Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson

@giliad: He tried to flirt with Teddy Atlas's 12 year old niece when he was 16; not rape her. Teddy Atlas threatened him at gunpoint, probably wasn't capable of beating him up.

@giliad: That's a myth unless he was a child and got accused of some other crime.

Ali wins in the ring.

Tyson bites his ear off in the street.

Well i must have mixed up 2 instances and be uninformed about the dad beating him up but Tyson was convicted of rape, at least i'm pretty sure he was?

@giliad: Oh, Tyson is convicted of rape. But the father of the victim never touched him at all. I don't know where you got that from.

i think i may have heard about the father beating him up (turns out he pulled a gun on him so don't ask me how that was twisted) to him and heard about his rape conviction put 1 & 1 together and made 7 ;)

prime mike Tyson will win round 1 in a very good fight. Mike just to srong to fast to skilled. round 2: mike has a big advenge here and he plays dierty. mike teaks this with mid difculty

Prime Ali would beat Prime Mike

Former GG boxer here. Tyson takes both in his prime. Tyson really wasnt amazing because of his punching power. He was redonk because of his hand speed and his aggressiveness. He would get in close early and rock you with shots that came out of nowhere. If youve ever played around with your buddies, a shot you are expecting you can take. A shot half the power but you werent, will take you down. Tyson's ability to come up quick and hit in close was unique. Ali has better speed, but would never have come across glove speed like that. Tyson fell off because prison made him hit the weights too hard which gave him thick muscle, instead of the fast twitch muscle he had when he dominated. Dropped him off a lot.

just saying this thread is neat

Two different time periods and I refuse to believe the sport itself evolved so little that Ali would beat Mike who reigned years later.

Here are a few opinions on this matchup worth noting:

Alis own heavyweight rankings place himself first, Jack Johnson second and Joe Louis in third place. Even before Mike Tysons shocking loss to James Buster Douglas, Ali said in private about Tyson, "He's predictable, the way he moves his head. He has fast hands, but hes slow on his feet and my hands were faster than his. The way to beat Tyson is with a fast jab, a hard right hand, and if he hits you, you have to be able to take a punch."

Larry Holmes, who fought Tyson when "Iron Mike" was at his peak, says, "Ali would have slapped Tyson all over the ring. Tyson hits hard but he's a bully, and Ali had a way of dealing with them. Can you imagine the things Ali would have said about Tyson before that fight? Hed have made Tyson so mad, Tyson would have been running into the ropes when they started the fight."

Holmes view of Alis ring supremacy is shared by Tysons early boxing family. Jose Torres and Floyd Patterson were guided to world titles by Tysons mento, Cus Damato. Bill Cayton served with Jim Jacobs as Tysons first co-managers. Kevin Rooney and Teddy Atlas worked with D'amato as Tysons trainers. When asked to match Ali in his prime against the best Tyson has been to date, all five said Ali would prevail.

Jose Torres

"You cant explain Ali in a conventional way because he consistently did the wrong thing in the ring. He didnt bend down, he didnt go to the body, he punched going backwards. He held his hands too low, he pulled straight back from punches. He didnt even throw combinations, he threw punches in flurries. And then he would win for two reasons - speed and magic.

Against Liston, Ali wanted to quit because of his eyes, but he got pushed out by Angelo Dundee and he wins. Its magic. Against Foreman he had no business to win, but he destroyed Foremans mind like a wizard. Its magic. If Ali at his best fought the best Mike Tyson, Mike would have more power, but there would be too much magic. Because of Cus, my heart would be with Tyson. But Ali would box Mike for 12 rounds, 15 rounds as many rounds as you want easily."

Floyd Patterson

"I dont want to say anything derogatory about anybody. All I know is, anybody who moves like Clay moved is going to give his opponent a lot of problems. Ive seen Tyson with guys who moved a bit, and he had difficulty, so imagine putting him in there with Clay. Mike can be hit with the left jab if you time it properly. I dont think he would have gotten by Clays left. And he wouldnt have knocked Clay out, because Clay took a very good punch and almost never got hit. Clay beats Tyson.

Bill Cayton

"I honestly believe that Mike Tyson at his best was the second greatest heavyweight of all time, but he wasnt Muhammad Ali. Mike is quick, but Ali was quicker. Mike had power but Ali had the greatest chin ever. And Mike unfortunately is prone to frustration, which would be his achilles heel against Ali, because Ali was the best fighter in history at playng mind games with his opponent. If Ali in his prime fought Mike at his best, i see Ali winning a decision;say eight rounds to four, or nine rounds to three."

Kevin Rooney

"Ali had that special belief in himself that allowed him to impose his will on other fighters. This is a guy who took on three of the toughest heavyweights in history, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman and beat them 5 out of 6 and when he fought Frazier and Foreman he wasnt even in his prime.

The young Ali would have frustrated Mike. I see Ali coming out, jabbing, moving talking alot. If Mike had me in his corner and his head was screwed on right, it would be close. Id advise Mike to keep his hands high, be elusive, slip, move in; whenever possible work the body. Lots of feints, because Ali was a terrific counterpuncher. Believe it or not, id work the jab even if it ws to Alis chest. It would have been an interesting fight, with both guys missing alot. But even with Mike at his best, id give the edge to Ali"

Teddy Atlas

"Ali at his best beats Tyson at his best. At his core, Ali is a much stronger, more stable person. Probably the way hed have fought Mike was to rely on what he did best: jab, score from the outside, stay off the ropes, show a lot of side to side movement, neutralize the pressure, make Mike pay when he missed, tie him up when he got inside. After a while, Mike would get anxious and he would be throwing one punch at a time. Then i think hed break down mentally, which is the area where Ali was the strongest. And when that happened, Ali would start putting punches together to punch Mike downhill even more. Finally when the time was right without it being too dangerous, Ali would give Mike a reason to fall. I think Ali would knock him out around the ninth or tenth round. But before that, Mike might get so discouraged and beaten mentally that hed quit the way Liston quit".

@bullettimer: ali

I agree with all of these so much^..

I'd like to bring about a point not often discussed when comparing mythical boxing matches: the era it occurs in.

If this fight occurs in the 60-70s, it heavily favors Ali. Tyson, early on, will dish out serious punishment. Ali has a granite chin and can absorb it; he's done it before. The refs, however, back in Ali's time were more prone to allow someone to take a beating and not stop the fight.

In Tyson's era, the refs were far more inclined to stop a fight based on punishment received.

What this means is that the odds of a Tyson victory would increase if held today, versus being held in Ali's prime time period.

(Just to be clear, does not mean Tyson would win, only increases his odds of winning).

I would favor Ali over Tyson in all eras.

@instantkarma1: I still like my answer better, but this is a great one. Not saying I change, but great response!

So hard to tell. Depend on what version of Ali too. If Ali is the one after the jail who have lost to Frazier I give this match to Tyson. Tyson is stronger and faster than Frazier. If was the version of Ali during Liston fight can be either way. So hard to pick one of theme.

Tyson.

Ali is the greatest of all time in his prime. Tyson is not even in the second seat in terms of ratings while Ali is at the top 1.

There is no way Ali would lose to someone like Buster Douglas let alone getting himself KOed by him in the ring. And that fight happened before Tyson's prison sentence, so you can't even make an excuse for that.

Tyson would starch Ali. I really hate when people can't realize we as a species only get better with time in all sports. Look at any sport where accurate records are kept and easily quantifiable (unlike boxing). Tyson is a much different beast than Ali but Ali has godhood status so nobody will ever surpass him when people make public statements (it's very different behind closed doors I find). No matter how great a boxer ever is produced nobody will ever say anybody is better than Ali. It's romanticizing history and hero worshiping at its finest.

Prime Ali has a longer reach and same tier of speed but slightly faster than any form of Tyson, but Prime Tyson has more power in his strikes. Ali would tag Tyson more than not.

Mike both rounds