Why Muhammad Ali would beat Tyson
October 11th, 2009
By Dennis Broadhurst: This article will provide a detailed look into perhaps the ultimate boxing match, Ali vs Tyson. Ali was at his best in 1966 when he beat fighters Cleveland Williams and Brian London. Against Williams, Ali won by TKO in round 3, Williams was put to the canvas several times and was in no state to continue. Against Brian London, Ali had trained hard and it paid off. In the third round Ali unleashed one of the most impressive combinations the boxing world has seen and put London down and out.
Men who underestimated Ali’s power such as Liston and Foreman paid the price. To sum up on Ali in his prime, he was an extremely fast moving fighter, with fast hands, he had a great chin which was to be proved later on in his career, he had decent power which accounted for his 37 stoppage wins, he had great heart and has come off the floor to win a fight, he had great stamina and a built in radar so that he was extremely hard to hit.
Later in Ali’s career he would prove his greatness, after a 3 and a half year forced layoff and losses to Frazier and Norton Ali would beat them both in rematches and then KO George Foreman in a fight where Ali was a huge underdog. In Ali’s later years he declined and lost the title to Leon Spinks only to win it back in the rematch.
Ali had losses to Frazier, Norton, Spinks, Holmes and Berbick, three of those were very late in his career where he was already showing signs of ill health and all were after his forced layoff. Ali beat great fighters such as Liston twice, Frazier twice, George Foreman, Earnie Shavers, Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Bob Foster and Floyd Patterson who fought with the same style as Tyson.
Now lets have a look at Tyson. Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time in 1986 at age 20. Tyson fought behind a high guard in the peek-a-boo defence style. He would lunge in with hooks which often knocked his opponents out very early on. Tyson had a great chin and a huge neck to absorb punches, he had great head movement, great power and great speed, he was very aggressive and could cut off the ring very well.
The one thing Tyson did lack was mental strength and this was where Ali was at his strongest. Tyson beat some good fighters in his day, Larry Holmes, Razor Ruddock, Frank Bruno and Tyrell Biggs but no great prime fighters. Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, Evander Holyfield twice, Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams and Kevin Mcbride.
Ali would beat Tyson. Ali beat better fighters than Tyson and lost to better fighters than Tyson. Ali was mentally stronger than Tyson and NEVER crumbled under pressure. Ali was taller, faster, had more stamina, had better ring smarts, had more heart and courage, could take a better shot and had better footwork than Tyson. All Tyson had over Ali was power.
I think the fight would go a little like this, Ali would win the first rounds through dancing and speed, Tyson would come on strong in rounds 4-7 but then would slowly tire, Ali would come on very strong in rounds 8-12 and would psych out Tyson making him frustrated which would make him walk into shots. Ali would win by 13th round TKO at the latest when Tyson got frustrated and began throwing wild punched and missing by miles.
There is no way that Tyson would ko Ali as Ali was not ko’ed by Foreman, Frazier, Liston or anybody and fought for 10 rounds against Norton with a broken jaw. Don’t get me wrong, in his prime Tyson was great but Ali was and is in a leauge of his own. Thank you.
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Ali is surely the greatest of all time because of his versatility to deal with a vast variety of opponents. Weights, height and styles, Ali beat them.
Frazier was also very good but at 5ft 11 found it too difficult to deal with the more rangy 6ft 3 heavy weights.
Foremans 6ft 4 nearly killed him. Thus Frazier as a great fighter, and beating Ali one time cannot go down as the greatest.
Ali was big enough and durable enough to handle Foreman but also capable of dealing with the smaller Frazier….i give you….the greatest ever!
Tyson cannot be as great of course because he was not proven with the variety of different styles and sizes.
However….i never saw any fighter like Tyson was for 9 months of 1986. Its unlikely anyone, incl Ali could have handled the shear raging bull that was Tyson of 1986. Watch his fight re-runs from that time. We will never see anything like it again and certainly not from him after 88.
…but he his no true great….didnt stand the test of time.
What a load of rubbish!!! Ali in his prime would have gotten into Mike Tyson’s mind, played with him for awhile and made him look like a frustrated fool, and then he would either have ended it on a TKO or a knockout somewhere between the fifth and the eighth round. That prediction, based on both fighters’ mental and physical strengths and weaknesses, is as sure as the sun coming up in the morning. Tyson was afraid to fight an old George Foreman, and he would have had absolutely no chance to beat a young Ali. TAKE THAT TO THE BANK!!!!!!
I just think it is absolutely ridiculous for someone who has watched both fighters to think that tyson could beat ali. Fight would be over before it started…ali would get in tysons head…real bad…he was faster than tyson..we’ve seen him handle strength…look at foreman..don’t anyone tell me tyson hit harder than foreman…thats just hilarious…look at foreman vs Frasier…ali would beat tyson 3 out 3 times..he ends the fight when he decides to call it a day
ali and tyson two great heavyweights.when tyson was tyson he was unbeatable. tysons great left hook would get to ali. tyson wins inside 7 rounds.
all you have to do is look at Ali vs Patterson I to know how would win… Patterson laid out the blueprint to beat Ali… and it’s in the hooks… Eventhough Ali manhandled a decling Patterson… Patterson was able to lunge forward and consistently catch Ali with hooks.. Much like frazier did… But he was unable to move his head…Tyson may not be as mentally strong as Ali, but they were trained by the same people (inlcuding Floyd Patterson)…They both took middelweight skills to heavyweight.. both were extremely fast… And more importantly Tyson wasn’t as one dimensional as George foreman…Even in his prime I don’t think Ali could beat Tyson in his prime… That’s because of Tyson’s ability to accurately land hooks… and his tremenous head movement…Two factors that would make most of Ali’s skills ineffective…It would be a tough fight for Tyson because of Ali’s height… Historically his worst fights have been with people that tower over him…
Ali wud win… ali is a genius, he could use rope-a-dope and tyson is stupid and crazy and will jus tire himself out and ali would finish him.
we cn all say tyson or ali cn win, but it was different eras yeah it wud be a dream fight
but i disagree wit one guy on ere tyson wasnt a good champion wot r u on, im nt sure ow old ali was wen he won the title against liston then tyson was the youngest champion he was a kid
I would say they both were great. Go buy the most recent boxing game where you can choose Tyson and Ali and fight like men there, you big girl blouse.
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This is useless. Different era and the fighters have evolved over time.
You have to ask yourself this question. What if Tyson, fighting like he had, was around during the Ali era. What would happen then? Would Tyson knock most fighters and be the best?
And what if Ali, fighting like he had, was around during the Tyson era. What would happen then? Would Ali beat most of his opponents by outsmarting them?
The idea that Ali could be knocked out by Tyson is based on what evidence?
Tyson at his peak couldn’t knock out fighters who were strong, had a decent chin, reasonable hand speed and semi-reasonable foot movement, James Tillis, James “bonecrusher” Smith and Tony Tucker come to mind.
Ali, in a 21 year span as a heavyweight professional shared numerous rounds with big hitters like Liston, Williams, Frazier, Foreman and perhaps the hardest hitter in history Earnie Shavers and was never counted out.
Ali, IMO had the greatest chin in heavyweight history and even when knocked down had perhaps the biggest heart in heavyweight history, topped with amazing recouperative powers, who else could have took that left hook from Joe Frazier in round 15 after a close and brutal fight and get up to finish the fight?
A prime Ali would have won the fight before they even entered the ring, and danced his way to either a stoppage or unaminous decision. In fact, a prime Larry Holmes would have beat Tyson too.
thats why tyson will never be a great champion , having sex while his opponents are out there busting there guts out training , ali and frazier gave up sex for 8 weeks before every championship fight – mental willpower , could anyone on this web site do that for anything , NO . tyson doesnt belong with the greats ,just a mere mortal like us.no discipline.
A prime Ali would have beat prime Tyson.Ali on the back foot,no hanging on the ropes or Tyson would have killed him
To put it quiet simply anybody name one great fighter in his prime that Tyson beat. The first time that he got in the ring with a great fighter he got knocked the f–k out. I’m talking about Holyfield.
tyson had better footwork / speed than
liston / foreman and frazier. and more power than frazier,
floyd patterson is nothing like mike tyson you dumb dog.
every boxing fan knows if ALI G.O.A.T gets hit but TYSON. ALI would ger KO’ed
period.
but ALI to win on points.
lets talk about tyson, in his prime.
before he went prison or the downfall.
dont ever mention lewis/ williams /mcbride beating tyson, evert soul nows tyson would rip of anybody’s head during his prime.
p.s:
when douglas was running 6miles, tyson was having sex with the japanise chicks,
thats all that happend. sad but true.
tyson didnt train for the douglas fight.
he destroyed all the opponents after douglas when he trained well.
ali would never stop tyson.
tyson would never beat ali on points.
if ali gets caught, ali would gte KO’d
but ali to win by points
ALI’s prime fight = ali vs clevland williams > tyson wouldent catch ali, therefore ali to win by points.
TYSON’s prime fight = trever berbick
> ali would take a left to the body & uppercut, and ali has been on the canves loads of times, and tyson is not slow or stupid like foreman or liston.
I love discussions like this, especially the way some people get all personal and insulting to each other about something NOBODY can prove one way or the other – because the fight itself will never happen.
A lot of people look back on Ali with seriously overzealous sentimentality and cannot accept that he could ever lose, despite the fact that he did.
It all depends how old you are and who you grew up supporting – don’t forget each generation considers their own champ to be the best (just look at all the fanfare for the Klitschkos on this site). My Dad for example always said that Dempsey would beat all of the champs.
All in all, these are always fun discussions, but pointless.
these comments are extremely misinformed.ali was never knocked out by cooper and saved by the bell.he was knocked down at the bell in the 4th and got up at like the 3 count he then stopped him in the next round,and that wasnt his prime the fight only went that long becos ali made a 5th round ko prediction and after having cut cooper early started messing around.get your facts right people.
this is a differant era of boxing, also Ali was in his prime much longer than Iron mike . in a battle of will Ali would win every day of the week. Ali lost more round to frazier than he won over the 3 fight and Iron Mike has the same sort of swarming style . but again this is Ali not in his prime so the question is still out there and down to personal opinion
Tyson was faster on foot than Frazier and the only punch frazier had was a left hook an amazing one yes but tyson had more variety he had great reflexes ali was brilliant at getting out the was of 1,2,3 punches but not 4,5,6 tyson would have found Ali in 5 rounds then taken him apart.
All the idiots on here saying that Tyson would ko Ali with one punch must be about 11 years old. Ali took shots from Frazier, Foreman ans shavers who all punched as hard if not harder than Tyson. When I said Ali beat and lost to better fighters than Tyson I mean Ali beat better opposition and lost to better opposition than Tyson who beat mediocre opposition and lost to some good and some poor fighters. Not saying that the guys Ali lost to were better than Tyson himself.
I agree with perko 100%
Ali didnt get intimidated by pre-fight trash talk, he is the one that intimidated folks. Also, Ali had the uncanny ability to get into your head in the ring. Tyson would be off his game in no time, & Ali would just do what he always did…play with him, until he felt like ending the bout. I’d have it Ali winning in whatever round he felt like it.
prime ali versus prime tyson , sell the house , car , cash in my superannuation and get the largest personal loan the banks will give me , put the lot on ali . result live the life of riley and never have to work again , alis odds of winning are the same as the sun coming up over the eastern horizon tomorrow morning , a certainty,could and would not lose.
If they were in their prime and the fight was made, you’d have to consider the whole experience. Ali would out-talk Tyson in pre-fight meetings and Tyson will do is intimidating walk in the ring. They were both fast, but I think Ali was faster… being faster and having the height and reach advantage would allow Ali to begin to pick Tyson apart. Tyson’s constant pressure would allow him to get some big blows in. Will Ali hold up or will Tyson. This is when the fight becomes a match of will and I believe Ali has the ultimate advantage. Many of his victories (against great fighters) in the latter part of his career was won by will, while Tyson was not able to impose his will in the latter part of his career.
There’s alot of talk here about Tyson before and after his mental breakdown.Ali never had one.If Holyfield could frustrate Iron Mike after five rounds what would Ali do! If Ali could get up after that left he took in the FIFTEENTH round against Frazier,I dont see mike hitting him with much before round five.Ali in 11.
i dont care who beat the best fighters ime just saying if prime ali vs prime tyson ever happend tyson would walk straight through him all it takes is 1 shot
Like a few of the guys on here have said, Cus D’Amato created possibly the best heavyweight fighter that ever walked in Mike Tyson. Ali was beaten by Frazier fair and square. So keeping that in context I believe that Tyson could beat a prime Ali, after all Henry Cooper did, but Ali got the right bounce and was saved by the bell.
Howerver over all I agree that Ali and Tyson were the greatest fighters to ever enter the ring.
Ali would own Tyson. He wouldnt just beat him, he would make him look & feel like a fool.
I cant believe anyone could possibly think that Mike Tyson would ever have a chance agianst Ali in his prime.
Be sure to tell Buster Douglas that in his prime Tyson was unbeatable.
All it comes down to is this.. The reason Tyson will never crack top 20 list of top heavyweights is because he couldn’t the other two dominant heavyweights of his era which was Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis.. If he beats them then he’s easily top 15 or top 10 but the best person he beat was Spinks..
What! “Ali beat better fighters than Tyson and lost to better fighters than Tyson”…That is the most rediculous thing i have ever heard! How do you call these two the greatest and have the nerve to write that statement. Tyson was the best boxer period. Cus d’Amato created the most incredible boxer of all time in Tyson. You can call other boxers Ali-like but you can not call other fighters Tyson-like, he had incredible defense, incredible offense… he was the embodiment of a boxing…coming forward and hitting without getting hit…
when tyson first one the belt animal
nobody would beat a prime mike tyson even ali could you only imagine what tyson would of done to fraiser i think ali would of beat him when he lost his head abit after he got locked up a few years after that
Ali vs Tyson would be very similar to Ali vs Foreman. Ali has the brains and ring generalship to adjust to fighter. Tyson on the other hand only has one style of fighting, and that is to aggressively stalk his opponents. Ali would knock Tyson out in the 7th or 8th round, when Tyson gets frustrated, and desperately opens himself up. Every opponent that was not afraid of Tyson, beat him with ease.
Correction,
Ali was beaten by Frazier and knocked out by Henry Cooper and saved by the bell. In all fairness Ali chased down the best opposition in the world and at the time thre was better opposition available, such
as Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, George Chuvalo, Jimmy Ellis, George Foreman and many others who would easily be champions in todays world. But in all Fairness Mike Tyson was a very special fighter in his own right and likely would have been a champion in any era.
Broadhurst is very convincing. He should have bee
a Philadelphia lawyer. And he is right, Ali was in a leage of his own. But Tyson was just as talented.
Tyson always gave up the advantages in height, weight and reach. And, don’t forget Ali was beaten by Tyson and knocked out by Henry Cooper, but saved by the bell. So, at the end of the day I do agree that Ali took on better opposition than Tyson, but that the fight between them could be won by either man.
I think it could of gone either way. For me a prime Tyson 87-90 KO’s Ali early rounds, based on how devastating Tyson was back then. Ali struggled against the likes of Smokin Joe, and Tyson in his prime, drew similarities to Joe, but was quicker and IMO had more devastating punch power. If Ali could survive the opening 3-4 rounds he wins on points, but I just think a young prime Iron Mike gets to him early on.
What a load of rubbish, Tyson in his prime would have knocked out Ali in his prime. I am a big fan of both fighters but Tyson by knock out 100%