Muhammad Ali Admitted He Could Never Beat Mike Tyson But Said One Heavyweight Would ‘Destroy’ Him

Toby Morgan

Heavyweight icon Muhammad Ali once gave his verdict on what would have happened if he had faced a prime Mike Tyson.

The late-great former undisputed heavyweight champion is still regarded by many as being the greatest fighter in the long and storied history of boxing. Ali remained unbeaten through 31 of his first professional contests, racking up victories against fighters such as Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson and Ernie Terrell.

Despite asserting his dominance throughout the majority of his tenure, ‘The Greatest’ once admitted in an interview that ‘Iron’ Mike would have gotten the better of him if they had fought each other at any point during his career.

“I’m scared of him. He’s a real champ. [Tyson would have won], I was a dancing master. You are that powerful and so fast, if he hit me [I would fall to the canvas].”

In spite of this, Ali admitted to the Seattle Times in 1990 that his former rival ‘Big’ George Foreman would have ‘annihilated’ Tyson if a fight between the pair had ever took place.

“George Foreman will knock out Mike Tyson. He will annihilate him. Foreman will knock Tyson out in four or five rounds. Foreman is taller, has more reach and Tyson comes right in. Foreman will use his reach and wait for Tyson to come right in. Then, Foreman will tag him. The longer it goes, the more chances Foreman will have to tag him.”

A showdown between Foreman and ‘Iron’ Mike came very close to happening in 1990, although plans for this intriguing heavyweight clash ended up fizzling out. ‘Big’ George went on to become the oldest world heavyweight champion in boxing history when he defeated Michael Moorer in 1994, capturing the WBA and IBF titles aged 46-years and 299-days old.