So who takes this one? Could Ezzard out box and out fox a Prime Tyson, or does Mike hurt him and score the KO? Many people compare Charles to Holyfield so I am curious as to what everyone thinks of this match up..
TYSON Sorry, and Charles is my examplary boxer - tyson too powerful, too strong, too explosive - Tyson on his best night is possibly "the best" and I love Ez, Louis, JJ Walcot, SRR, Greb, Cerdan, Canzoneri, Marshall and many, many more - but all the weak minded presure and parasites out-of-the-way... TYSON just might be the very best!
Tyson's too strong, probably. Charles would be more game than Michael Spinks, who already had one foot out of the door by the time he faced Tyson, but there are similarities between those match-ups when you think about it. A "blown up" light heavyweight in Charles against a young, strong and explosive Tyson. Charles in his time did not have the opportunities to build up 20 to 30 pounds of muscle like Holyfield did either. He wasn't necessarily even as big as Spinks. Obviously if the two were the same size it could go very differently. But Charles would be giving away over 30 pounds in weight. Not saying that size is everything but in match-ups like these it can be the decisive factor.
It's always difficult when matching legends like this because essentially Tyson would be facing (IMO) the best man he ever fought - and Ezzard would be trying to beat (IMO) the best prime heavyweight he's so far beat (if he won) so it's a real tough one - certainly both men are capable of beating the other on any given night - and it's funny because I have Tyson at number 9 in my all time heavyweights list followed by Ezzard Charles at 10 - so I'll say Tyson just so I'm in line with my rankings but if i sat down with someone and discussed this one for say an hour I'd probably be tempted to change my mind 3 or 4 times in that hour - but for arguments sake I'll say Tyson's amazing combination of speed and power and youth and aggression would win - this is a classic match up though in my book and Ez could easily make a fool of Tyson - but probably Tyson wins in 7 rounds ish if he fails to stop Ez I think he still outworks him over the distance and still wins decision but again if things don't go right for Tyson early he could be in trouble ?????????? There's a hairs width between them....but Tyson!
I respect Tubbs. I feel as though he should have won a fight against a near Prime Bowe. But Charles is a notch above Tubbs.
I agree with that statement 300%. It has always been my belief that "NO" former 175 lber in history beats a prime Tyson. I realize that Spinks was scared out of his mind and was a little past his prime.. but Spinks was a big light heavy with power and a top 10 great of all time at light heavy. The only other light heavy in history that probably had more power than spinks was Bob Foster and maybe Moore. Tyson was too fast, powerful, elusive and aggressive for any of them at light heavy to handle .....Point blank Period!
in the result of a match up v.s. Tyson .. Mike was ay to fast , strong and hard hitting .. he'd tee off, land early and take Charles' head off .. a terrible match up for Charles ..
Tyson by KO. Charles would also be a refreshing fight for Tyson given Charles is not big in either height and weight. So I think not only does that Jab work even better for Tyson, but so does his combinations and ability to bang to the body like he did to Ferguson.
In reality it would seem that Tyson would be dangerous early for anyone but Ezzard was in there with Joe Louis, an older version but still dangerous and Ezzard also took a relentless Marciano the distance. Mitch Green and Quick went the distance with Tyson and its hard to say how a skilled and 2 fisted version of Charles would match up in the ring with Tyson. I really though Buster Douglas had no chance against Tyson. Charles would be giving away weight but he may have the tools to offset Mike, much like he did Bob Satterfeild. I think Walcott had the better style but I certainly would not undermine Charles skill level, If they fought in the 50's Tyson would not have the same medicine for bulking up and if they fought in the 90's Charles would have the benefit of the same eh medicine. Tyson was a force to be reckoned with for the first 8rds but a smart strategy by Charles get him past that point and the momentum builds in his favor.
Charles was tough and brave, but he liked to brawl, and vs. Tyson, he's out of there inside three rounds or less.