Tyson VS Ali in Eaches Prime

[hoopsie44]

Well said.

[DeMaci]

Tyson

[nutshot2]

Ali. Not close, for all of the reasons stated above. Who did Tyson fight that remotely compares to Ali's opponents?

[SNOWBALL]

Tyson's game on the inside was EXCELLENT, however, Ali's footwork, and evasion more than makes up for that. I think Ali Rope-A-dopes Tyson and wins in the sixt round or something similar to what he did to Foreman in Zaire.

Like other have said, and like Tyson has admitted, he just didn't have the heart to tough it out in hard situations. Ali would be a nightmare for him, skillwise, and psychologically. I make Ali at least a 2:1 underdog here, but not a mortal lock. It's entirely possible that Tyson could get semi-lucky cutting off the ring, and ruining Ali's legs with body shots. The amount of power tyson had in his body shots on the inside is really ridiculous.

IMO Tyson is a tougher match for Ali than Foreman, because Tyson is better at getting to the inside than Foreman was. Foreman still beats Tyson if they matched up though obv. I'm NOT saying Tyson > Foreman. I'm just saying that Tyson's speed gives him a nice shot at upsetting Ali.

[baumer]

Balboa, ainec.

[Jasper109]

90% of Tyson's victories were inside the first 2 rounds against opponents that were basically club fighters.

They weren't able to defend themselves against a guy with as much power as Tyson.

Any talented heavyweight that could "box" (see list above) would survive the initial onslaught and then would easily win after Tyson shot his load and had nothing left aftter the 3rd round.

[Rolen]

As someone has already mentioned, Ali in his prime was in jail. We never saw the best of him and what we did see would've destroyed Tyson.

[Blarg]

Ali's psychological edge is definitely huge. Tyson crumbled when he felt at all in trouble, and Ali was fantastic at making opponents feel out of their depth and like their game was off that night. Tyson's resolve crumbled and he went into shock when Holyfield not only wasn't scared of him, but was able to get away from jabs Tyson was sure were going to land. Ali would have been even better at evading than Holyfield, and would have pounced pitilessly on any psychological weakness or confusion on Tyson's part. Ali was superb at the mental game and Tyson really didn't know how to play any of it, in his whole life, besides scaring people.

Ali psychologically devastated Foreman for decades in only one fight. Foreman was the Rock of Gibraltar psychologically compared to Tyson. Tyson would have walked out psychologically destroyed.

Ali was definitely a true gamesman, and often not a cool and above-board one. He could be a real sh*t, and I bet he would have gone all out to punk Tyson. In Ali's mind, the ideal black man was a hyper-organized, restrained, orderly black muslim; in Tyson's, it was a strutting thug. Ali would come in with vengeance and pride to set the record straight on that matter. That match might be one where Ali didn't just want to win, but wanted to hurt the guy.

. Ali would start wearing away at opponents for weeks before the fight ever began, and during the fight would always be whispering into their ears during a clinch, telling them they didn't quite have it

[Mike Gallo]

That match might be one where Ali didn't just want to win, but wanted to hurt the guy.

Excellent point !!

Ali went out of his way not to knock out Floyd Patterson because he viewed Patterson as an "uncle Tom". Ali could have knocked out Patterson anytime after round five, however Ali continued to punish Patterson for the next seven rounds.

Patterson refused to call him Mohamammad Ali instead of Cassius Clay. Patterson said he would win the title for Americas. Ali took all this very personally and felt determined to destroy Patterson.

http://www.boxing-memorabilia.com/biopatterson1.htm

[2/325Falcon]

Ali bomaye, obv.