Prime for prime, best heavyweight ever - head to head

Prime Tyson.

 

Absolute nonsense. He would not be beaten by 'many' heavyweights in the history of boxing. If that's the case you might want to ask why he was so dominant. Because he was one of the most complete fighter's ever.

He had the power to lay anybody out, combined with speed and supremely accurate punching. His composite punching skills are the best seen from any HW in history in my eyes. He could switch from body to head with any punch in the book effortlessly.

Defensively he was under-rated. The no head movement statement is irrelevant. He kept his head in the perfect off-center stance, rather than dead center. He turned his body aswell and kept his hands protecting his body. He wasn't an inviting target at all.

He was brilliant at picking apart fighters that came towards him. He could draw his opponent in and land text-book counter punches, be that by shifting his feet and landing a perfectly-placed, hard counter hook, or parrying the jab and firing a right hand over the top.

He did have head movement, he also had upper-body movement, and he also knew how to control the distance. His chin was not 'shaky', rather probably not on the level of the other ATG heavyweight's like Ali, Foreman, Marciano etc. It was still solid, and he could recuperate.

He is probably as complete a heavyweight as we have ever seen. He had a quick, sharp, powerful jab. He had a fantastic variety of punches that he could threw from any angle - even going backwards - with leverage, accuracy and pace. He could fight on the front or back foot. And he had the tools to beat boxers, brawlers or sluggers. And he had the perfect stance. You don't lose to 'many' heavyweights in history when you don't have many flaws.

 

Tyson would of beaten the FOTC version of Ali I think, but I don't feel he'd be able to pin down a '66/67 version. Ali was always at home dancing off the back foot and had a big reach advantage here. If he could control the distance and not let Tyson establish his own jab - which is unlikely - or hit the body enough, then he should be able to keep Tyson off-set from throwing punches and rack up the punches with the jab and straight right hand.

 

Prime Tyson beats anyone, including prime Ali - whom he would chop down like an axe to an oak tree.

Ali couldn't play 'rope-a-dope' with a mauling, rocket fast Tyson as he would be forced through or over the ropes before he had a chance to think about it.

 

Clueless.

 

Muhammad Ali 1964-67

 

God help you.

 

Ali had problems with Joe Frazier. Tyson would have beaten him senseless.

 

Noone is unbeatable everyone has his evil nemesis, that being said I'd pick a prime Tyson myself...

 

I find Tyson massivly over rated. He is very good but not better than Ali Holmes Foreman Holyfield

 

Yeah, because a prime Frazier was a nobody, right? Frazier brought A-level activity to the plate, 3 minutes of work every round with non-stop punching and he never took a backward step. He was a terrific body puncher and had that fantastic left hook, along with great physical strength, along with being hard to tag flush.

Tyson was a fantastic fighter, don't get me wrong, but he wouldn't 'beaten Ali senseless'. That's ridiculous. Number one, even as a Frazier fan, Ali wasn't completely primed in the FOTC. He was a little less mobile after his lay-off and that made all the difference.

A '67 Ali - even though Tyson isn't exactly slow on his feet - would have a clear foot-speed advantage, and even a clear hand-speed advantage. That's two of Tyson's major attributes taken away. He also had a fantastic chin and absorbed punishment to the body better than any heavyweight ever. He has a massive reach advantage and a lightning fast jab.

What advantages does Tyson hold over Ali? Power, yes. But Ali could hit hard enough to hurt Tyson, his power is often his most under-rated attribute. Would Tyson be able to pin Ali down and use that power? It's doubtful that he would be tagging Ali at a high percentage. Speed? He was terrifically quick, but Ali was quicker. Technical ability? Probably, yes. Ali was never the most polished of fighter's, but he had the physical tools to compensate. Awesome speed, great, great reflexes and an ability to absorb punishment when needed.

 

ali louis foremen frazier

 

IMO it woud be L. Lewis.

 

yea ok he had touble with average boxers