Tunney was very slick and smart, and would take Mike into deep water and drown him.
Tyson would either last out the fight and lose on all the cards or would be stopped late.
Tunney had speed, mobility, chin, heart and would not be overly intimidated by Tyson I don't think, all qualities that troubled Tyson. However Tunney was more of a light heavyweight, he weighed around 190 for his heavyweight contests and his two best wins at the weight were over a Jack Dempsey that was far removed from the mauler who defeated Willard seven years before their first fight.
If Tunney weighed 210 without losing his mobility and was more experienced at heavyweight I would give him a serious chance of beating Tyson, because as I say he had all the tools to trouble Tyson.
However prime Tyson would enter the ring around 30 lbs heavier than Tunney, was very ferocious and had a blend of power and hand speed.
Tunney was floored by a Dempsey who was very faded as a fighter so I think that the bigger Tyson would end it before the halfway stage, although I wouldn't be surprised if the intelligent Tunney gave him some frustrating moments before getting stopped.
Tyson TKO6.
Tyson would have blitzed him inside three rounds. Tunney was essentially a prototype of the modern heavyweight but he's small and lacked the strength and power to match up against a decidedly superior modern heavyweight specimen as Tyson. Tunney's mobility would not have been much of a problem for Tyson who was also quick as well as very explosive in his best prime. A well placed body shot followed up with a hook to the jaw would end the fight.
Tunney certainly was a great LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT but very overrated as a Heavyweight. Sure, he's beaten Jack Dempsey but Dempsey was unmotivated and trained poorly for the two fights with Tunney. It's obvious that Dempsey could have won the rematch but hadn't fought very wisely in the rematch just like he never did in the first fight. Tyson on the other hand, is like a more modern version of Dempsey but with more power, speed and accuracy well blended together. If a Prime Mike Tyson(The one that defeated Berbick, Spinks and a declined Holmes) were to fight the Gene Tunney that faced a clumsy and out of shape Dempsey, Tyson would have pulled off some tactics that Dempsey could have done but wasn't smart enough to use. Tyson would simply bull rush Tunney, use his head movement to avoid Tunney's jabs and cut him off the ring to leave him little room to to punch his way out and escape. Tyson knocks him down a few times in Round 2. In Round 4, Tyson finally lands the final blow with his left hook on Tunney putting him down for good in a similar way to how he put down Michael Spinks for the count.
Tyson by KO in Round 4
(I admire and respect Tunney as an overall boxer but he wasn't the great HEAVYWEIGHT that many people make him out to be. The Heavyweight Tunny wasn't as fast or as great as he was as a Light Heavyweight.)
