<< Mike Tyson (crap be upon him), in his prime, would KO Cassius Clay (pork be upon him), in his prime, in less than 4 rounds. >>
With all due respect, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Tyson never would have gotten CLOSE to Ali, and Ali would have won ANY fight against him on points EVERY time.
Frazier was more of a warrior than Tyson and Frazier only won one of three fights against Ali, and that was after Ali was idle for three years. Can you imagine Frazier quitting like Tyson did against a light heavyweight like Holyfield? I can’t.
That's why I stipulated "in his prime." Tyson's prime was relatively short lived. He didn't have the mental strength to linger there. And I still say he'd kick Clay's ars.
After Tyson beat Michael Spinks, Eddie Futch, who trained Spinks, said he’d lost the fight before he even stepped into the ring. He said that was true of most of Tyson’s opponents. He added that he believed the first good boxer that Tyson fought who wasn’t afraid of him would beat him.
Mike Tyson was one of the most over-rated boxers in history. He was a great ‘puncher’, but whenever he was matched against anyone with a modicum of technique such as Lennox Lewis or Holyfield, he was completely outclassed. He spent most of his fights looking for the one-punch KO, while eating jabs and combinations the whole way. Once he became the champ, he never really fought anyone who really had a shot. Once he did (Holyfield, Lewis), he was always out-boxed.
Heck, Francois Botha was beating Tyson on points through 5 rounds before being KO’d, but we are talking about a journeyman fighter (a decent one in his day), not a true contender. Most of Tyson’s fights after winning the title were against the proverbial “tomato cans”.
That being said, he was a tremendous PPV draw in a ‘freak show’ kind of way. It’s a shame he didn’t have a half decent financial manager. He might have a little nest egg, instead of being broke after earning about $400million through his career.
If you watched Tyson when Cus D’Amato had him, Iron Mike was pretty good at picking off punches and slipping his way past the other guy’s guard. That said, I think you’re right — young pre-layoff Muhammad Ali could do things in a boxing ring that nobody has done before or since.
Heck, Ali/Clay could retreat from you, plant and fire a jab that would tear your head off in one fluid motion. A thing of beauty. His timing never returned after the layoff. He was still light years ahead of the others. Only Frazier seemed to have the formula to beat him. All 3 fights were wars. Manila nearly killed them both.