could tyson have beat ali if tyson fought like he fought mitch green?

[Verstyle]

Because Mike is not Joe Frazier and did not fight like Frazier. Mike did have good defense and did bob and weave very well in his prime; but he was always a fast starter and could have the pace dictated to him after the initial furry of the first few rounds. Joe started slow and picked up momentum as the fight went on.

Correct me if I'm wrong because it's been a long time since I've seen any part of the Green fight; but didn't it involve Mitch flurrying a little, Mike dodging and ducking and getting on the inside...where Mitch would quasi-tie him up, then free one hand here and the other there to throw shots at Tyson from the inside?

Ali did not fight like that. Ali fought from long range almost exclusively because he wasn't a good infighter and he had the speed to avoid punches pretty easily from long range. MIke really wasn't an inside fighter, he was more of a mid-range fighter and Frazier was almost exclusively an inside fighter. Joe's job was to work his way into your chest and beat on you until your guard came down so he could take your head off with that hook. Mike's job was to bob and weave and make you miss while inching deceptively closer and then explode with four or five murderous counters once he got his feet set....but Mitch kind of made hiim fight on the inside, which is where Mike wasn't comfortable and was least effective because he couldn't get full leverage on his punches from that close....which is primarily why Mitch lasted the distance.

Ali, on the other hand, fought you from the outside behind a stinging jab which blinded you and nailed you as you came in. If you got too close, he'd tie you up until the referee broke you up.

Mike's style against Green was due mostly to what Green was doing because Mike was not really proactive when his opponent was.

ok theres good points there. but i still think it would be an interesting fight.

[K-DOGG]

ok theres good points there. but i still think it would be an interesting fight.

I never said it wouldn't be intereting! An Ali-Tyson showdown would be beyond interesting....FAR BEYOND. lol!!!!!

[butterfly1964]

ok your right. i didnt realize the dates he fought them. but his chin still wasnt good before the frazier fight.(thats what i should have said instead of adding the word prime) sorry bout that.

In 1966-1967, his chin was as good as it ever would be, IMO.

[The Surgeon]

Vesatile2k6 I agree wit pretty much everything uve said throughout this whole thread

[The Surgeon]

He weighed 194½ against banks, so that's definetely not his prime. Plus, his style wasn't perfected at that time as he was not really a defensive fighter, he would still trade punches. Lter on, he worked on his defense a lot. And against Cooper he was only 21, and had skinny arms, that wasn't his prime either.

Didnt we hav this arguement in an another thread and u said weight didnt have **** to do with taking a punch? Think it was u anyway. But yeah this was defo not his prime!

[Franko]

remember before frazier his chin wasnt great neither

His chin was no different prior to Frazier. When was he knocked out? And don't spring Henry's Hammer on me because despite the circumstances, Ali got up and won the fight!
Zora Folley, Sonny Liston and George Chuvalo couldn't knock him out! Hardly the basis to form an opinion that Ali's chin weren't that good prior to Frazier 1.

[BKM-]

Maybe, but i bet Foreman and his arsenal of fanboys might agree that Tyson and Ali would lose to George in 1 ring.

[Verstyle]

His chin was no different prior to Frazier. When was he knocked out? And don't spring Henry's Hammer on me because despite the circumstances, Ali got up and won the fight!
Zora Folley, Sonny Liston and George Chuvalo couldn't knock him out! Hardly the basis to form an opinion that Ali's chin weren't that good prior to Frazier 1.

couldnt k.o him but he still was hurt and knocked down alot more before he fought frazier and to much weaker opposition.

[K-DOGG]

On the "chin" issue.....Chins don't get better with time. If anything, they get worse like a piece of granite that you pound on with a sledge over and over again over a period of years....sooner or later, it's going to crack.

You either have whiskers or you don't. Ali getting dropped early in his career had more to do with him always being on his toes than anything else. When he got older, he knew he couldn't "Float Like a Butterfly" as much any more, so he had his feet planted more often. That, and he'd acquired the confidence of knowing he had a good chin from all the times he'd taken a solid shot. A young fighter, or a young Ali, to be more specific, didn't want to get hit and didn't know he could take a punch because he rarely had to; and, despite all of that outward bravado, was human and had self-doubts on the inside. Not knowing you can take a punch can get you knocked down just as surely as not believing in yourself can cost you a fight.

[BKM-]

I dont know why you guys argue about ''Prime Ali''s chin. Wether it was the same or not, with his kind of reflexes, he wouldn't have to worry about it that much. It was after he became slower where we could see his chin getting tested and how good it was.