Show of Hands

I said Ali because, to my knowledge, his teeth never became a part of his fights.

Agreed, That he is.

Knock 'em out*

Ali couldn't take the power Tyson dealt.

Mike Tyson was a good fighter, but if he couldn't 'em out within the first two rounds he was usually done for. Ali on the other hand was the Greatest!

All I know about Tyson is that he bit off somebody's ear

Tyson is the best power striker in the history of the sport, plus he's fast and unpredictable. Tyson by KO In 2nd round.

Short of dead, he couldn't be much worse.

Tyson in the first round.

tyson cant beat ali, tyson can only fight when close to opponent

I know there are way more votes than comments but usually the comments reflect the poll results. But in this case it's extremely different.

IF Ali could get to round three...maybe.

Ali could float like a butterfly, but Tyson could sting like a Mack truck. I was lucky to have been able to watch both and believe that if Tyson could have connected on a couple of his power hits, then Ali would be a different person today.

Mike would Eat his Childwin.

Tyson was a puncher...Ali was a boxer.

Go Tyson!!
(I totally did NOT choose just by name)????

I actually voted for Tyson by his name :D

Yes, by evolve I did mean the fighters. And Tyson's career went downhill after Gus' death. And as to Ali's power, he didn't have the ability to knock anyone out unless it was through his great counter punching/accumulation

Not before "Robin Givens". He was a hungry monster before she messed him up.....

Boxing hadn't evolved that much. The athletes had though. Tyson's trainer was Cus D'Amato, an old school cat that trained fighters like Floyd Patterson. Ali did have devastating power, especially as a counter puncher. Just check out his second fight against Liston.

Anyone that has been in the fight game knows that there is a mental aspect to the sport. You come in against someone like Ali looking for a knock out, you will be gassed after a couple rounds. Tyson likely would have needed to set up his shots more. A one trick pony approach would not have worked.

Chemist, that is a ridiculous comment. You can't say that someone has no intelligence, and then proclaim that they would beat Ali. I give Tyson a little more credit than that.

Joe Louis was no slouch. Held the title over 10 straight years IIRC (13 years and 30+ wins after Schmelling gave him his first defeat).

Not in his prime !

Nonsense.
Tyson lost to every real fighter he faced

You can't get into someone's head when they don't have a brain! Tyson was one hell of a boxer and would have destroyed Ali.

Tyson would kill him and anybody else you put in front of him, in his prime.

You can't beat crazy.

He was not only a trash talker who called an opponent a primate because of his darker skin tone, but he was also extremely arrogant.
If he had class, his arrogance took precedence over it.

By the Tyson era. Much like MMA. New techniques, styles, and just plain different times, in my opinion gives Tyson the slim edge.

In their prime, I'd say Tyson. While Ali was very smart and quick, I don't think he would be able to handle Tyson's power, speed, and agility. Ali was never a devastating knockout artist, he was good at bringing you down through accumulation of punches. and not to mention, boxing had evolved a lot

Joking btw

Wasn't this on an episode of deadliest warrior...

that would just enrage Tyson and make him more dangerous

foreman was never as fast or as smart, in the ring, as Tyson.

Losing to buster Douglas is bad but thats what happens when your coked up and partying instead of thinking about a fight. Tyson may not have been 10 times better than Frazier but they were similar. short aggressive hard hitting. and Tyson was a better version IMO

Ali would win for sure because he beat George Forman and Forman hit just as hard as Tyson. It's called the rope a dope.

I love a good boxing match between two fighters who know how to box. You're absolutely right. Boxing is beautiful if you know the ins and outs.
MMA is pretty cool too although a little more brutal. Still a lot of skill involved in different ways though.

No argument Tyson was a machine, but let's be honest. Tyson was not 10 times better than Frazier. If we are going to look at losses in their prime, I think I would rather lose to Frazier than Buster Douglas, who was 100 times the fighter Frazier was. Who did Tyson beat anyways? A washed up Holmes?

Another overlooked advantage Ali would have is the psychological and mental advantage. Ali could get into an opponents head like no other. Read the stories about Ali showing up at Liston's house, calling him a big ugly bear, calling Foreman an Uncle Tom, etc.

One of the things I learned boxing is if your not stronger then be faster and ali was faster and smarter. He played on people's flaws.

I think Ali because his foot work and hand speed would out do Tyson's power.

I watch boxing, when you understand it you see the sweet science. I refuse to watch mma because it is about being brutal.

my mom was in a rotating door with Muhammad Ali and his bodyguards once a long time ago.
she also used to see Fred Rogers walking on her way to work. but that's neither here nor there... :)

Men testing each others manliness has been going on since creation/evolution. Nice cover right?
So, why would we suddenly change? It's in our nature to be better, stronger, faster than the next person. Boxing is no different than chess, with gloves and missing teeth...etc.

It would be an amazing fight, Ali before the Vietnam military service and Tyson before jail and the robin Givens fiasco. Both had amazing hand speed, steel jaws and determination that was amazing. I give the edge to Ali, for pure boxing smarts alone. But it would make for an incredible fight

@praet, when would you have ever considered humans civilized? We are constantly killing each other over stupid crap. We are no where close to being civilized.

The question was "in their prime" right? Coming from a boxing family in the era of Mike Tyson and watching the black an white reels of Muhammad Ali and hearing stories this would be an epic battle but if I had to put down $$ it would be on Tyson (in his prime)

Frazier knocked Ali down and he didn't hit nowhere near as hard as Tyson.

Nostromo- what would you consider a boxer's 'prime,' then?
At the time of Holyfield-Tyson 1, Mike was 30 years old and 45-1. Sure, he had done federal time, but arguably showed no signs of waning skill at that point.