Muhammad Ali Vs Mike Tyson – Who Wins?
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By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
June 3rd will mark two years since boxing lost its biggest ever star, the one who called himself “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali. It is also the month “The baddest man on the planet” celebrates his birthday, that man is of course, Mike Tyson.
No other sport in the world can lay claim to creating names as big as Ali and Tyson, the two are instantly recognizable across the globe and long after retirement they were and are still household names.
Arguably the biggest fantasy match up in boxing has been the question of who would win if a prime Muhammad Ali fought a peak Mike Tyson. In this article, I am going to attempt to give my opinion on who I believe would have won in a meeting between the two biggest icons of the sport.
Before I go on, I will say that Ali and Tyson are my two all time favorite boxers, so I don’t particularly have a bias towards one or the other. Let’s also not forget the respect each had for the other, Ali at times said Tyson would have beaten him, Tyson would say Ali would have got the better of him. This was the mutual respect they gave each other and both were great boxers who transcended the sport and have created a legacy which will last as long as boxing itself.
Although I will be looking at their careers as a whole, the peak period for Ali would be the Ali of 1966-67 who fought Ernie Terrell, Cleveland Williams and Zora Foley. For Tyson, his peak was really up until his shock defeat at the hands of Buster Douglas. So let’s get into some key match up areas between the two, styles make fights so here is my run down of ‘float like a butterfly sting like a bee’ against ‘I want to eat your heart and I want to eat your children’.
Styles
Muhammad Ali was fast, 50yrs after being banned in 1967 an Ali in his 20’s is still the fastest heavyweight to ever grace the sport. Ali didn’t just have fast hands, but he had fast feet too and he used both to dazzle his opponents, constantly moving around the ring whilst flicking out lightning fast jabs. Tyson though, was a master of evading and countering the jab. His relatively short height for the heavyweight division meant his peak a boo style was perfect for getting under taller fighters and closing the gap where he would unleash hell on his opponents in the forms of hooks and uppercuts. Ali though had easily twice beaten a former champion trained in the peak a boo style by Cus D’Amato. Yes, Floyd Patterson was past his best on both occasions and he was no Mike Tyson, but let’s not forget that Tyson did at times struggle against boxers who could stick and move. Ali’s reach advantage of 7in would give Tyson the kind of problems he faced in the James “Quick” Tillis and Buster Douglas fights. There were also his struggles against Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis later on in his career, guys who would use the jab, were able to move and then tie you up, exactly as Ali would no doubt have done to Tyson.
The advantage Tyson has would be his ability to throw a great left hook. Ali at times would give it away if attempting to throw the right uppercut, which would give Tyson an opportunity to land his own left hook, but overall, the clash of styles belongs in Ali’s favour.
Power
This is one area where there isn’t really even a debate, Mike Tyson was one of the most destructive and explosive punchers in history. Ali was not a puncher, his punches combined with their speed had a cumulative effect, how many first round knock outs did Ali have? Tyson could destroy you early and had plenty of one round KO’s. There have been punchers who hit harder than Tyson, boxers with faster hands than Tyson, but no one has been able to combine speed and power like Tyson did, certainly not in the heavyweight division.
There is just one problem though with an argument for Tyson knocking out Ali and that problem is Ali’s chin. Ali stepped inside the ring with three of the biggest punchers in history, Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Earnie Shavers and none of the three were even able to knock Ali down let alone even beat him so what makes anyone think Tyson could knock out Ali? This leads me nicely on to my next point….
Mental Strength
Tyson may have been the most intimidating fighter the world has ever seen, not for nothing was he labelled as the baddest man on the planet, he often defeated his opponents before they had even entered the ring, but if he couldn’t bully you, Tyson would struggle to impose his will as the fight wore on and went into the later rounds. Ali though, was a master of the mental side of the game and used these skills perfectly when faced with fighters who were seen as the most intimidating of their times, Liston in the 60’s and then Foreman in the 70’s. No boxer could outsmart Ali, would Mike Tyson, who could be a loose cannon at the best of times, be able to handle the jibes Ali directed at him in the build up to the fight? Would Ali’s taunts throw Tyson off his game plan and straight into the trap Ali had laid for him?
There is also the argument that had Cus D’Amato been in his corner for longer, Tyson could have become the best ever. But Ali fought against Jimmy Ellis, and his trainer Angelo Dundee wasn’t in the corner for Ali, but for Jimmy Ellis! When it comes to mental strength, very few boxers could compete with Ali.
Stamina
How does a fighter respond when he is dragged into deep waters? How does he fight when in the last few championship rounds when he has absolutely nothing left in the tank and it becomes a battle of wills, who wants it more? Ali was involved in numerous wars, most notably the ‘thrilla in manila’ against Joe Frazier, he was no stranger to 15 rounds fights even if he was injured such as against Ken Norton when Ali sustained a broken jaw or going deep into the fight to come out on top such as in Manila or against Oscar Bonavena.
Ali could also pick himself up off the canvas and come back even stronger to claim victory, case in point against Henry Cooper and Sonny Banks. Tyson though, would noticeably slow and lose his head movement as the rounds wore on, did Tyson ever come from behind to win a fight or did he ever pick himself up off the canvas to win? Tyson’s game plan was not to fight in the later rounds and he did a pretty good job of getting most of opponents out of there early, Tyson just wanted to win the fight as quickly as possible, which he often did. If these were three round fights like in the amateurs, Tyson would have retired undefeated!
Competition
Ali ruled the heavyweight division when it was going through its golden era. The 60’s and 70’s were a peak time for heavyweight boxing, there were all time greats such as Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Ali would beat them all, 5 out 6 times to be precise. Ali took on everyone and never shied away from a challenge, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton, Floyd Patterson, Archie Moore, Ali’s resume is full of great names. Tyson on the other hand, would struggle against the great names he faced, such as Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Sure he was past his prime by then, but a past his prime Ali was still able to defeat the likes of Frazier, Norton and Foreman.
Unfortunately for Tyson, the heavyweight division could only experience a decline after the highs of the 70’s so despite his dominance, Tyson’s competition just wasn’t as stiff as Ali’s – there is also the small matter of Tyson not fighting two boxers who would have answered some of these questions, Tim Witherspoon in the 80’s and George Foreman in the 90’s. Having said this, I don’t think Ali would have been keen on fighting Foreman again either….
Final RESULT – The Greatest or The Baddest?
The decision? A man like Tyson would always have a chance, his ferocious fighting style meant there was always the possibility he would catch you and if Tyson caught you, you were in real trouble, punches at speed and punches in bunches, Tyson had the ultimate killer instinct for a boxer, but when it comes to fighting ‘the greatest’, in my opinion Ali’s movement, able to dance 3 minutes for every one of 15 rounds would be too much for Tyson. Ali would weather the inevitable early storm from Tyson and begin to pick him off from the outside with his machine gun like jabs. Expect Ali to wear Tyson down before stepping on the gas in the later rounds when he sensed Tyson was tiring and getting frustrated – Ali wins by either a late stoppage or a wide points decision. Tyson’s best chance would be timing the left hook as Ali lowered his right uppercut, much like Joe Frazier, similar in style and stature did to Ali in the fight of the century but a prime Ali would be just too quick in every sense of the word.
Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
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