Ali Vs. Tyson: “He never threw a body punch in his life. Nobody beats him”

Ali Vs. Tyson: “He never threw a body punch in his life. Nobody beats him”

It’s more than likely THE ultimate Dream Fight; the mythical match-up that really gets fans talking – and debating. Muhammad Ali, in his prime, against Mike Tyson, at his physical fighting peak: who wins?

The Daily Star has just unearthed a short Tyson interview where the youngest heavyweight ruler in history talks about what would have happened had he met “The Greatest.”

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30 years ago today: Mike Tyson KO’s Tyrell Biggs – Tyson’s peak performance?

30 years ago today: Mike Tyson KO's Tyrell Biggs - Tyson's peak performance?

Thirty long years ago today, a peak, or near-peak “Iron” Mike Tyson retained his heavyweight titles with a quite ruthless, nasty display of utter dominance. Tyson met a fighter he disliked in Tyrell Biggs and what was seen by some as a possible test for Tyson turned out to be something of a massacre.

Though Biggs, then unbeaten and having captured attention due to his winning of the 1984 Olympic gold medal up at super-heavyweight, had a decent opening round in which he used his height, his speed and his educated left jab to good effect, Biggs was doomed as soon as he signed the contract. Tyson disliked his 15-0 challenger – so jealous was he of him due to his own failure to make the team for Los Angeles in ’84 – and how it showed.

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30 years ago today: Mike Tyson unifies the WBC/WBA/IBF heavyweight titles with win over Tony Tucker

30 years ago today: Mike Tyson unifies the WBC/WBA/IBF heavyweight titles with win over Tony Tucker

Was it really thirty years ago – three full decades; a generation – when a peak Mike Tyson put all the heavyweight belts around his 34” waist? It was indeed, as hard as it may be to believe for fight fans who were mere teenagers at the time.

It was August 1st, 1987 when a 21 year old “Iron” Mike met 28 year old Tony “TNT” Tucker in Las Vegas. The fight between the two unbeaten heavyweights was dubbed “The Ultimate,” and with everything but the lineal heavyweight title on the line, such a tag-line was apt.

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Boxing’s finest trash-talkers!

Boxing's finest trash-talkers!

Finally they are silent – for now. We’ve been “treated” to plenty of hype, nastiness, fun and games and, most notably, trash-talking these past four days; courtesy of Floyd Mayweather Junior and Conor McGregor. And, perhaps surprisingly, it is McGregor who gets most votes when it comes to who had the fastest, smartest mouth during the four-day press tour; with the MMA star getting off better, more amusing lines than his upcoming August ring rival.

Trash-talking has of course been around the sport of boxing for decades, with it today being as big a part of the game as stare-downs, catch-weight fights and rematch clauses. Trash-talking can be fun; if it’s done right. Mayweather, for once, found himself out-talked by McGregor (rest assured Floyd will make him pay in the fight next month) but “Money” is usually on the money when it comes to hurling both amusing and effective (effective at rattling his opponent) insults.

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Who was the greater fighter: Tyson or Holyfield?

Who was the greater fighter: Tyson or Holyfield?

Here on the celebration of Mike Tyson’s 51st birthday – and just two days and 20 years on from the former heavyweight champ’s infamous “Bite Fight” with Evander Holyfield – it might be interesting to ask: who was the greater fighter, Tyson or Holyfield?

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Glenn McCrory on Holyfield-Tyson II

Glenn McCrory on Holyfield-Tyson II

Dubbed, for obvious reasons, “The Bite Fight,” the return meeting between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson shocked the entire world like no other boxing match in history. Or rather it was the events in the third round, and the subsequent events that followed, that caused the enormous shock.

Twenty years have passed since that incredible night at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and no-one who was there has forgotten what happened – even if plenty of them, such as Sky Sports commentator Glenn McCrory, would like to forget.

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