Jones vs Brannon

[robertzimmerman]

Prime Ali would surely have beaten Tyson over 15 rounds. Tyson's distance stamina over 12 rounds is a touch under rated (he kept good pace with Tucker and Ruddock 2), but he was known for a mid rounds lull!

15 rounds with Ali (who paced the distance very well) would be a touch ambitious. But I think Ali would have some serious scares over the first 5 rounds with prime Tyson.

As for Ali psyching Tyson out. Both were pretty good at the mind games. Its interesting to think what angle Ali would take with Tyson. Ali would almost certainly ridicule his lisp and no doubt criticise his appearance......but I'm not sure that the 'dumb ignorant Uncle Tom' routine that he used with Frazier would wind up Tyson quite so much, not in the 80s anyway. Tyson would be starting fast regardless of any taunting.

I'm not one who buys into the popular belief that all you had to do to make Tyson mentally crumble was stand up to the bully. Between 1985 and incarceration he didn't show much in the way of mental weaknesses in the ring. Against Buster Douglas he took his beating like a man and didn't try to foul or quit out. He nearly pulled off one of the better come from behind victories in the eighth round too. Plenty of opponents stood up to Tyson and were simply outgunned (Tillis, Green, Ferguson, Biggs, Tubbs, Tucker, Holmes, Bruno and Ruddock). Ruddock in particular landed some scary blows.

The signs of mental weakness came after incarceration......to be fair after the first Holyfield fight (in which he again took his beating well); bitten ears, legs, attempts at breaking arms in clinches, crazy behaviour in press conferences, threatening to eat kids etc!!!!

In Tyson's prime I think he'd have simply lost a competitive decision to Ali without much drama.

Great post!

I really enjoyed reading it.

With regards to an Ali vs Tyson fight, I don't think Mike would have been intimidated etc in the build up.

But I think Ali could have broken him mentally during the fight. I agree entirely that the first five rounds would have been extremely dangerous for Ali. But if Ali got past 5, dancing on his toes, I think he'd have started taunting Mike, and that would have been the beginning of the end.

[Sugarj]

Great post!

I really enjoyed reading it.

With regards to an Ali vs Tyson fight, I don't think Mike would have been intimidated etc in the build up.

But I think Ali could have broken him mentally during the fight. I agree entirely that the first five rounds would have been extremely dangerous for Ali. But if Ali got past 5, dancing on his toes, I think he'd have started taunting Mike, and that would have been the beginning of the end.

Nice one fella.

For all the bashing Tyson gets on the site. There is no bigger fantasy match in history than prime Ali vs prime Tyson. I think their styles would gel really well.

[robertzimmerman]

Nice one fella.

For all the bashing Tyson gets on the site. There is no bigger fantasy match in history than prime Ali vs prime Tyson. I think their styles would gel really well.

Yes, I think if I could pick any fantasy fight, it would probably be this one.

Have a good Christmas mate!

[Sugarj]

Yes, I think if I could pick any fantasy fight, it would probably be this one.

Have a good Christmas mate!

Thanks bud.....and you too. Lets hope 2014 is a good year for boxing!!!

[Ham Porter]

In Jones' defense, Tarver hadn't done a damn thing until that point.

He might not have, but what had Gonzalez, Woods, Hall, Kelly and Frazier done up till that point when they were made mandatories? Gonzalez, Woods and possibly even Hall turned out to be credible wins for Jones in hindsight, but Jones and Muhammad never took the same stance with those guys like he did with Tarver.

[robertzimmerman]

He might not have, but what had Gonzalez, Woods, Hall, Kelly and Frazier done up till that point when they were made mandatories? Gonzalez, Woods and possibly even Hall turned out to be credible wins for Jones in hindsight, but Jones and Muhammad never took the same stance with those guys like he did with Tarver.

That's fair enough. But they only put Tarver and Harding in the eliminator, on the promise that Roy had to fight the winner.

If Tarver had beaten Harding, Roy would have fought Tarver in 2000.