Sonny Liston at 28 vs Mike Tyson at 20.

Correct.
Sonny actually was what Tyson pretented to be.
A legit. BAD ASS

 

I doubt Mike would be scared of Sonny. Remember at age 20 Tyson was supremely confident in his abilities. In fact his confidence bordered on arrogance. Nobody makes comments like "There is not a man that God created that could ever beat me"

You really think that Liston is the bigger puncher?

 

Tyson's chin isn't as good as someone as McCall or Mercer but it is indeed granite and is clearly superior to Liston's. Liston did have a great jab that would keep Tyson busy but IMO - it was not AS fast as Douglas' and this is important to point out because this was an important reason for it landing so frequently. Additionally, Douglas won by throwing 4 punch combinations against Tyson on the INSIDE - Sonny would wrestle with Tyson but Tyson would provide 0 resistance as he almost always did (don't know why?) and therefore lose minimal energy. Sonny ONLY neutralizes Tyson on the inside (who was always a lazy infighter despite the best talent for it) and therefore fails to GAIN like Douglas did by beating the hell out of him in the inside.

The jab of Liston ALONE is not going to be enough TO OUTMANEUVER Tyson. OUTMANEUVER is the key word here - NOT OUTSLUG (this is why I didn't talk about Liston's left hook or the right). Liston's slugging ability is great but he isn't going to outslug Tyson - Tyson will handily win that one with his superior speed, countering, and superior chin. Ruddock hit him with shots that would have flattened lesser men but Tyson never came close to giving up - to discourage him - you gotta strategically frustrate him - MANEUVER. Douglas outboxed him, Holy outboxed him, Lewis (vs washed up Tyson) outboxed him. No one ever outslugged him. The only person I'd consider outslugging Tyson is Big George.

People talk about pushing Tyson back - that's hardly a problem for Tyson. Watch round 3 of Holyfield fight (yes, infamous bite fight). Try to minimize the disgusting antics and watch Holyfield push back Tyson - works great for Tyson. Tyson's footwork is excellent - he stays in the right stance - he's put right where he wants to be -midrange - and he comes rushing in and lands some great punches with blinding speed. That is what would happen with Liston - pushing back Tyson IMO is not a great thing.

Tyson will definitely win the opening rounds - he is not Floyd Patterson (for the better and the worse). Additionally, watch Holy-Tyson - how successful Tyson is with the long right hand lead thans to his quickness. See that right hand against Golota coming at long distance thanks to his quickness. Tyson lands ONLY a few of those (and he CAN) and Liston will be out. Liston can land many more jabs - Tyson lands a few of his rights - down goes Liston.

I'm going to say Tyson wins in round 8 with a few slow midrounds where Liston keeps him busy with the jab. His speed, durability, and superior delivery and variety of punches win him the fight.

 

Excellent match up, I'd favour Tyson early and Liston late. Tyson's best chance of winning is to take Liston out in the first 3-4 rounds, after that I think Liston would methodically bust him up or at least slow him down and frustrate him to the point of Tyson either loosing on points or getting KO'd, with the former being the more likely of the two. Hard fight to predict.

 

actually it was seem that liston would be smart not to slug. he can actually box tyson and win. tyson on the other hand has to slug to win.

 

maybe between the two. tyson mental makeup might not allow him to do what he wants since he used to being the feared one. but liston got bullied by ali so you never know.

 

Tyson had the far superior uppercuts.

Left hook; Liston
Jab: Liston
Right hand: Tyson
Left Uppercut: Tyson
Right Uppercut: Tyson
"Left Hand" ; "Right Hook" - Tyson

Tyson had more angle, more explosive, speed, etc. Power - equal.

I pointed this out because it will surface in the fight

 

I will second this too. Liston was a bad man. In fact, I emphasized this in the "Liston and Tyson go into an alley - who walks out alive thread". I picked Liston in that one. But this is a boxing match - it is different. Taking beatings by cops, being a street thug, street fighting etc are not directly relevnt to the ring. Remember, Tex Cobb wanted to fight Norton in a street fight - Norton wanted no part of Cobb without gloves.

 

I'd pick Liston.

He was actually more of a boxer than people are giving him credit for. He could certainly outmanuever Tyson, as Buster Douglas did.

Of course Tyson could get past the jab at times, but Liston would hold and hit him on the inside. Could Tyson land a combination so devastating as to end the fight ? Against Liston at his best, I doubt it. Liston had a good defensive shell when under attack too.

 

I think Liston would win in an absolute war, I have a feeling that the fact Liston is even more intimidating then Tyson would hold significance giving him the mental edge. Also he is physically stronger and can push Mike back where he was uncomfortable. Liston TKO 10

 

Ok Liston did have a great jab, and Tyson's rythmic headmovement isnt so godly that he can slip anything, far from it.
Also Tyson was **** on the inside! and far from fearsome.
By any standards I cant see how someone can claim Tyson had a better chin that liston either.
So Liston would stop Tyson mid rounds:good