Former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, once admitted he would have been unable to defeat fellow boxing superstar, Muhammad Ali, even during his peak years.
Tyson has a reputation among many boxing fans for being one of the most feared men in the ring, thanks to his aggressive fighting style and devastating knockout blows. The American’s dominance in the ring resulted in him delivering 50 wins in his professional career, with 44 of them coming by way of knockout.
Mike Tyson & Muhammad Ali’s Legacy in Heavyweight Boxing
Mike Tyson
‘Iron Mike’ made an impact on the sport of boxing from an early age as he became the youngest fighter to ever win a heavyweight world title, after defeating Jamaica’s Trevor Berbick by TKO for the WBC belt in 1986. His achievement of doing so at just 20 years of age remains intact to this day.
Tyson’s success in the heavyweight division lasted four more years before he was knocked out by Buster Douglas in a defence of the undisputed heavyweight championship, shocking boxing fans around the world. However, Tyson later became a two-time heavyweight champion in 1996 as he stopped Britain’s Frank Bruno to win back the WBC belt.
Muhammad Ali
Like Tyson, Ali dominated the heavyweight division, sitting as the undisputed champion of the division from 1974 to 1978 and winning 56 of 61 professional contests. He is the only fighter to ever reign as the lineal heavyweight champion on three occasions. Ali’s success in the ring was not just centred around his achievements, but also his entertaining fighting style, which often saw him display impressive footwork and frequently dodge the punches of his opponents.
Even though Tyson and Ali reigned as heavyweight champions in different eras and never crossed paths in the ring, it has not stopped boxing purists from debating how a possible fight between the two legends would have played out.
Mike Tyson & Muhammad Ali’s professional boxing records |
||
---|---|---|
Mike Tyson |
Muhammad Ali |
|
Fights |
59 |
61 |
Wins |
50 |
56 |
Losses |
7 |
5 |
No contests |
2 |
0 |
Mike Tyson Knows Muhammad Ali Would’ve Beaten Him
Despite all the success Tyson had in the ring, he knew Ali was out of his reach and would have been unable to defeat him had the two Americans met. Speaking in a past interview with ThisIs50, before Ali’s death in 2016, the 58-year-old stated: “There is no man like him, there just isn’t. Everything we have he supersedes us in. He was an animal, he looked more like a model than a boxer. He’s very special. The best. Nobody beats Ali. I can’t beat the man, hell no.”
Evidently, Tyson had a lot of respect for Ali’s achievements as a fighter and wanted no business potentially squaring off against him in the ring. Nevertheless, some boxing fans would have given him a chance in a potential fight between the two had they met due to the explosive style Iron Mike possessed during his prime years.
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Tyson’s love for competing in the ring has not disappeared since hanging up the gloves in 2005, as he returned to action in 2020 for an eight-round exhibition contest with former heavyweight champion, Roy Jones Jr. He then resumed his professional career last year in an eight-round bout with viral YouTuber, Jake Paul. Tyson was defeated on points via unanimous decision, but he earned plaudits from many for competing against an opponent 30 years younger than him.