Muhammad Ali versus Mike Tyson.

I was fortunate to see both of these fighters in their prime, and everybody said that Mike Tyson would brutally beat Muhammad Ali. I was leaning that same direction, but I spent hours yesterday, analyzing both fighters, and one of the things that struck me with Muhammad Ali is his power. I underestimated it, and when he took out George Foreman via knockout, it made me realize he’s better than I even thought he was.

You go through a lot of years between fights, and you kind of lose a sense of how good people are in certain sports. But if you also watch Mike Tyson in his prime, I think he could beat Mohammed, because he had a understanding how to deal with tall and fast boxers. Mohammed was great at keeping his distance from pure power, and his defensive skills were the best I’ve ever seen and second place is not even close. However, Mike Tyson was like a power BULL in the ring and with Mike his punching power was so incredible. It only took one shot to knock out people on a consistent basis. One of the things that made Mike Tyson, so good was his understanding that going to the body lowers those gloves so he could catch his opponent off guard with his devastating left hook.

I would’ve loved to seen them to go at it. However, that will never happen obviously. in the meantime, I’m going to post two magnificent YouTube videos for everyone to enjoy. You can watch both fighters work their way up to the top and see how good they were in the prime.

Hypothetically, if these two great boxers faced each other in their prime, this is what I think would happen. If the fight went more than five rounds, Muhammad Ali would win on points, however Mike Tyson could easily knock out Muhammad Ali if he connected. I would just love to see that fight…They were two totally different fighters. I’d give the edge to Mohammed on points due to his ability to protect himself from powerful punchers like George Foreman. He knocked out George Foreman in his prime, and George was considered one of the most powerful punchers at the time. I would not be surprised. However, if Mike knocked out Muhammad Ali in the first round it would not surprise me the least bit. I just think Ali was just too fast in the early rounds. JMHO

Now getting back to this newly announced boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. It appears to me Mike Tyson might be taking this seriously and if he does, Jake Paul is going to be in a lot of trouble. Mike Tyson ain’t the same fighter. He was a couple years ago. He’s in the best shape he’s been in a long time and he doesn’t appear to lost any speed. I don’t think Jake Paul stands a chance because I’ve seen him fight, and, he better hope to God this is a hush-hush exhibition match, so neither one of them get hurt. However, if this is really serious, Jake Paul is in for a world of hurt.

The first video is Mike Tyson training. He looks absolutely fantastic and don’t underestimate you youngsters the strength of a well season 57-year-old man.


View: https://youtu.be/EnxFdsDSw9A?si=jeRYRyoN5JvZo9iZ



View: https://youtu.be/lNPpojcSMgI?si=_Ydys2GnLiEV_ncJ




View: https://youtu.be/kKiZ7S-3oRw?si=VOjfAFwDZ4jTnmFy

Ive always gone Ali in this debate.

Tyson is a puncher. Ali was a Boxer. He epitomized the Sweet Science.

Technique once mastered together with natural ability will take down the biggest force in everything in life.

Ali had it all going on. Tyson was fun to watch but he was not on Alis level.

I've spoken to Tysons trainers. They'll tell you the same thing.

John Locke said:

Ive always gone Ali in this debate.

Tyson is a puncher. Ali was a Boxer. He epitomized the Sweet Science.

Technique once mastered together with natural ability will take down the biggest force in everything in life.

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As I said in my post, I also gave the edge to Ali. But All it takes is one left hook by Tyson to connect and Ali is going to sleep. However I still give the edge to Ali due to his magnificent, defensive abilities.

Tyson was a phenomenon no question. He was brutally savage. I saw this clip of him sparring, he's 57. He just used to destroy other fighters.

But Ali was a total package, he really had it all.

Roberto71 said:

Tyson was a phenomenon no question. He was brutally savage. I saw this clip of him sparring, he's 57. He just used to destroy other fighters.

But Ali was a total package, he really had it all.

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I always thought Ali’s one weakness was his punching power, but then I re-watched the George Foreman fight and once again Ali proved why he was the greatest.

Jake Paul is going to fuck around and find out I am afraid. Tyson is an animal, an apex predator thats is always a moment away from being unleashed. I don't see it lasting very long.

I'd love to see the matchup between Ali and Tyson for real. I think it's 50/50. I don't think people remember just low lethal prime Tyson was. Speed, ferocity, just a nasty, nasty boxer.

ViperGTS said:

I'd love to see the matchup between Ali and Tyson for real. I think it's 50/50. I don't think people remember just low lethal prime Tyson was. Speed, ferocity, just a nasty, nasty boxer.

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I can’t argue this

Tyson had knock out power in both fists. I take Tyson to deck Ali within 3 rounds.

Mazz22 said:

Tyson had knock out power in both fists. I take Tyson to deck Ali within 3 rounds.

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What the heck does that have to do with Tom Brady?

Jeez!! Stay on point woman.

Pre rope a dope Ali was tough to hit.

I could see Tyson getting frustrated and stupid.

I have always believed that no boxer present or past beats Mike Tyson in his prime.

If Buster Douglas could figure out how to beat Tyson, I suspect Ali could have done the same.

Heavy weight division was full of top tier guys in Ali’s era. He fought all of the best and mostly won.
Tyson came up fighting pretty poor quality and aging greats. Later in his career he fought some greats, and mostly lost.
Ali was the exact type of fighter that would give Tyson fits. Tall, elusive, long arms, intelligent.
The Greatest wears Tyson down, frustrates him, and knocks him out late. Talking shit the whole time. Ali was better in almost every way.

dchester said:

If Buster Douglas could figure out how to beat Tyson, I suspect Ali could have done the same.

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In fairness, Tyson wasn’t at his peak, and he was having mental problems.

Roberto71 said:

Tyson was a phenomenon no question. He was brutally savage. I saw this clip of him sparring, he's 57. He just used to destroy other fighters.

But Ali was a total package, he really had it all.

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Holy fuck, that power's still incredible.

Mazz22 said:

Tyson had knock out power in both fists. I take Tyson to deck Ali within 3 rounds.

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Depends when Ali and when Tyson. 1965 Ali would never give him anything to hit. We saw how 70s Ali did with George Foreman (another incredible heavyweight btw) and his power, would be the closest comp to Tyson, although Tyson was faster, and he had a lethal jab - 80s Tyson. 90s Tyson wasn't as fast, but outside of the earbiting, he actually became a better boxer. Razor Ruddick took him to a decision the 2nd fight before he went to jail.

Ali had a tough time taking Foreman's punches, but he did take them, and tired the big man out late. Tyson wasn't nearly as big, and I'd say he was more powerful than Foreman (and ask Michael Moorer about Foreman's power).

I do wonder if this is a Jordan/Lebron thing, where everyone who watched Jordan knows Jordan was better, but the kids don't. Admittedly, I caught the very, very tail end of Ali when he could barely talk anymore. Trevor Burbick beat Ali in his last fight, and Tyson destroyed him, but that's not really much of a good comp either.

TommyD420 said:

Depends when Ali and when Tyson. 1965 Ali would never give him anything to hit. We saw how 70s Ali did with George Foreman (another incredible heavyweight btw) and his power, would be the closest comp to Tyson, although Tyson was faster, and he had a lethal jab - 80s Tyson. 90s Tyson wasn't as fast, but outside of the earbiting, he actually became a better boxer. Razor Ruddick took him to a decision the 2nd fight before he went to jail.

Ali had a tough time taking Foreman's punches, but he did take them, and tired the big man out late. Tyson wasn't nearly as big, and I'd say he was more powerful than Foreman (and ask Michael Moorer about Foreman's power).

I do wonder if this is a Jordan/Lebron thing, where everyone who watched Jordan knows Jordan was better, but the kids don't. Admittedly, I caught the very, very tail end of Ali when he could barely talk anymore. Trevor Burbick beat Ali in his last fight, and Tyson destroyed him, but that's not really much of a good comp either.

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I agree. This could definitely be a case of Jordan/LeBron recently bias.
Obviously I never saw Ali fight live. To be honest I’m not the biggest boxing fan, but one of my older brothers is. We used to talk about this scenario quite a bit actually. I think 19-year-old Tyson takes him out just because of the explosiveness and each of his fists but when Tyson was interviewed by Oprah he said Ali was the only fighter he couldn’t beat because his manager told him he would never beat him. Interesting, isn’t it?

TommyD420 said:

Depends when Ali and when Tyson. 1965 Ali would never give him anything to hit. We saw how 70s Ali did with George Foreman (another incredible heavyweight btw) and his power, would be the closest comp to Tyson, although Tyson was faster, and he had a lethal jab - 80s Tyson. 90s Tyson wasn't as fast, but outside of the earbiting, he actually became a better boxer. Razor Ruddick took him to a decision the 2nd fight before he went to jail.

Ali had a tough time taking Foreman's punches, but he did take them, and tired the big man out late. Tyson wasn't nearly as big, and I'd say he was more powerful than Foreman (and ask Michael Moorer about Foreman's power).

I do wonder if this is a Jordan/Lebron thing, where everyone who watched Jordan knows Jordan was better, but the kids don't. Admittedly, I caught the very, very tail end of Ali when he could barely talk anymore. Trevor Burbick beat Ali in his last fight, and Tyson destroyed him, but that's not really much of a good comp either.

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100% agree with this assessment. The only way you could truly know if these two boxers faced each other in their prime. Their prime was a smaller window than their actual total career. It’s not fair to assess a 1978 Muhammad Ali versus a 1992 Mike Tyson. Or a 1967 Muhammad Ali versus a 1992 Mike Tyson or a 1986 Mike Tyson versus a 1978 Muhammad Ali. Everything is relative when you do comparison. I still think Michael Jordan in his prime was way better than LeBron James in his prime. But that’s just me because I got to see both in their primes. Also, I don’t even think LeBron James is the second greatest. That’s up for debate even. LeBron James has had a very nice career being protected by referees in a soft league. 1980s and early 90s basketball was much more physical.

Tyson = Frazier.

Prime Ali was the greatest