Don't bring up the Lewis fight.....That wasn't Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson eats your children. ...before the Lewis fight Tyson was asking people how their mothers were doing and just seemed happy to be there. Something was fishy about that fight.
There was a reason Ali had to regain the title as many times as he did. Ali fought in the greatest era in the history of the heavyweight division. These guys were all around during Ali's career: Foreman Frazier Norton Liston Quarry Shavers Holmes Tyson never fought anyone in the same zip code as those 60-70's heavyweights. Its Ali and its not even close.
Muhammad Ali all day every day. And I wasn't a fan of his. Nevertheless, he was a fearsome opponent. He had stamina, incredible boxing skills, and a jaw of iron. I've NEVER seen a boxer able to take a punch anywhere near as well as Ali. Christ, Ken Norton broke his jaw and he still didn't go down.
I forgot about that one, Norton was a boss. Ali had Tyson licked in the stamina and resiliency department by far.
Tyson fought who was available. It's hard for me to watch him and not think he would do incredibly well in any era. With that said, Ali actually proved it. You have to give the nod to him.
Ali and Tyson would never be uttered in the same sentence in terms of greatness by most boxing scribes or historians. The question of who would win in their primes IMO would and should be likewise overwhelmingly in favor of Ali, due to the simple fact, unlike Tyson, his talent/greatness was truly tested by all time greats like Foreman, Frazier and Liston, as well as fighters such as Norton, cooney, etc. Mike Tyson in his prime was a phenomenal talent with unbelievable power and hand speed, unfortunately the true extent of his greatness was never truely tested much like Roy Jones Jr and possibly Floyd Mayweather (assuming he never fights manny or sergio martinez). Tyson due to circumstances out of control (lack of great fighters b4 he was incarcerated) and some his own fault (incarceration, buster upset, loss to Holyfield, Lewis after his "prime") was never put to the test or failed when tested. Tyson's biggest bouts pre-incarceration were, his demolition of Spinks for the title, his two bouts vs Razor Ruddock (a controversial 7 round stoppage and a 12 round unanimous decision) and his upset lost to Buster Douglas, where he displayed an iron chin and power despite horrid training and preparation. Like Roy Jones whom between beating then p4p#1 James Toney and moving up to defeat John Ruiz, cleaned out his divison yet failed to fight any all-time greats, such as rematching hopkins, fighting calzaghe (tho to be fair noone was big on calzaghe then), as well as many of the top 168lbers after having beaten Toney. The point is, Tyson like Jones, looked phenomenal beating, many decent, good or very good opponnents, but were never tested against the greatest of their generation when their powers was at its peak. Its easy to look like sugar ray robinson when fighting, fighters a level or two below you. For instance, watch pacqiuao vs Diaz and compare that to his match vs Marquez I or II or Mayweather vs his last 8 opponnents and compare to his match vs Castillo, or Mosley vs contenders vs his peers like Forrest, Oscar etc. I recall thinking Jeff Lacy was the next big star watching his rise to the top, as he demolished opponents after opponents, that is until he was matched against the best in his division. Its when fighters fight other great fighters that one can truly witness the extent of their abilities and talent, without it, we are only able to guess at it. For Ali, that greatness is something he has proven time and time again while Tyson simply has not or failed to do so when called upon.
You do know that Roy and BHop had a rematch right? and He also fought Calzaghe, knocked him down but ultimately lost. I'm not exactly sure what you were saying in that 4th paragraph.
Tyson in his prime vs. Ali in his prime would have been a great fight -- I think that's all you can really say about it.
I grew up watching Tyson so I'll go with Tyson. But Tyson vs Ali is like Carter and Duncan. One is without a doubt the best highflying, power dunker ever and the other is the best in fundamentals. I'm going with the Dunker on this one.
Yes, I'm aware of that, but neither of those matches took place during Roy Jones prime, which was the point of the post. The fact that they took place well after his 2 devasting knock outs by Tarver and Johnson, provides us little in understanding how he would have fared in his prime, just as Tyson's matches with Lewis and Holyfield, doesnt really tell us anything about how great he was at the peak of his power.
Not sure if you are serious . . . . Tyson looked AWESOME against that human paperweights he fought Ali fought real fighters Rocket River
By the way, for those who havent seen Ali's matches or Tysons or some other hard to find matches and wishes to do so, sign up here http://fights.worldboxingvideoarchive.com/browse.php its a private torrent site. Its a bit difficult to maintain a decent share ratio at first if you start dling the old fights, since most of the activity tend to involve the most recent fights.
Mike didn't exactly have great boxing skills, he was all power and hand speed. Considering Ali's strengths as a boxer he had the perfect skill set to take it to Tyson. I don't think Tyson would have been able to KO Ali within the first few rounds, so after that the advantage goes ALL in favor of Ali...he would win every time!!!
Ali has to be favored, but he was not indestructible despite his incredible ability to withstand punishment. 188 pound Henry Cooper knocked him down with a left hook near the end of a round and Ali was rocked BADLY. I can envision Ali and his low hands being caught by a Tyson bomb and stunned or finished.
i guess this like MJ vs. (insert name). Ali was Athlete of the Century and Tyson was one of the fiercest in his sport.
Oh, there they go... there they go... Rocky Balboa... Rocky Balboa... EVERY TIME A BLACK MAN TALK ABOUT BOXIN', some white man gotta come up with that Rocky Balboa... Rocky Balboa... that's they one...
