Article from 1989: Experts Say Tyson would NOT Beat Joe Louis

Joe Louis was 211 for the Maurelio fight.

We are talking about negligible differences here.

 

I would pick Tyson to stop Louis inside 5 rounds. I'd be fairly confident. Mike brought alot of speed and he came in low. That would upset Joe's leverage, take it away. Louis had some trouble with shorter guys who might utilize a crouch. They were slightly different but it's a factor.

Ofcourse I don't count out Joe Louis because he could time anyone.

 

Me too, Louis might not win, but it's the way to bet.

 

That could be said of any great heavyweight against Tyson. Survive the early aggression and your chances of winning increased manifold.

Lesser men than Louis survived Tyson's rampage.

 

That's fair enough, but neither Spinks nor Tubbs carried the offensive ars.enal of Louis, who was, in my opinion more skilled than either of the two mentioned.

Indeed, they could, but we're discussing Joe Louis and Mike Tyson and a simple reversal of the point I made, in the way that I made it, distracts from the question: Could Louis survive Tyson's early onslaught. The answer to which is yes, of course he could. Moreover, there's no substantial evidence to suggest he couldn't.

 

Louis would have a heck of a time beating Tyson.

 

It shows Louis was "vulnerable" in so much that he could be knocked down; get back up again and win.

It depends on how much significance you want to attach to his losses to Schmeling and Marciano, as they relate to how a prime Louis handled adversity. I don't place much on either of them, in that respect.

After Schmeling I, Louis went for over 40 fights without being stopped, until the very end of his career. So, you can call them clues, if you like, but they are faintly relevant.


Of course none of the above considers Louis' ability to time and counter with fast, hard assaults of his own. And, what about the stats, which clearly indicate Tyson's KO effectiveness falling through the floor after 6 rounds? These are bigger clues as to how this fight would go, in my opinion.

Hanging one's hat on an early KO, seems to be the standard play made by speculators of 'Tyson against any other Great Heavyweight'; forgetting that he really didn't do this to anyone of note, save a well past prime and ring rusty Holmes.

 

Tyson looks like the much harder puncher of the two. Louis seems like he might be more accurate but then, Tyson seems like he's harder to land clean on. Frankly I pick Tyson. Louis has a decent chance of course, but up-close slugging is what Tyson does.

 

Fight from behind the jab and look for the counter, I guess. I know Louis is a great combo puncher but in this case I feel he'd have to set it up instead of imposing himself as against some other fighters. Certainly if Louis caught Tyson with something hard, he's got the firepower to put him away. But he's got to catch him first.

 

You seem to imply that Tyson was difficult to hit. For some of the HWs he faced, he was, but to a boxer of Louis' caliber, I very much doubt Tyson would be difficult to time.

Louis was as comfortable on the counter, as he was when looking to impose himself on an opponent. The Louis jab would certainly disrupt Tyson's intent and assist in providing opportunities for Louis to set up his counters.

 

A reasonable opinion.