Who Was Easier To Hit During Their Peaks?

First of all, if we're talking "peaks" (as implied by the thread title) Tyson's fights against Bruno and Douglas belongs in the discussion more so than Clay's against Jones and Cooper.

I can't in good consciensce exclude Douglas from this discussion, because he was the first Tyson opponent that seemed just as intent on hitting Tyson as not getting hit himself. In fact, he used his offense as a defense to a large extent.

Tyson had a very good defense, at least in the first 3-5 rds, but I think one of the reasons that he was hit cleanly so seldom (especially for such an agressive fighter) pre-Douglas was that most of his opponents was to afraid of his offense and counters to really open up on him. The fighters he met that were willing to open up (mainly Douglas and Ruddock) also got, through.

Now we can put this down to Tyson suddenly forgetting everything he had been taught after Spinks, but personally I think that the opponents in this case had just as much, or more, to do with as declince on Tyson's part.

Ali on the other hand fought in a more defensive mode than Tyson, but his opponents (especially Chuvalo) was also often more intent on landing on Ali than defending. Chuvalo got through mainly by being happy to take 2-3 punches to land one of his own.

In the end, I think we have to conclude that Tyson after all was being consistently landed on in his first reign (against Douglas) in a way that Ali wasn't pre-exile. On the other hand, Tyson's defence was more correct seen to fundamentals. Actually, while this is an interesting question, I think that a definite answer is night impossible due to their different styles. Frazier and Tyson would probably be a better comparison.

 

Tyson was easier to hit as he was more aggressive, but there was also more of a price to pay for trading shots with him, which is why he wasn't landed on often.

 

Two completely different styles ... both were excellent ... one guy jabbed and ran while the other was an aggressive , take your head off type ... the way Mike fought it was muc harder to defend ...

 

Ali was floored several times at his peak. Tyson was only floored in his prime by Douglas, when he was out of shape.

 

In other words, you consider a 20-year old Clay with 10 pro fights peak?

 

ali was floored when he was green, ******ed. prime ali was 65-67(23-25 YEARS OLD) .AND KNOCK DOWN IS NOT KNOCK OUT. the mosT stupid excuse is "when tyson was out of shape" the typical ****, tyson was in his prime when he won, when he lost he was not in his prime. i am really BORING to this **** from the tyson fanboys. CUS DAMATO,KEVIN ROONEY,PRIME TYSON BLABLABLA.
tyson was destroyed by buster douglas IN HIS PRIME, he was hurt by frank bruno IN HIS PRIME, tucker did hit tyson 1500 TIMES IN HIS PRIME, tillis did hit tyson 1500 times IN HIS PRIME , green did hit tyson 1500 times IN HIS PRIME , smith did hit tyson 1500 times IN HIS PRIME.
CHECK THE FIGHTS OF ALI IN HIS PRIME AGAINST LISTON, WILIAMS,PATTERSON,TERREL... AND TELL ME HOW MANY TIMES THEY DID HIT THE FACE OF ALI.

ALI HAD BETTER REFLEXES BY A MILE.


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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grDKdA_Nyzs[/ame]

o yes tyson was very hard to hit!!!! hahahahahahaha a prime ali would destroy his face and tyson would not touch his face,simple

 

Not avoided. But on his way up he didn't really face the same elite opposition that Ali faced. Even as champion he didn't face the same opposition.

 

Yep. Possibly knocked down, but not as much as Cassius Clay. Clay wasn't as durable as prime Tyson. Ali 65-67 had a better chin then Tyson though.

 

you are very smart, you are interested in "ali pre exile" and tyson "rooney" because you know that this ali was green in the years 60-63.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grDKdA_Nyzs[/ame]

was he in his prime(with rooney) here?
prime vs prime ali was much harder to hit. end of the history, it is not even close

 

I always get ba kick out of people who going around talking about what a great chin Tyson had or how durable he was. This was a guy who never finished a war in his career. When he started gettting hit it was always canvas time

Only a complete idiot talks about Tyson having a great chin.

 

god... ****!!! i agree with you 150%

 

Harder to hit: Ali.

Better defence: Tyson.

If Ali was a 5"11 come-forward slugger, he'd be a contender-level boxer (at best) unless he changed his defence. Ali could get away with his poor defence because of his amazing reflexes, reach, and footspeed.