'86 Tyson vs. '74 Ali.

Tyson via ownage.

Rope-a-dope doesn't work against a sharpshooter with Tysonesque power and combination punching ability.

 

tysons not smart enough to win. he may bite him tho as last resort.

 

Okay, first off, to everyone who can only associate 74 Ali with the Rope a Dope, take a look at this clip from 9 months before the fight with Foreman, (so January of 74) with Ali facing Frazier for the second time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6O4aKbMoHs

Does that look like a rope a dope to you? If not, then try to conceive of the fact that the rope-a-dope wasn't the only thing Ali had left at this point in his career, and lets move on already.

As for the fight: Ali switches paces from going around the ring to clinching Tyson hard and frustrating him. Two things to note about when Ali clinched: he always tended to lean all his weight on an opponent, which is very tiring when you're on the receiving end of it. Secondly he liked to, if he could get away with it, lean on his opponent's neck, generally pushing it down to disorientate a fighter, and make him lose his balance and be unable to throw in close. A third point: Ali was good at tying up an opponent's hands and grabbing around the shoulder or under the armpit, which prevents a fighter from throwing a punch with any real power behind it. Furthermore, Tyson sometimes could be surprisingly reluctant to throw in close if he was getting outwrestled in a clinch. Sometimes all a guy would have to do would be to prove to Tyson that he could do a good job of tying him up early and Mike's corner would have to plead with him to let his hands go in close all night.

So through a combination of dancing, heart, and clinching, Ali survives the onslaught of Tyson in the first couple of rounds, then capitalizes on the mental advantage he gained before the fight by continuing to pysch Mike out in the ring and outsmart him. Like I said before, Ali would switch paces, from making Mike chase him around the ring to wrestling with Mike in close, frustrating Tyson, getting Mike out of his game and looking for the one punch headshot. (Which was never really Mike's greatest strength, it was always his combos that was his greatest strength in causing KOs. And in case anyone thinks a single Tyson punch would KO Ali: Frazier, Foreman, Liston and Shavers all failed to do so. Most of them never even really got him in trouble. Think about that for a minute).

Ali starts piling up both points and damage from the second round on. Eventually he either catches Mike coming in and gets a late stoppage or a strong UD victory.

 

Little defence.... as displayed against Foreman?
Little power.... as displayed against Foreman?

No, for me, the 74 Ali has more than enough ring savvy to box the ears off an excited Tyson of '86. Add a couple of years to both boxers and Ali gets KO'd. A late 60's Ali though stops Tyson in mid to late rounds

 

There seem to be some gross misconceptions going on here.

1. Ali was only capable of fighting using the rope a dope method in 1974, and that this would have been his method of choice against Tyson.

2. Mike Tyson in 1986 was the fully developed wrecking machine that we saw destroy Spinks in 1988.

people forget that Ali's mobility, stamina and skill set were still very much alive in 1974, as he would continue to reign for another 4 years and some 9 title defenses. Not to mention survive punches from both George Foreman and Earnie Shavers. Tyson on the otherhand, was still a work in progress in 1986. He was 19-20 years of age, and had been taken 10 rounds by Green, Tillis and Ribalta that same year. Although its possible that this version of Tyson could have defeated a 32 year old Ali, its not something that I would have bet on, and certainly not for the reasons that a lot of posters here are giving....

 

Close fight here. Tyson was not yet at his peak (although he was clearly better than he was against Douglas and afterward) and Ali had lost a few steps by then. Obviously if Ali goes to the ropes, he is cooked. It worked against Foreman who is the most crude, worst skilled, and least accurate ATG HW of all time. Foreman's stamina is also terrible and he punched himself out, Tyson was well conditioned and while he didn't always make adjustments he had a gameplan and executed it. Against a great all around puncher like Tyson, he would be knocked out if he tried the rope a dope

But Ali was smart, he would most likely realize that going to the ropes is suicide here. This is where I don't quite know what goes on, but Ali had definently lost a fair bit of his hand/foot speed by 74, and didn't have quite the same reflexes (still a great fighter, but not the 67 Ali)

My pick is Ali close decision here. His advantage in ring savvy/experience makes the difference. Tyson was a little too wild and still hadn't reached his pinnacle by 86, if it's the 88 Tyson in there he knocks Ali out most likely.

 

Tyson is a better version of joe frazier. ali of the 70's always struggled with Joe. I cannot see a 74 ali beating a prime tyson. Mike was much better defensively than George

But it is no walk in the park for mike. he will be made to work for his win and i do not see him knocking ali out

 

Tyson didn't have the stamina and he didn't apply pressure as much as Frazier did. Although physically, he is superior in every concievable way.

 

Easier fight for Ali than Foreman. Ali was much stronger than most people know. I say Ali by TKO in under 10.

 

I think he wins a close on against this version. But '67 is a totally different story.

 

No way Tyson finsihes this fight. Lucky if he makes it past 8. Tyson never finsihed a tought fight and this is going to be like nothing he ever faced. He has no chance.

 

Fixed.

 

Ali UD

 

The Ruddock fights weren't tough ?

Tyson being dominant in the vast majority of his wins is a plus, not a minus.

 

Tyson was great when he could blow people out. When people fight back which Ali obviously will Tyson is heading to the canvas. Ali beat Frazier and Foreman that year both better fighters then Tyson ever dreamed of beating. The overrated of Tyson on this board is amazing. You know what they say when the going gets tough Tyson lies his ass on the canvas. Its a joke to think he could challenged Ali.