I think

I might be wrong

Ali was the master of 'Character' - and he knew he had to take a 'fight' to the powerful bullying style of Foreman. But that was Ali - to be as unorthodox and unpredictable as possible ...keep your opponent guessing. It was never really about technique. As for Fazier. Ali 'feared' Ernie Shackles the most because of his immense punching power - more powerful than Foreman or Frazier. Ali made it public that he never wanted to fight Ernie again. Ernie made Ali look bad. Even the crowd "Booed" Ali because Ernie was no fool. You could say he was a prototype of Tyson to come. If Ernie had gone past 8 rounds previously and was more technically sound and accurate like Tyson - he would have bombed Ali out in 3 Rounds. As always - Ali drawed the match out its entirety and kept a safe distance as much as possible. It was possibly the one match where Ali looked 'obvious' and not 'The Greatest'.

Tyson was devastating in his early prime. He was poo scared to begin with, but by the time he entered the ring - he just wanted to 'hurt' the opponent. Tyson was a very smart pugilist who studied hard the art of Pugilism and admired many such people like Dempsey, Ali and many more. Tyson put his faith in Boxing. Its well documented that Michael Spinks had the look of absolute fear when Tyson stepped in the Ring as did Larry Holmes who admitted it later. Tyson knew he had to be technically sound due to his size and it should with his devastating 1st round knockouts.
Could Tyson have beaten the likes of Lewis, Klitschko, Buster Douglas, Holyfield ??? If he wasn't hammered and ruined by others outside the Ring after he was left alone to fend for himself. He put his faith in Boxing to save him from crime and got beaten by the crime within Boxing.
Well, yes - except Holyfield ...possibly.
Holyfield was a 'small' Heavyweight like Tyson and not easily intimidated like the bigger guys were. Less vulnerable to that menacing 'upper-cut' that was Tyson's Ace of Spades.
Tyson played upon the 'Aura' of Fear and is still probably the best example of it because in truth he was never like that as a person. He was timid and shy, if not fearful of life itself. He took confidence in what he was taught and could do and used the 'Fear Factor' to to really drive home his ability. Only when he became drug-****ed and corrupted did his 'Fear-mongering' turn into being nothing but a little 'Bully' like Don King.

Klitchko just has a good long Jab like Lewis but Tyson in his prime would have been under and inside those jabs in a second with an upper-cut that 90% of the time was right on its intended mark.

Ali would beat Tyson 2-1. But Only because Ali has the Luxury of 12 Rounds. If it was a 4 round fight of intensity - then it would be Tyson winning 2-1 against Ali. Ali is a counter-puncher and with Tyson - most of the time you can't counter-punch from a canvas.
Ali would fear Tyson's Aura, but Tyson would be confused by Ali's characterising and mental attacks.

Personally though: Pound 4 Pound. Definately Pacquia is probably the true Perfection of Boxing. He is also the perfection of a new age of Boxing - the 'constant punching' effect. Probably first seen by Cazaleghe from the UK who pulverised Roy Jones Jr with a relentless barage of constant punching that although a weaker punch than Jones's  ...Jones Jr was a superb 'attacking' Puncher but poor defence and Cazaleghe showed that up easily and was the first Boxer to 'mock' Jones'es 'EGO' in the Ring. It was, in essence the fight that broke the Jones showboat.
Australia's Daniel 'The Real Deal' Geale is a constant puncher and easily outscored Mundine. I did some fitness at his gym for a short while and Geale was fast and relentless like a machine-gun ...the new age of Boxing = super-fit!!!

Pacquiao to beat Mayweather ...eventually.

I enjoyed that Baron..thats what you call fast!

Being nearly 54 i've seen the best SO far in boxers in my gen,including Ali but I dont rate him..sorry...Larry Holmes is mine I guess...Tyson was a fighter but no boxer...Evander Holyfield would be my next best in  heavies,

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 9:51pm:


Great read. I love Geale, but he didn't outclass Mundine that night. It was incredibly close, but I had Mundine in front. Cant see Mundine beating Geale again.

Bobby. wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 9:24pm:



Forget those other guys.
Ali is still the greatest.

Larry Holmes was really good and has the stats to prove it. But he was sooooo boring to watch. Just a mechanical robot that was technically sound.
Berbick had personality and fearlessness but was technically flawed considerably. When Berbick faced Tyson - it was the one rare occassion where Tyson faced someone who wanted to kill him more so. Berbick was insulted by Tyson's presence. Watching Tyson dismantle Berbick was like watching an 'Untouchable' (Beggar) defeat a higher-caste Brahman Indian.