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There aren’t many of the 100+ billion human beings to ever walk the earth who could defeat Mike Tyson in a physical battle, and even fewer who could convince it’s possible.
Larry Holmes may be one of the only people who I wouldn’t strap in a straight jacket for seriously suggesting that Mike Tyson in his prime would get systematically smacked around by anyone, even some of boxing’s greatest.
Holmes, a former heavyweight champion record-holder for the longest individual heavyweight title streak in the modern boxing history, is one of only five boxers to defeat Muhammed Ali.
He battled Mike Tyson in 1988, consistently voicing that he was going to knock Iron Mike out despite being a 38-year-old grandfather beyond his prime. Tyson knocked Holmes down three times in the fourth round before the ref awarded Tyson the victory by technical knockout, marking the only time Holmes was knocked out in his 75-match career.
Despite knocking Ali around the ring and being victimized by Mike Tyson, the now 70-year-old Holmes claims Ali would have had no problem defeating Iron Mike.
“Mike Tyson would get beat up ’cause he’s a face fighter. He comes in down low, and Muhammad Ali is a jabber,” Holmes said, via the Daily Star.
“He’d get that jab in there just like he did with Joe Frazier.
“So, Mike Tyson would have to get around that jab, and he’d have a lot of problems getting around that jab.”
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An interesting wrinkle in this story is that Tyson idolized Muhammed Ali growing up and actually attended the Holmes/Ali match in 1980 as a 14-year-old. He and his trainer, Cus D’Amato, were so pissed Holmes beat up on Ali, it helped fuel Tyson’s desire to defeat Holmes seven years later.
“Cus had wanted me to beat him so bad,” Tyson said in an ESPN interview. “I was offended by how bad he beat up Ali. When we drove home to Catskill [about an hour from Albany], nobody in the car said a word, we were all so upset. The next morning, Cus was on the phone with Muhammad Ali after taking this shellacking from Holmes. He said to Ali, “I have this young black kid who is going to be heavyweight champion someday and I want you to talk to him.”
Tyson actually picked up the phone to call Ali as a young teenager and telling him: “When I grow up, I’ll fight Holmes and I’ll get him back for you.”
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Holmes also said that the man who literally bit another man’s ear off and truthfully declared he was going to eat a stranger’s children and f*ck him until he loves him, is not the toughest fighter he’s faced.
“My toughest opponent was Kenny Norton. I fought Mike Tyson, I was kinda over the hill a little bit. I had retired then I came back and fight Mike Tyson. I really wasn’t in that good of shape.” “If I could do it all over again, I’d take more time and do it right.”
This begs the question: gun to your head, who do you prefer to step in the ring with, Ali or Tyson? Death by a thousand cuts or one punch that immediately kills you? There is no answer that allows you to live.
[h/t Give Me Sport]