What Heavies in Boxing History Do You Favor Over the Tyson Who Beat Spinks?

[acb]

And what version of them do you favor.

For example, I would take the Ali who beat Cleveland Williams to beat this Tyson.

[box03]

George Foreman that fought Joe Frazier the first time would of had a good shot at beating Tyson.

[Mistadobalina]

lewis who destroyed morrison

[Butch Coolidge]

At their best, Ali, Buster Douglas, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Ike Ibeabuchi

[Lostmykeys]

George Foreman.

Muhammed Ali.

I think he is at least 50/50 with everyone else.

[Amsterdam]

I favour no HW over a peak Tyson, the best shot stylistically and intangibles is Holyfield, but I feel Evander would lose a contested decision peak/peak.

Bowe may have a slight chance. Foreman just too slow for Tyson, Tyson is light years above Frazier in all around skill and ability and the Frazier-Foreman fights are not relative to Tyson-Foreman for that very reason, a peak Tyson could move in and out and unload on a peak Foreman with ease, what would the result be?

Ali, I can't get him being hit by much lesser fighters with ease out of my head, such as Zora Folley landing good straight rights. Tyson's speed was just insane at his peak, he'd just overwhelm Ali plain and simple in my opinion.

An overdone subject, but still a solid one for discussion.:good

[brooklyn1550]

Muhammad Ali
George Foreman
Sonny Liston

[thesandman]

My Mum could have beat Spinks that night. He fell over as soon as Tyson looked at him.

[DanePugilist]

I favour no HW over a peak Tyson, the best shot stylistically and intangibles is Holyfield, but I feel Evander would lose a contested decision peak/peak.

Bowe may have a slight chance. Foreman just too slow for Tyson, Tyson is light years above Frazier in all around skill and ability and the Frazier-Foreman fights are not relative to Tyson-Foreman for that very reason, a peak Tyson could move in and out and unload on a peak Foreman with ease, what would the result be?

Ali, I can't get him being hit by much lesser fighters with ease out of my head, such as Zora Folley landing good straight rights. Tyson's speed was just insane at his peak, he'd just overwhelm Ali plain and simple in my opinion.

An overdone subject, but still a solid one for discussion.:good:good - The prime of Tyson was the best the world has yet seen. Too bad it was so short lived. I blame Don King, and the demise of Cus d'Amato, and a fairly mental weakness, but nonetheless the best ever.

[Vanboxingfan]

Liston, Lewis and Ali would have the best chances, followed closely by Holyfield and Foreman and perhaps Holmes. Not many could beat him, but I think some on this list have the best chance. But the same applies to these fighters as well. None of these guys would walk through each other and style match ups would end up being the major difference. Basically to beat Tyson you have to either out speed him or out muscle him. Lewis and Liston could possibly out muscle him and create space and use their jabs and other skills to control the pace and distance. Ali and Holmes might be able to out speed and frustrate Tyson, while Holyfield, might be able to counter him.

[DanePugilist]

Liston would be hauled out on his ass in 3

[TheGreat]

Liston, Lewis and Ali would have the best chances, followed closely by Holyfield and Foreman and perhaps Holmes. Not many could beat him, but I think some on this list have the best chance. But the same applies to these fighters as well. None of these guys would walk through each other and style match ups would end up being the major difference. Basically to beat Tyson you have to either out speed him or out muscle him. Lewis and Liston could possibly out muscle him and create space and use their jabs and other skills to control the pace and distance. Ali and Holmes might be able to out speed and frustrate Tyson, while Holyfield, might be able to counter him.

I agree but I would add that Tyson in his youth NEVER had problems with big men who were powerful punchers, he only had problems with boxers who could out box, speed, or manuever him like Tillis, Tucker, Holy and Douglass, he only had problems with the big guys post Nielson which was the fight he finally got old and shot IMO.

[TheGreat]

Liston would be hauled out on his ass in 3

I haven't seen much of Liston but when I saw him he did look slow and no who can't move beats a peak Tyson IMO.

[brooklyn1550]

Liston would be hauled out on his ass in 3

I don't know about that.

Tyson got into his opponents heads and enstilled a great deal of fear in them. But if there is one guy who wouldn't be afraid of Tyson, it was Sonny Liston who was one bad man himself. Liston could match Tyson in physical strength, power, and technical skills while Tyson would have the edge in speed and explosiveness. Liston had an 84" reach and was noticably taller than Mike though.

I see Tyson starting out really strong as he always does. Liston, however, would be able to survive the early Tyson onslaught. After a while, Liston would establish his long, pole-like jab and keep Tyson at bay. I see Liston finding the mark with some big power punches after Tyson starts to wear down. After 8 to 9 rounds, Liston stops a busted up Tyson.

[TheGreat]

I don't know about that.

Tyson got into his opponents heads and enstilled a great deal of fear in them. But if there is one guy who wouldn't be afraid of Tyson, it was Sonny Liston who was one bad man himself. Liston could match Tyson in physical strength, power, and technical skills while Tyson would have the edge in speed and explosiveness. Liston had an 84" reach and was noticably taller than Mike though.

I see Tyson starting out really strong as he always does. Liston, however, would be able to survive the early Tyson onslaught. After a while, Liston would establish his long, pole-like jab and keep Tyson at bay. I see Liston finding the mark with some big power punches after Tyson starts to wear down. After 8 to 9 rounds, Liston stops a busted up Tyson.

I respectfully disagree because speed Kills IMO and when Tyson was young he had the most trouble with movers and guys who had fast hands and/ or feet and from what I have seen of Liston he looked slow which will get you spanked against a young Tyson IMO.

[ron u.k.]

tyson is probably now underrated on here but i reckon the version who beat spinks is a big problem for any heavy ever.the obvious choices to give him problems are the great jabbers, and stickers and movers in ali and holmes,or the powerful immovable objects in liston and foreman.however the prime time tyson had the one thing that could trouble them all for a heavy and that was great hand speed.i reckon it was the fastest outside of ali and possiblly patterson but his was alligned with devastating power.i would never have underrated him against anyone of the all time greats.

[HopkinsFan]

The Ali that beat Liston the first fight, That's about it..

[Stewbear]

Anyone better than douglas:good

[mochabuzz]

I'll go with Ali, Foreman & maybe Ruth Roeper...

[Blacc Jesus]

I'd say Foreman.

[McGrain]

Ali - the guy from the Williams fight would be elusive and then start sittng down on his punches late on for a stoppage.

Louis - 51-49 is the % I favour Louis by here and in my opinion this one doesn't go any longer than 2 rounds.

Liston - iron jawed, stronger than Tyson and probably hits harder so this is a case of first round or bust for Mike, in my opinion. The version who beat Patterson can beat him in a couple of different ways. Brawl with Liston, lose.

Lewis - a good chance. The aspect of his game that is most underated is his defensive infighting. He has a good chance to smother Tyson. I rate the round 1 Tyson of the Lewis fight up there with the best versions of Tyson. Interestingly, Tyson won that round but he also got cracked, hard, twice, on the inside.

Hollyfield - the ideal man for Tyson. I pick him to beat any version of Mike in pretty much the same way he beat the 90% version.

Jeffries and Johnson both have a chance though rulesets become crucial where they are concerned.

[OBCboxer]

Ali - the guy from the Williams fight would be elusive and then start sittng down on his punches late on for a stoppage.

Louis - 51-49 is the % I favour Louis by here and in my opinion this one doesn't go any longer than 2 rounds.

Liston - iron jawed, stronger than Tyson and probably hits harder so this is a case of first round or bust for Mike, in my opinion. The version who beat Patterson can beat him in a couple of different ways. Brawl with Liston, lose.

Lewis - a good chance. The aspect of his game that is most underated is his defensive infighting. He has a good chance to smother Tyson. I rate the round 1 Tyson of the Lewis fight up there with the best versions of Tyson. Interestingly, Tyson won that round but he also got cracked, hard, twice, on the inside.

Hollyfield - the ideal man for Tyson. I pick him to beat any version of Mike in pretty much the same way he beat the 90% version.

Jeffries and Johnson both have a chance though rulesets become crucial where they are concerned.

I hope you're joking.

[Danny]

With all other HW's at their peak, I'd favour only Ali, Louis & Holmes to have probably beaten a peak Tyson. However, out of those three, they would have all known they were in the fight of their life.

[OBCboxer]

Anybody who thinks Joe Louis beats a peak Tyson is nuts.

[lefthook31]

That version of Tyson woud be tough to beat by anyone in the history of the sport. To see how fast and good his timing was at that point, one must watch the knockout in slow motion to see how accurate Tyson was. He threw a right accross is body to perfectly time Spinks ducking down, and it landed right on the button. It has to be one of the most amazing punches Ive ever seen in boxing. Watch it for youself. Slow mo after the fight will show you how good his timing was at that time.

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[TheGreat]

Anybody who thinks Joe Louis beats a peak Tyson is nuts.

Peak Tyson was a beast for sure but so was peak Louis he had a great jab, could box and punched very hard so he would definitely have a good shot against not only Tyson but any other ATG as well.

[TheGreat]

Lewis - a good chance. The aspect of his game that is most underated is his defensive infighting. He has a good chance to smother Tyson. I rate the round 1 Tyson of the Lewis fight up there with the best versions of Tyson. Interestingly, Tyson won that round but he also got cracked, hard, twice, on the inside.

.

:rofl That is one of the worst versions of Tyson ever (only looked worse against Neilson and McBride), Tyson had already showed he was shot the year before in the Neilson fight, the thing that made Tyson so good even after jail when he lost alot of his technical skills was his explosiveness and his ability to out speed his opponents, LL was actually faster than Tyson both of hand and feet, just watch Tyson vs Golota and you will see not a peak Tyson but a Tyson who still did a hell of alot of bobing and weaving and was still very fast and explosive.

[emanuel_augustus]

, Ali, Buster Douglas, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, Ike Ibeabuchi

All those except Ike--too unproven.

Prime Wlad and Riddick Bowe thrown in.

[MrSmall]

"The 90% version"?
So no defense and complete headhunting is 10% away from prime Tyson?

[acb]

Anyone better than douglas:good

So does anyone better than Tarver beat RJJ?

Like, say... Bernard?

[radianttwilight]

Honestly, one of the only heavies in history that I can say has a "definite chance" of winning vs primeTyson is Foreman, and even then I'd only put him at about a 25% chance of winning, because he might be able to club Tyson before he can land anything. Foreman's iron jaw would keep him upright, but his ONLY chance at winning the fight is to plod forward and throw nonstop "Foreman haymakers" and hope he gets lucky.

Liston I would NOT pick over Tyson. Prime Tyson feared no-one, so we can say the intimidation factor is nil in this fight (I don't know if Liston would've feared Tyson, but we can assume he wouldn't). Liston has the tools, but not the style to trouble Tyson. I always thought Liston looked slow, and being slow is NOT the way you beat prime Mike. Liston being "big and strong" is a nonfactor, because he was nowhere near fast enough to touch Tyson. Liston also got kocked out twice by Ali...who was no Shavers in the punching department. Liston's reach might've troubled little-man Floyd Patterson, but Tyson wouldn't be fazed.

I'm a HUGE Liston fan, btw, I just don't think he had what it took to beat Tyson.

Ali, on the other hand...yeah, he had "speed". I don't know if his hand/footspeed was faster than Tyson's was in his peak, but it really doesn't matter. Tyson never got beat by guys who tried to run away from him (look at Spinks and Holmes...both were past their peak, but running was NOT the way to beat Mike). If Tyson was ANYTHING, he was a master and slipping the jab and dropping the bomb. I'd give Ali a 10-25% chance of beating Tyson, and that's only if the ref lets him hug and rabbit punch his way to a decision.

There's no way he could rope-a-dope Tyson. It worked on Big George because he was dumb enough to punch himself out, and he lacked the speed/precision to nail Ali clean, anyway. Tyson KO1 Ali if he tried to lay on the ropes

The only proven way to beat prime Tyson is to slug it out over 12 (15) rounds. I'd give prime Holyfield 50/50 odds of beating prime Tyson, because Holy's got a cast-iron jaw and the skills/heart needed to stay alive vs. Tyson. It would definately be an amazing fight, possibly the best in HW history :yep

Anyone else I can't really pick over him. To beat Tyson you either needed to drag it into a war to end ALL wars (Prime Holyfield) and win a decision or to beat him at his own game (A combination of killer instinct, pinpoint accuracy, blinding speed, and power). We never saw anyone that came close to the latter.

I think it's worth pointing out that prime Tyson (or ANY Tyson, for that matter! :)) NEVER lost a decision.

I'm a big Tyson fan, but I can admit he had his vulnerabilities. I just can't tell from old footage if guys like Moore, Louis, Baer, Dempsey, Johnson, etc would be able to do it. It's a possibility, but I think that pre-60/70s boxers as a whole are HIGHLY overrated. I think Marciano has a decent shot, but he's REALLY small in comparison to Tyson, and the very few "big men" he fought were nowhere near as deadly as Tyson.

Just my two cents!

[ripcity]

Lenox Lewis in his prime but it would not be easy

[ripcity]

Tyson's speed,power eluusvieness and agresive style would make him difcult for anyone to beat.

[El Bombasto]

kevin mcbride, danny williams

[BobbyFalk]

Yeah Mike looked great that night in 1988, but Spinks was totally scared, too small, not had the tools to cope with that..

In my opinion, these guys would've beaten Mike:

LISTON- 58'-61 version
Prime JOE FRAZIER- 69-71' could've beaten about anyone
Ali, even the 70's version of Ali..
Holyfield probably always had Mike's number..

[Musashi]

Someone who stands up to him has a chance. Beating the likes of Carl Williams, Bonecrusher Smith, Tony Tucker, and the rest of the late '80's detritus doesn't mean he can beat every ATG.

I can see Liston, Ali, Foreman (old or young), Lewis, V. Klitschko, Tua, and Bowe all beating a "prime" Tyson. And Holyfield always beats him.

It helps to be big, it helps to have skills, it helps to have a solid chin. But, more importantly, it helps to be mentally stronger than Mike. Anyone of the aforementioned fighters would have broken Mike down mentally. He was a front-runner, and a bully. And when someone with some decent skills/chin showed no fear and stood up to him, he lost. Maybe with the exception of Ruddock, Mike never was able to "dig deep" against someone.

[ChampionsForever]

Cassius Clay, nobody else beats him if you ask me.

[ron u.k.]

i don't think any version of ali necessarily runs away from tyson although the pre '67 version would i think be up on his toes and giving him lightning quick jabs and combinations.it's allright saying tyson was never beaten by runners but he never fought a "runner" like ali.also on the inside tyson wasn't great was certainly no frazier and although no great infighter himself ali was a master at tying a fighter up in there.it would be at mid range where tyson would have his best chance. if he could manoeuvre himself into position to unleash his lightning quick combo's especially the left hook which ali was vulnerable to tyson's hand speed could definitely give ali problems. ali certainly never faced the combination of speed and power in a puncher like tyson.i'd always take ali he's my favourite all time fighter so i'm probably bias but this would be very tough.

[SgrRyLeonard]

I would only Favor Ali at his peak to beat Tyson because of his Ring Intelligence, slightly greater speed, and boxing skill. I think a prime Ali would outsmart Tyson and beat him on points.

[Jazzo]

Buster Douglas for a kick off.

Lennox Lewis also springs to mind.

Perhaps Holyfield.

Then there are old timers like Ali and Foreman who would both stand a great chance.

[McGrain]

:rofl That is one of the worst versions of Tyson ever .

I absolutley agree.

In the first round he was great.

[McGrain]

Anybody who thinks Joe Louis beats a peak Tyson is nuts.

That's right. If two absolute world class punchers had a fight it's "nuts" to pick against Tyson.

Whoever you pick (And either pick is fine in my eyes) it's a close, close, close one.

[box03]

A post before said that Liston would have a good chance against Tyson because he wouldnt be intimidated by him, that I agree with. But I believe a young Foreman would have a good chance with a prime Tyson as well, he was never intimidated by anyone and had the the overall size and power to back Tyson up. Something that never happend to him in his prime, close call in that one.

[cuchulain]

Ali (1967)
Foreman (1973)
Lewis (2000)
Louis (1942)
Liston (1962)
Marciano (1953)
Larry holmes (1982)

Anyone can prevail on a given night, but IMO, the above would be favoured over any version of Tyson in their primes.

[Toopretty]

Ali (1967)
Foreman (1973)
Lewis (2000)
Louis (1942)
Liston (1962)
Marciano (1953):rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl
Larry holmes (1982)

Anyone can prevail on a given night, but IMO, the above would be favoured over any version of Tyson in their primes.:rofl:rofl:D