One of the more fun topics of discussions in professional sports, especially combat sports, is how well the sport’s best from one era would perform against that sport’s best from another era. Few such discussions have gone on so long or been examined so thoroughly as the great Muhammed Ali vs. Mike Tyson debate.

Aside from their absolute dominance of the sport of boxing while in their primes, another interesting thing that makes the discussion of what would have occurred between Ali and Tyson so fun to think about is their wildly different styles.

Muhammed Ali approached most matches with his float like a butterfly, sting like a bee style in which his footwork, agility and ability to fight with style and grace left his opponents confused, frustrated and unable to land the punches they needed to land.

Mike Tyson, on the other hand, was a ferocious beast in the ring who cut angles and hunted down his opponents, and looked to land some of the most terrifying bombs the sport has seen. Iron Mike was so dominant in his prime that after winning many of his fights within just a few rounds, fans began to debate whether it was even worth it to buy a Tyson fight on pay-per-view.

The years have given the once out of control Iron Mike Tyson quite a degree of perspective on his fight days, as well as on boxing history, and his examination of how things would have gone down between he and Ali may surprise you.

Jeff Warsaw is the former executive editor of Long Island MMA Magazine, professional combat sports public address announcer for several NY/NJ MMA and kickboxing promotions, and a proud one-stripe white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the famed Joe D’Arce. He is currently a musician, coffee enthusiast and host of the Stranger In A Strange Land podcast on YouTube.