Tyson did not do well with tall, fast fighters.
Ali by decision. He would get into Tysons head. Ali was not a puncher that was never his forte. However he had speed, reflexes and a great chin. He also fought in the greatest era of the heavyweight division the 1970s and beat all. Foreman and Frazier hit as hard as Tyson and Ali stood up to them. Tyson was good briefly, however many were terrified before the contest began. Ali would not be intimidated. Also Ali had better stamina for a long fight. The only chance Tyson would have would be to knock him out early. That is easier said than done, Foreman, Frazier and Earnie Shavers could not do it so I cannot see Tyson stopping him either.
Its a very tough matchup but based on the evidence we have seen on both fighters I believe Ali would win with a late stoppage or points. My thinking is based on the following observations :
1/ Much of Tyson's aura was based on psychological intimidation - this is unlikely to have worked with Ali who himself was a mind games master and had fought other very intimidating characters like Liston, Foreman and Frazier.
2/Tyson's KO power was certainly impressive but not infallible - a number of fighters of much lower calibre than Ali have gone the distance with Tyson eg/ Bonecrusher, Green, Tillis, Tucker etc
3/Ali had a great chin - this doesn't mean he didn't get knocked down because he certainly did but he always got back up quickly and continued fighting
4/Ali had stronger determination - when the fight was not going his way he would still hang in there. Conversely Tyson would get dejected and start to hang his head a bit. We saw this clearly in the Holyfield I fight and also against Lewis.
Much of Tyson's reputation was built on the impressive KO's he delivered when young but many of these were against dubious opposition. I don't want to take away from Tyson though - he was probably the most physically gifted heavyweight ever. In the end though all sports are won by the guy with the toughest mindset - not necessarily the most skill. Ali was the toughest of them all in my view.
Why do you say that your friend is "stubborn" and not yourself
Indeed, I think Ali would come out unscathed from their crosses with Tyson and would be constantly scoring, ending in a unanimous points victory
Consider the 1987 Tyson - Tucker fight: Ali period 64-67 was much higher in all boxing skills to Tucker, Tyson could not knock out Tucker could do with Ali?
A simple statistical data resolves the issue
Youth and resistance to punishment Tyson in the period (86 -90) would save him losing by KO
Ali 64-67 could put Tyson KO 1996
Tyson by knockout in 4 rounds. I could write about this all day but to keep it brief:
1) 'Ali has shown he can handle big punchers such as Foreman, Frazier, Liston, Shavers etc so why can't he beat Tyson?'..... This is the most common argument i have read about this matchup. Yes, Ali has fought numerous big punchers but how many of those were as FAST as Tyson? because of his dynamic power i feel like the true extent of his speed is overlooked. Tyson was just as fast as Ali if not faster. By contrast, The big punchers Ali has fought namely Liston and Foreman are slow as f*ck compared to Tyson and Ali anyway, he looked great dancing and dodging slow Liston's punches but against Tyson? i'm not sure man.
2) Ali is extremely vunerable to the left hook, especially at a specific part of the ring. We saw almost identical knockdowns from the left hook by Cooper (who ain't even a big puncher yet had Ali out on his feet) and of course Fraizer. The Frazier knockdown in particular is a clear indicator of Ali's vulnerability because if you look at the slow motion of it you can see that Frazier timed it perfectly as his trainer told him of Ali's bad habit of leaving himself completely open whilst loading up for a right uppercut. One of Tyson's best punches happen to be the left hook. When looking at Tyson i see him as an evolved version of Frazier except he doesn't have the heart or stamina or Frazier which i don't think would be relevant in this fight. Not only does Tyson have a great left hook like the perhaps one dimensional Frazier, he also has arguably the best uppercuts in history and better head and body combination variation.
I'll leave it there this time.
Prime Ali vs prime Tyson = Ali victory. Ali version that Holmes fought vs Tyson = Tyson wins
Your friend is not stubborn, and he's just telling the truth. Ali would win not because of his speed, his size advantage nor his skill. He'd win simply because of his superior psy-war tactics. Yeah, that's right. Ali is the master at psyching out opponents, and Tyson, as we know it, ain't mentally stable. The pre-fight taunts and insults would get to Mike, make him angry that he'd want no less but kill Ali in the ring. In the process, he'd lose his concentration and his edge. He'd go out swinging wildly at the opening bell and punch himself out, like Foreman, after 3 or 4 rounds. By the 6th, Ali would pepper him with jabs and 1-2s and Tyson would be finished by the 8th.
ARE YOU GUYS JOKING? mike tyson would kick his *** in 10 secs in his prime ali is just over rated miek was the real deal all this ali stuff got you guys brainwashed mike tyson in his prime could knock out 6'4" 260 pounds guys with 3 rounds he's too good for ali
tyson during cus d'mato will beat the prime ali...
i love ali but tysons power is unstoppable under d'amato's dicipline no stylish slick defensive genius can claim a blueprint to beat it....
am glad theyre not on the same era
some will use tysons demise after d'amato's death to prove their debate...
point out how his boxrec sucks, but the reality is, skill, slick, style are easily learned, its even available on the net, genius aint born either, its a stimulant chemical secreted inside brain.... all humans has brain, hahaha...tysons tremendous speed and power barely comes in boxing...
Ali all the way dude. No one not even mike Tyson can mess with the greatest of all time
Me and my friend are in a bit of a dispute, he's stubborn and doesn't believe Tyson would get even close to beating Ali in any way.
I know Ali had speed, stamina and a strong head, but Tyson was a bulldog- fast, heavy fists and was able to move pretty rapid- admittedly it sometimes didn't go in his favour... But still I think he would have a damn good shot at Ali.
What do you guys think?
I'm not asking who would win for definite, there's no way to possibly prove that- I'm just wondering what you all think about my friends stubbornness.
Ali
Mike Tyson ftw :p
I think Mike Tyson answered this question back in 2012 when he said that he would have never been able to beat Ali.
quote "he would take you to deep waters and drown you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF17mkqy...
7-3 in favour of Ali...
Prime (60s) Ali vs. Prime Tyson? I'd go with Ali. Why?
1) Tyson didn't know what to do with good boxers. Up until he fought "Quick" Tillis and Mitch "Blood" Green, all of his fights were against tomato cans and chumps. Both of these guys, and especially Green, gave Tyson good fights and that's only because they were decent boxers. Buster Douglas outboxed Tyson. Muhammad was probably the best heavyweight boxer (if not the best heavyweight fighter) of all time. Ali in his prime would have Mike swinging at air.
2) Compare their opponents in both their primes. Ali had tougher competition. Tyson fought scrubs.
3) Ali had an amazing chin. He got tagged by Foreman and didn't go down.
4) Ali had guts. Tyson was just a bully...if things didn't go his way, he'd shut down psychologically. I could see Ali totally psyching Mike out and making him quit.
5) Ali had better cardio than Tyson and could fight into later rounds.
The only way I see Tyson winning is knocking Ali out early. But Ali was never, EVER, KO'd early, so there's that. Maybe Mike could win if Ali didn't train for Tyson seriously. But 60s Ali trained....70s Ali would goof off a lot of times and not take his opponents seriously. And we're not talking about 70s Ali here.
i agree with right hand lead ,it seems to be fashionable to dismiss tyson now but he was brutal and i can't see Ali keeping him off him ....best answer to right hand lead
Your Friend could be right.
