Why Muhammad Ali would beat Tyson

By Boxing News - 10/11/2009 - Comments

ali4334By 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.

When Ali Was in his prime he had amazing footwork, against London and Williams he was Barely hit and could also punish his opponents at will (Patterson and Terrel). Ali also had amazingly fast hands, faster than Tyson, Patterson and any other heavyweight we have even seen. Perhaps and underrated part of Ali’s offensive anrsenal was his power, Ali did have a lot more power than many though.

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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