Who was the greater physical phenomen in his respective prime? Tyson or Ali?

But we'll still assume he had it? Sorry, but that's speculation. When he was pressed by Doug Jones he didn't show much ability to use his strength.

 

without doubt ali. even fighters 50 yrs from now will never be "too big" for tyson. people here often say that modern fighters are heavier, taller, longer reaching than tyson and therefore have a brute advantage. i don't always agree - but sometimes they have a point (e.g. foreman vs tyson, lewis vs tyson). ali on the other hand - had a 82" reach which is one of the best. he has the PHYSICAL ability to make it a game of boxing skill rather than pure brute - if he wants. tyson doesn't. ali had superior stamina too.

chin: equal (i'll get flack for this - but ali's chin + HEART was much better than tyson's - not chin alone).

hand speed: ali by a small margin. tyson had great handspeed.

power: tyson obviously - but i personally would rather have ali's reach & dimensions and give up a little bit of power.

 

Tyson had incredible speed of hand, foot, and everything else. He threw fast as Ali, but with power. Look at his combinations, look at Ali's. Both at peak, Tyson is better athlete, and would win if they fought.

 

Has Tyson ever shown (1) consistent body punching for 5 rounds (2) consistent head movement for 6 rounds? Before you say that Tyson never needed against opponents he KO'd in 1 round - the questions is has he ever demonstrated these traits? No. If he had - he'd have beaten Douglas & Holy. But he didn't. And so he wouldn't beat Ali either. Head hunting isn't going to take out Ali and moving flat footed trying to use your reflexes against Ali's lightning quick jab isn't going to cut it. Ali wins EASY fight.

 

i agree

 

Ali took some great left hooks from Liston in their first fight 5th round when he was blinded and some good shots in the second half of the 3rd round without being badly affected. Ali could take a good shot pre-exile. It's only cuz he never got hit much that people now say he couldn't take a punch as good til after exile. That is BS. Cooper caught him with a perfect shot that took him by surprise. These things happen in boxing but he was straight up and walked straight back to his corner. He still had his senses to do that. He legs didn't turn to jelly, he didn't stumble around and he knew where his corner was.

 

Oh gimmee a damn break, the Jones fight was 4 years before exile! The only time he ever came in as light again was Cooper.

Bottom line - Ali right before the exile had roughly the same strength, how the hell could he not have? You got some strange views. Ali post exile probably figured out how to implement it because he had to.

Using Jones as an example :roll:

 

Post-exile Ali showed examples of great strength (not always, but he did), pre-exile didn't, in my opinion. The original statement praised his great strength, but that's like saying Willie Pep was a fearsome puncher, regardless that he didn't show it much if at all, only his style prevented it, but with his skills, speed and accuracy he would have been. What could have stopped him being one?

 

Tyson, in my opinion, is the most PHYSICALLY gifted heavyweight in history.

Here's an 11 year old boy, 5'9 inches tall and weighing 190lbs of pure muscle - That's a freak of nature. Considering his incredible physical size, his handspeed and mobility is all the more impressive.

But Ali, if not AS impressive physically, was the much better fighter just about anyway you could slice the comparison - Better athlete, a more well-rounded fighter with a better career, and a much better in-ring psychology. I think he'd stop Tyson 3/4 times.

 

Willie Pep didn't show fearsome power at any point of his career, Ali at least proved he had the strength at one stage or another

New balls please

:good

 

Are you sure Pep didn't score more one-punch knockouts in his career, than George Foreman, for example?

 

Pep.............241 fights
Foreman........81 fights


:hi:

 

Foreman........68 wins by KO
Pep..............65 wins by KO

 

Pep.............241 fights
Foreman........81 fights


:hi:

 

Number of pre-exile fights of Clay/Ali to show great strength..........28
Number of pre-exile fights of Clay/Ali showing great strength..........0