Louis vs Tyson

Tyson had the better chin but Louis might just have been the harder of the two to put away due to other factors such as recuperative abilities.

 

Larry is too mentally tough for Tyson. I think he squeaks a narrow decision down the stretch avoiding the worst of the punishment. Of course if Tyson can land a big right hand ala Shavers on Larry he could force the referee to stop it, but Holmes was at his most dangerous when hurt and Tyson tended to spit out the dummy on occasions when a top class opponent fought back against him. Keep the jab pumping, look to catch Tyson coming in, break up his rythmn and use footwork. The key is not to trade or brawl too much if it can be avoided. A very close call, but I slightly favour Larry. Of course every ounce of focus will be needed and excecution of a smart, effective strategy.


Others I tip to beat Tyson prime-for-prime are Louis, Lewis, Liston and Ali. I'd make all narrow faves here.

 

I don't see Louis lasting more than 4 rounds against Tyson. His defence and chin are nowhere near good enough to beat any offensive beast, which includes Tyson. Too slow and too fragile.

As good as Louis was, all his faults play right into Tyson's hands. It could end quicker than Tyson/Spinks.

 

True but when Tyson was dropped, it was only after taking rounds of sustained abuse and when he had nothing left.

His chin was so good at absorbing shots he was never dropped or even seriously hurt by single punches or even single combinations.

 

How about Holyfiled I?? Tyson getting get the sustained abuse yet. It happen early in the fight.

 

How many times was he on the deck? Never in his real career. Actually he was on the deck in the Ribalta fight, but it was from a punch he threw while falling in.

 

I dont think anybody is questioning that Tyson had the better chin but for all the criticisms of Louis's chin he dosnt seem to be an easy fighter to put away.

Did Tyson take a worse shelacking against Douglas than Louis took against Schmeling before going down?

Did he take a worse shelacking against Holyfield or Lewis than Louis took against Marciano?

Why were dozens of ranked contenders not able tio capitalise on Louis's chin?

You would have to conclude that either his chin was much better than given credit for or that he had insane recuperative powers to compensate.

 

Tyson is actually one of the toughest match ups for Louis because of his speed out of the gate, his power and his crouching style ... to say Mike was faster of hand is not necessarily true ... if Louis survives the opening blizt of the first round I see him able to bust Mike up pretty good ... I'm not sure on this one ..

 

Cmon, even a Tyson hater can acknowledge he was not the same fighter after prison.

 

I don't think that those were the best renditions of Tyson either. I'm not going to turn this into a discussion about weather Tyson was peak either post, prior or during Douglas.

My opinion is that the best versions of these two fighters, ( Louis and Tyson ), were probably Mike Tyson from the Thomas to the Spinks fights, and Joe Louis from the second Schmeling match up until about 1942.

During this time, anyone could have taken it, but given that this fight would be a pure slugfest with one fighter being the aggressor early, while the other had the tendency to get decked in the beginning, I think Mike needs to be slightly favored.

Anyone who thinks that this bout is going to be a chess match with the mystique classical warrior luring the contemporary hothead into deep water before drowning him is only kidding themselves. Louis was a puncher....Tyson was a puncher... There isn't going to be any dancing or giving angles here. The winner is going to be decided by the 5th round, and frankly I think that's stretching it a bit. Louis will always be the better fighter overall, but nobody was more dangerous than Mike in the get go.