed that Foreman absorbed all of them. You could see Holyfield loading up with every shot and tensing his shoulders up.

 

The chin can be improved by gaining a bit of physical strength, by improving defence and tucking it in or biting down harder and also by mentally reacting better - a good chin is said to be as much mental as physical (Sorry. Can't recall source of that statement.).

So given that a fighter will gain a bit of adult strength, refine defence and become mentally more mature, assuming focus remains much the same, I would have thought a fighter's chin would improve most markedly from his early 20s than at any other point in his career. By early 30s, wear and tear might start to become a factor. I would have thought hitting 30 would be around the watershed for a lot of heavies and the only way for their chins would be down from that point on, Foreman being a good exception.