I am not being biased. But i think Tyson Fury wins this Muhammad Ali main style was to keep his hands down while leaning back and backing up at the same time not to get hit. But the thing is, Tyson Fury has a way longer reach and Ali might not be able to get in good shots. I think Tyson Fury wins this 70% This is just my opinion.
Ali wins a decision. His movement makes Fury look like a drunk elephant and would force him to become the aggressor just like Cunningham. Alis speed would throw Fury off and would drop him enroute to a close points win
Fury has zero wins against live bodies in their prime. He wouldn't get any against live, prime bodies from yesteryear either.
The problem for Ali is that Fury will just walk through his punches. All that flim flam pitty pat combination stuff is fine when you are the bigger man or roughly the same size but Fury is a giant. MA would have his work cut out for him.
This would be an awkward fight for both guys, despite what fans of both men insist. Ali didn't like being the aggressor and use his height and reach to his advantage while fighting on the outside, moving, and spamming jabs. He was an expert at tying his man up when hurt, but had a pretty leaky and basic defense. However, Ali could actually fight at mid range flat footed letting his hands go with blistering, mean combinations when he wanted to. He had an underrated sharp hook and a strong right hand pull counter. Fury also uses his size (to an even greater extent) to his advantage. Style 1 Fury likes to use a fidgety, herky jerky style with constant movement and an awkward big man style to make people nervous. Style 2 Fury employs a lot of heavy blows on the front foot while clinching and leaning on guys exhausting them with his tremendous weight and mauling them similar to what Wladmir and occasionally Lewis did. Fury also had leaky defensive lapses and could get marked up or cut in several fights. So what would happen if these two fought? Well I'll use early 70's Ali since that would be more competitive, I think 60's Ali would be way too fast mobile and elusive. Power Fury Hand speed Ali Chin Ali Footwork Ali Technique Fury Punch selection/variety Fury Ring IQ Ali Timing Ali Versatility Fury Accuracy Ali Strength Fury Defense Ali Stamina Ali Combinations Fury Reach/Height Fury Experience Ali Heart Even 9-1-7 advantage Ali The thing about this matchup is that both men are often trying to do the same thing: maintain control of the pace, dictate the range with footwork and jabs, using head movement, feet and clinching to avoid taking damage, throwing fast quick combinations, etc. The difference is that Ali is faster and overall just flat-out better even in the 70's. This is what makes the matchup so awkward as I alluded to earlier. Ali would be beating Fury to the punch with his superior timing, speed, and accuracy despite the disadvantage in height/reach. However, Fury eventually starts adjusting by leaning back and tying up Ali while eventually landing jabs of his own and stepping away. Now Ali has to dictate the pace and chase Fury. Ali doesn't like that, and after maybe 1-2 rounds of him clumsily throwing weird punches on the front foot and getting hit a lot, he decides to get on his toes and dance. Now Fury is annoyed and tries to keep up with his own footwork, but is very awkward and too big to sustain that due to his weight and gets embarrassed. Fury is trailing on the cards and has to switch to Kronk style stalking Ali on the front foot. Now Ali is struggling because it's almost like fighting a giant version of Norton. Fury is having success targeting the body and pressuring Ali to the ropes, mauling, and leaning on him. What does Ali do? He isn't as strong or big as Fury and is having a lot of trouble in the clinches too. Ali starts finding a home for his uppercut to give Fury something to think about as he boars in. Ali frames, leans back, and uses his pull counter whenever Fury attempts to walk him down. Both men wrestle furiously (no pun intended) whenever they inevitably tangle up close. As the rounds go on, Fury is landing the heavier shots, but with less frequency. Ali is landing at both a higher volume/accuracy and with better defensive responsibility. Most crucially, Ali has taken back control of the pace even though Fury is for the most part dictating the range up close and personal. The last few rounds, Ali catches his second wind and starts dancing again using the whole ring, then suddenly stopping and throwing flurries to keep Fury off balance. At this point, Ali has Fury figured out and closes the show with a shuffle and a 1-2 buzzing Fury and leaving him a bruised up swollen mess from the sheer volume of punches landed. Ali wins a close decision 6 rounds to 4 with 2 rounds even. It would not be pretty. There would be a lot of smothering, grappling, shoving, and mauling from both men. Both of them would attempt to psyche each other out with taunts. Both would have several moments where they miss completely and look awkward. The ref might even take points away due to the both of them talking or clinching too much. I could even see multiple moments where both guys stare each other down or refuse to engage while shuffling and moving around expecting the other to move first. The build up and promotion would be amazing, but the fight itself would be very ugly outside of a few exciting moments and no one would ever want to see these two fight each other again.
