Who wins a fight in their prime, Ali or Tyson?
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In the modern era he would have the benefit of steroids like the others did.
All yinz guys missed the most important variable of the match up. Ali was the master of manipulation, the Doctor of Psych-out-ology. He won his big fights even before stepping into the ring before the fight started. He had Foreman so psyched that Foreman punched himself out in the first few rounds. He had the Gorilla so enraged it gave him a huge edge in Manila.
So the real question is how would Ali play Tyson before stepping into the ring? And how much affect would it have on the fight?
Tyson was the most focused, destructive, on-a-mission fighter I ever saw. He was scary in his lust to destroy an opponent. Could Ali have used that somehow? Could he have gotten Tyson off focus? This, to me, is the biggest unknown.
I would give Ali the edge as he was so fast on his feet that Tyson would have problems solidly connecting. And after rounds of chasing the butterfly he would both tire and become frustrated. And Ali‘s greatest skill in the ring was sensing when to shift to attack mode. And when he did it was with a vengeance. An explosion of lightning fast punches with power. And the psychology of that explosion would devastate the will of an opponent.
Ali in eight rounds.
So the real question is how would Ali play Tyson before stepping into the ring? And how much affect would it have on the fight?
Tyson was the most focused, destructive, on-a-mission fighter I ever saw. He was scary in his lust to destroy an opponent. Could Ali have used that somehow? Could he have gotten Tyson off focus? This, to me, is the biggest unknown.
I would give Ali the edge as he was so fast on his feet that Tyson would have problems solidly connecting. And after rounds of chasing the butterfly he would both tire and become frustrated. And Ali‘s greatest skill in the ring was sensing when to shift to attack mode. And when he did it was with a vengeance. An explosion of lightning fast punches with power. And the psychology of that explosion would devastate the will of an opponent.
Ali in eight rounds.
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The thing about Ali psyching opponents out is partly why I said at some point in this thread, who would win assuming both fought an equally smart fight? If Ali psychs you out and you fight dumb as a result then naturally that increases Ali's chances of winning.
I don't want this to sound like I'm putting down Ali, but the fact that he did so much on the PR front enhances the reputation of how good he was and makes some people overestimate him IMO. Just because he said "I'm the greatest" over and over and the media incessantly broadcast it doesn't necessarily mean he actually was the greatest.
Fraizer was good but Ali was clearly better, but IMO Tyson is clearly better than Frazier too, which is what made me start the poll in this thread. I'm a little surprised about the comparative comments in this thread about Frazier and Tyson. I get the impression that some or most folks here think Frazier was better than Tyson and I think there's no way that that's true.
They love to ignore the fact he was beating up tin cans.
Geez, just go on Youtube and look at the video. Tyson is Frazier with a better punch and much better defense.
A better question is had Tyson fought Lennox Lewis and/or Evander Holyfield before prison, would he have beaten either of them?
Keep in mind Tyson is actually younger than both Holyfield and Lewis.
Keep in mind Tyson is actually younger than both Holyfield and Lewis.
Tyson could have fought Holyfield when he fought Buster. King went with Buster because that gave him a cut of both sides.
Lewis wasn't really a name before Mike went to prison, and nobody in Mike's camp sought out a Lewis fight after he got out either. That happened years later.
The biggest flaw against Tyson isn't even his fault. His heyday was during a pitifully weak Heavyweight division. As soon as he goes to prison, multiple very good Heavyweight fighters came into ppv prominence. He didn't beat any of them, before nor after prison.
Yep everyone claims Tyson was past his prime when he fought Evander but forget to mention Holyfield was well past his prime at 34.
People have short memories. This thread proves that. Mike Tyson was not great. He looked good beating up on weak competition but he got his clock cleaned when he fought a quality opponent.
In their second fight, Ernie Shavers hit Larry Holmes with an overhand right that honestly would have killed some boxers. Unbelievably, Holmes got up off the canvas, survived the round and went on to TKO Shavers later in the fight. Larry Holmes will never get his due, but he was one of the toughest heavyweights of all-time in his prime.
Best jab ever with a very long reach. Just didn’t have the big knockout. His only shortcoming. IMO.
