DEBATE:
A prime Mike Tyson would have beaten a prime Muhammad Ali.
No matter what, but the fact is they fought during different eras. Some might say Ali fought a better competition, but during Ali's days boxing was completely a different game. All we see in Ali's fights is he just taunted all his opponents all night long, with only hitting occassionally and sometimes scored KO/TKO. But, it was a completely different game.
I know the prime Ali would have done the same thing (taunting) to Tyson. This will leave the door for Tyson to land his awesome uppercut out of nowhere which struggles Ali. And later Tyson would nail Ali with lefts and rights till Ali got KOed. Or if Ali can still stand, the referee would have stopped the bout to prevent Ali from getting killed.
If Ali didn't taunt Tyson, Tyson would take him to UD. Tyson was a great boxer in his prime. Ali would dance most of the time, but Tyson would nail him with jabs and bloodies his nose. Tyson might manage to cut Ali with his awesome power. Ali might be so fast, but so is Tyson. They would keep jabbing, but Tyson had the better jab and would hurt Ali more. Tyson would also nail Ali in the body, causing internal injuries.
Ali should win on points. Tyson was a ferocious puncher, but he didn't have the right tools to be made the favorite over Ali.
Tyson would have almost no chance of winning a decision against Ali. Ali had superior stamina, a better work rate, longer reach, and a better defense than Tyson. Ali would neutralize Tyson's offense by dancing and jabbing on the outside and clinching on the inside. James Tillis made Tyson look amateurish by using these tactics.
Tyson obviously had more power, but Ali had a great chin. Foreman, Shavers, and Liston hit as hard or harder than Tyson but none of them were able to stop Ali. Generally speaking, a great chin neutralizes a great puncher. Tyson also didn't maintain his power in the later rounds, which is why he rarely got knockouts after the 7th round. If slower, less durable fighters were able to take Tyson the distance, why wouldn't Ali?
If they had a series of 3 fights, tyson wud win the first n lose the last 2. I say this because tysons aggressive come forward style wud make ali feel uncomfortable n he would probably get ko'd. I say tyson wud lose the next 2 because he's a one dimensional fighter(comes forward n destroys). Ali using his boxing smarts wud adapt n get the better of tyson
tyson by tko but if ali can control the fight from round 1 up ali on points but I would put my money on tyson
Mike Tyson. It is different eras. Each new generation is stronger and faster. Tyson would have locked up with him and land a few heavy blows.
Ali would outbox him all night easy fight for Ali.
mon, think you're like the 5,213,509th person to ask this question(myself included) and i admit it's hard to find new ways to answer this question, but i will take a jab at a new approach - of course this would be both ali and tyson in their respective primes. i must point out that i am a huge fan of both, probably the biggest fan of both - the two best heavyweights, if not fighters, of all time. so, examining ali's often quoted line, "float like a butterfly..." ali had too much movement for tyson and tyson would've had to lunge at ali to make any contact, bec a prime ali would be just too fast and too fluid for tyson to really set and land his power punches and combos. this would've enabled ali to see all of tyson's attacks coming and he would easily parry and counter mike's offense; "..sting like a bee..." ali had grossly underrated power! liston was quoted as saying, "i thought they said he couldn't hit." ali' "turned" his wrist at the tail end of his jab. this is a move common in the martial arts world and adds significant snap/force to a punch. ali didn't throw punches in the classic way, turning his weight into it - like tyson did to great effect. ali's punches were arm punches often thrown while in motion/flight...that turning of the wrist gave him incredible power, and his accuracy and speed made that power almost lethal. by snapping the jab, ali would've thrown tyson's rhythm off. constant jabs to the head wear down an opponent over time by discombobulating(a cosellism) him. as a result, ali would've had a field day w/tyson and totally overwhelmed him w/his style. in the middle rounds, once tyson closed the gap a little he would've landed some great shots aganst ali, bec mike was pretty darn quick, but ali would've maintained/regained control of the fight. now, although ali was susceptible to left hooks (cooper, frazier), i doubt even tyson, despite his amazing, deceptive, underrated speed, could deliver the "2nd punch" and finish him off. remember, ali was almost impossible to hit in his prime. but if he was hit, he had amazing recuperative powers. and, his own power was, again, extremely underrated. tyson would have probably fared better than most think against a young ali(tyson had deceptive, underrated speed and animalistic determination) and it would have been the most exciting trilogy(?) of ali's already stellar career. tyson, leaping at ali, going as fast forwards as ali went backwards, would have eventually tagged ali just from trying so hard and often. but, ali would've psyched mike out, for sure. however, in his favor, tyson would've also had d'amato in his corner - who knew how to beat ali, but just didn't have the right fighter to do it...until tyson came along, much too late to carry out his plan. anyways, ali would've gotten caught, eventually, and got his bell rung, but would've held on until his head cleared. ali would've had to use more lateral movement, which he would have, to confuse and throw off tyson's timing. after getting his bell rung a couple times, and possibly fouled by a frustrated mike, he would've gotten mad and stepped up his attack on tyson - remember, in his prime, ali could easily and literally dance and move for a straight 15 rounds - who else could do that?! and, don't forget, when ali got mad, he was quite lethal and cruel in the ring(patterson, foley, bonavena, liston 1)! ali's constant jabbing and occasional power punches would have eventually neutralized tyson, and he would have knocked tyson out in the late rounds - remember, also, ali not only beat but dominated, stopped, or knocked out the heaviest and most dangerous punchers of all time(liston, cleveland williams, foreman, frazier[near kd's in 2nd and 3rd fights, eventually stopped him in 3rd], and shavers)! as much as i love tyson, taking ali's success w/power punchers into consideration, i see ali "taking him to deep water and drowning him"(holmesism), puffing him up, swelling his eyes, cutting him up, and eventually knocking him out, somewhere's around round 8-10. i cannot tell you how sad that makes me to admit, bec i love both these guys sooo much, but it would have been one helluva bout!!!
tyson
Okay a fight between Muhammad Ali(In his prime) and Mike Tyson(In his prime) who would win?
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