Tyson vs Mohammad Ali - Who'd Win?

I'd give it to Ali... just

Tyson was an animal but Ali fought with his head and as mentioned, made other greats look silly.
 
Tyson i think, Ali might have been smart and fast mover but Tyson would bight his ears off and them pummel him
 
Just want to point out that in an interview where Ali was asked the inevitable, you vs Tyson question, he said he thought tyson would win, hands down.


My own opinion is that Tyson would have won too. He wasn't just powerful but also extremely fast. He was a different generation to Ali and the sport as well as the athletes had moved forward, like any sport.


Regardless this is almost as pondered over a question as 'the meaning of life', and has almost been around as long. It will never be agreed upon.
 
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i've watched the both of them fight on numerous occasions, obviously not in person :p and i'd have to say tyson for a couple of reasons;

1; tyson fought a guy called michael spinks, who if any of you are old enough to remember was not passed his 'sell by date' or a mug by any means. he was light on his feet and could box (i.e not just a hitter/brawler) and could take a shot, many pundits said he had a similar style to ali, and tyson basically wrecked him.

2; when tyson was in his prime (and fit) he had a chin like granite, thats an accepted fact.

3; whenever he met a taller more 'skillful' and light on their feet opponenet he simply covered up and marched forward and hit them.

4; most of his punches landed, i used to know a link to a site but can't locate it ATM, that showed comparisons of different fighters and their punches thrown and % landed and tyson had a much higher efficency rate than foreman or any other big hitters previously mentioned (tho in fainess ali was ahead of him % wise of punches landed). tyson never punched himself out and in all likelyhood wouldn't have done so against ali IMO.

taking this all into play sadly i think tyson would have beaten ali, probably wouldn't have knocked him out in fairness but i'd say it would have been a tko in or around the 5th or 6th round.

and to the person who said that tyson was at his peak when buster douglas knocked him out, stop being silly, everybody who knows anything about boxing knows that tyson was out of shape and ill prepared for the fight, he went into the ring simply expecting to beat douglas.

well thats my two pence worth :p
 
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drunkenmaster said:
Tyson was an animal, but would think Ali would frustrate him, watch him burn out, and rip him to shreds afterwards.
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Yep id have to agree....Ali was much much quicker on his feet than Tyson ever was...so i would imagine he would tire him out as the rounds went by unless Tyson caught Ali with a smoker of a punch then yes game over but i dont think Ali would have let himself get into that position.

So im going with Ali on this but only if Ali stayed on his feet and didnt let Tyson hit him...float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
 
A quote from Uncle Ruckus from the Boondocks (note he is a cartoon character not a real person so don't tale his view serious)

"You heard me, black people can't fight. They don't possess the strength of character or the mental quickness to be a great fighter. That's why all the best fighters in the world have always been white men. Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Sly-vester Stallone, and don't forget Ralph Macchio! Name me one great, black, heavyweight fighter. Name one, go ahead, try, name one. See there? Ya can't do it. What, what what, what? Oh, oh, oh, oh you wanna pull Ali out yo' ass? That what you thinkin' 'bout? Muhammad Ali? Well, if that black man so tough, then why he didn't go to Vietnam? I'll tell you why. 'Cause he was scared, that's why. Shoot. "No Vietnamese ever called me." I call him eight times before I have breakfast, now what he gon' do? Hold on, I'll make it nine..."

And Eddie Murphy in Coming to America

Clarence: You must be out your goddamn mind! Joe Louis is the greatest boxer that ever lived. [to Akeem and Semmi] I'll be with you boys in a minute. He was better than Cassius Clay, he was better than Sugar Ray, and that new dude-what's his name? Mike Tyson?-looks like a bulldog; he was better than him too.

Saul: Vait a minute. Vat about Rocky Marciano?

Clarence: Oh, there they go. There they go, every time I start talkin 'bout boxing, a white man got to pull Rocky Marciano out their ass. That's their one, that's their one. Rocky Marciano. Rocky Marciano. Let me tell you something once and for all. Rocky Marciano was good, but compared to Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano ain't ****.

Saul: He beat Joe Louis' ass.
Morris: That's right, he did whoop Joe Louis' ass.
Clarence: Joe Louis was 75 years old when they fought.
Morris: I don't know how old he was, but he got his ass whooped.
Clarence: Joe Louis had come out of retirement to fight Rocky Marciano the minute he was 76 years old. Joe Louis is always lying about his age. He lie about his age all the time. One time Frank Sinatra came in here and sat in this chair. I said Frank 'you hang out with Joe Louis, just between me and you, how old is Joe Louis.' You know what Frank told me, he said "Hey, Joe Louis is 137 years old." A hundred and thirty-seven years old!
Sweets: Oh. Man, you lying, you ain't never meet no Frank Sinatra.

Doesn't help but made me laugh...
 
Bennie-Mac said:
Says the unbiased man with the MMA inspired sig :p

I wonder if there will be any empty seats at the David Haye vs Audley Harrison fight? Since its a dead sport and all :)
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How many sell outs will there be this year? Compare that to the UFC and the top 10 rankings in PPV numbers from last year (8 out of the top 10 iirc)

The fact hes even fighting Audley Harrison......

pmbuzz said:
That's because "You dumb".

:D
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You have a soccer player in your sig, your opinion on proper manly sports in therefore invalidated.
 
Thekwango said:
i've watched the both of them fight on numerous occasions, obviously not in person :p and i'd have to say tyson for a couple of reasons;

1; tyson fought a guy called michael spinks, who if any of you are old enough to remember was not passed his 'sell by date' or a mug by any means. he was light on his feet and could box (i.e not just a hitter/brawler) and could take a shot, many pundits said he had a similar style to ali, and tyson basically wrecked him.
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Spinks was a Light Heavy who was reaching retirement and was in his 30's when Tyson was in his 20's.

Spinks was no Ali.
 
Thekwango said:
i've watched the both of them fight on numerous occasions, obviously not in person :p and i'd have to say tyson for a couple of reasons;

1; tyson fought a guy called michael spinks, who if any of you are old enough to remember was not passed his 'sell by date' or a mug by any means. he was light on his feet and could box (i.e not just a hitter/brawler) and could take a shot, many pundits said he had a similar style to ali, and tyson basically wrecked him.
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Same STYLE doesn't mean same ABILITY.

Inter Milan and Bolton play incredibly defensive, everyone behind the ball frustrating football, does that mean they play at the same level? Not even remotely close.

Spinks wasn't in Ali's league, the difference between someone who tries to avoid punches but fails, and someone who tries and is damn good at dodging and weaving is night and day.

Ali was brilliant, surprisingly big(he almost seems small just because you see fights against guys like Foreman who is frankly, a damn beast, the size of the guys fist is scary), surprisingly strong for someone who can move so well, one of the best movers ever in heavyweight boxing. Its not even light feet and dancing, which he could do very well, against Foreman he stood still on the ropes and just moved his upper body, brilliantly.

Likewise, watch the vid, Foreman is sloppy and lazy but some of those punches, especially the body shots, were completely insane. Its VERY likely that Foreman had a tougher shot than Tyson, and Ali took dozens to the face, chin, body and barely looked phased.


As for Ali saying Tyson would beat him, there aren't that many arrogant ex boxers who would come out and say "he'd never beat me if I was still fighting", most are pretty humble as they get on and out of the game.

After his career/end of it he was a much much humbler guy than the arrogant man he played during the majority of his career.
 
Muhammad Ali is probably the greatest heavyweight of all time and since the heavyweights are thought of as the pinnacle of the sport has a good claim to be the greatest boxer of all time. Mike Tyson was a very good boxer in his prime, possibly even a great one but it's fair to say the calibre of his opponents isn't anywhere near the same class - not necessarily his fault of course but it makes it more difficult to accept a claim that he'd walk over Ali.

Let's not forget that Ali stepped into the ring with George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston and Earnie Shavers - four of the hardest hitters ever in heavyweight boxing and beat them all (albeit he lost one against Frazier and avenged it). He's paid a terrible price for it though.

Prime Ali vs prime Tyson and my money is on Ali every time, that's not to say that Tyson could not win - he has at least a punchers chance but more times than not I reckon I'd be ahead by betting on Ali.

Now if we're talking interesting match-ups Ali vs Teofilo Stevenson, the great Cuban amateur heavyweight (they were actually good friends) would be much more fascinating to watch I think - both in their prime around the same time and both extremely gifted.
 
It's a difficult one to call.

In terms of pure brute strength, Tyson has it no questions asked, but then so did Foreman in the rumble in the jungle and we all know how that turned out (to the person who said Foreman's punches looked weak in comparison to Tyson; keep in mind that clip at the end was the end of the rumble in the jungle, when Ali had been tiring Foreman out for several rounds by just baiting punches. He was knackered, before that point he was landing punches that would send most men to the mat).

In terms of speed, they're close in terms of punches, but in terms of movement and reactions Ali takes it for me. His ability to dodge punches by millimetres was just unmatched, sure Tyson was capable of doing that from time to time but Ali would do it for entire punch strings, unbelievable at times.

In terms of intelligence, Ali takes it by a country mile, he was a clever boxer. Tyson in my eyes was essentially a brute force machine with excellent technique who would overcome his opponent because of this, Ali was a man who changed his tactics depending on who he was fighting. Ali would adapt to his opponent, often beating stronger or faster opponents because of the way he fought.


If the rumble in the jungle had never occurred, and Tyson was in Foreman's place, something tells me Tyson would have fallen for the same trick. I think he too wouldn't have realized that Ali was just tiring him out, and would have fallen in just the same way Foreman did. Tyson was a stronger boxer than Ali, but as i said previously, he wasn't as smart, the same goes for Foreman, hence why i feel the outcome would be the same.

But then it DID happen, so in the 'rules' of this matchup, would Tyson know of this bout? If so then one of Ali's greatest strengths in the matchup would be nullified.

Also, if they fought today, would Ali have access to today's training techniques and technology? If he did, then he'd likely end up stronger than he was in his prime which would also throw any predictions out of whack.

In my heart i'd vote Ali, in my head i can't decide.
 
Well if you are comparing Ali vs Tyson as they were at their best then I would put my money on Tyson but if Ali had the same modern training techniques as Tyson was afforded well its a different ball game then. Would be like saying would Bruce Lee survive in the UFC - not a chance but if he was born 30 yrs ago and had gone down the MMA route I have no doubt he would be holding a belt.
 
I don't know but it gave me a brilliant idea for a film. We could input both fighters into a computer and then the computer would determine who was the greatest. Ali can then come out of retirement from his restraunt and him and tyson can have a epic fight. Ali will loose mind you as hes getting on abit but we will all remember how hes the people champ and love him even more.
 
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sanaxe1 said:
I don't know but it gave me a brilliant idea for a film. We could input both fighters into a computer and then the computer would determine who was the greatest. Ali can then come out of retirement from his restraunt and him and tyson can have a epic fight. Ali will loose mind you as hes getting on abit but we will all remember how hes the people champ and love him even more.
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:D lol!
 
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