Would Ali have intimidated Mike Tyson?

Absolutely, I think he would have driven Tyson crazy with his antics and insults to the point Tyson would snap. Ali was the master of psychological warfare and it would have been very easy for him to get under Tysons skin and make him forget about his game plan coming into the fight

 

I don’t know if he would have intimidated him, but he would have found some plane of mental weakness to exploit.

 

ali had all the physical tools to beat Tyson too.

 

I believe it all depends on what Ali we talking about. A pre-exile Ali is still too green to intimidate Mike Tyson, Tyson was an animal. Ali would have gotten in his head and most likely pulled off a win with his quick footwork and defense.

Post-exile Ali 72-74 just coming off victories off Norton, Frazier and Foreman maybe starts putting some fear in Tyson's eyes. It would be tougher for Ali to win but def more intimidating at this point of his career.

 

Ali would have found the weakness to get into Tyson's head, and driven him crazy.

 

I would like to think that Tyson would not be intimidated if he was with D'Amato. He was a master at psychological preparation, even Ali went to him for advice. On the other hand, Ali was a master of mind games. It's hard to make a conclusion but I think D'Amato's camp was perfect for Tyson but you never know when it comes to Ali. Anything is possible.

 

I don't think Ali's antics would have been that successful against Tyson. For one, being crazy, Tyson understands crazy. His real-life craziness dwarfs any thing Ali might contrive. Secondly, Mike was way more verbal that guys like Liston, Foreman, or Frazier. He unleashed bizarrely brutal insults on his opponents.
The only guy to kind of get under Ali's skin was Bonavena who called him a maricon and a chicken. Remember that? Those are the sort of low-brow insults Tyson could have come up with, too.
Tyson was a crazy street guy, with some good verbal skills, and I think he'd have held his own against Ali in this dept..

 

If not intimidation, then he would disarm him with charm, kindness, or hurt him with embarrassment and contempt.

Nobody was impervious to his tricks, he would find a way!

 

If there was one guy who could match Ali verbally, it was Tyson.

Tyson very easily could have got into Alis head too.

 

That's really interesting ****ysis. I'd never really thought of Tyson as a psychological student but, as you say, his own mental state might protect him, rather than make him vulnerable. Food for thought, thanks.

 

Tyson irritated the hell out of Ruddock in the build up so he wasn't beyond playing games but I think Ali is on another level, he had that quick wit that made people look stupid. Tyson didn't like being laughed at and I think Ali would have zoned right in on that personally. Tyson never really had guys calling him names as they were too scared, Ali of course would have had a field day.

 

Very good points!

 

Definitely embarrassment!

 

Lol.