Mike Tyson or Mohammad Ali

I did have a chance meeting with him once.  I just kept quiet, looked in awe and shook his hand.  Even with a basal ganglia working at 10% I think he could take me...

  I think the real question is who is the better singer...?

I recently watched a documentary on Tyson and when he was in his prime I don't anyone beating him. Clay has the reach on him but so did a lot of other great fighters that Tyson KO'ed. After watching his old fights Tyson does have the speed and KO power advantage.

I agree.  A lot of people don't remember when Tyson was really in his prime.  Before Don King got his hooks deep in him and he started to believe the hype and rely more on reputation than training.

When he was still with Cus D'amato, Teddy Atlas, and Kevin Rooney he was a true boxer with ferocious punching power.  He was at the height of his prime when he demolished Michael Spinks in a minute and a half.  After that he slowly forgot his skills, and relied more on bullying people and knocking their heads off.  But if you watch Tyson fights before this he would keep his guard high and tight, with alot of head movement to get inside.

Ali had a great head game, tremendous skill, and weathered some really great punchers (Frazier and Foreman), but early Tyson I honestly don't think could have been beaten.  For such a heavy puncher he really did have great boxing skill.

I'm gonna go with Jack Johnson.  

Of the two mentioned, I have to side with the poet.

Quite some debates and analysis that went on these sites -
http://tinyurl.com/Ali-vs-Tyson

Hard to say since Tyson was a such a brute force and Ali had the power, finesse, and endurance.

Looks like Tyson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3s-_do6UoE

It's not even close...Clay/Ali would have beaten the pulp out of the undisciplined Tyson.  Tyson was not a great boxer...he just wasn't.  

There's never been a heavyweight boxer as great as Ali...in OR out of the ring. 

I always remember Tyson for his incredible defense and vicious attacks off that defense.

I don't know enough about boxing, but I think Tyson was the most BAMF to ever step into the ring.

Here's a youtube of some of his defensive highlights:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZzMPsm6c4

Boxing is dead.  Mixed Martial Arts is the most exciting sport on television.  That said...  The two highest paid athletes in the last year are Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.  What am I trying to say? 

Who would win?  I'd have to go with Mike Tyson, however in a fight between a rapist and a draft dodger I could really care less.

Mike Tyson under Cus D'Amato was anything but undisciplined......he was a force of nature.  I am an Ali fan....the best pure boxer I ever saw.  Tyson in his prime under D'Amato would  have been hard for Ali to handle.  As I said, Ali couldn't handle Frazier in his prime (although he certainly led to Frazier's demise).....he would have been destroyed by Tyson in HIS prime....short as it was.  

I think a lot of folks in the Tyson camp may be forgetting several crucial pieces of info.:

1:  We lost 3 years of Ali in his prime.  3 years of Ali aged 25 to 28.  That's huge...we talk about these guys "in their prime," and we may have missed part of "The Greatest's" prime itself!  Ali's "prime" spanned many years...Tyson's "prime" was a very small window.  Heck, by 25, what should have been Tyson's "prime," he was a stiff getting laid out by Buster Douglas.

2:  as mentioned b4, Tyson had opponents scared...but...Ali wasn't afraid of anybody in the ring.  In fact, it's safe to say that Ali would have played games with Tyson to make him even stupider in the ring.  Ali knew just how to get under his opponents' skin to take them out of their game.  Ali's mental advantage would be devastating for Mike.  

3:  Ali had a love of boxing.  I argue Tyson did not.  You can blame it on a change of trainers, but I find that argument quite hollow.  I have tons more respect for a fighter who spans decades with greatness vs. a guy who fought like an undisciplined stiff...even against stiffs. 

4:  6 foot 3 and a half inches tall with an 80 inch reach...vs. 5 feet 10 (maybe 11?), with a 71 inch reach.  Yeah, Tyson will win the jab battle there!  I'm taking Ali all day...some of the quickest feet in a heavyweight ever.  and with that jab, Tyson would have had fits trying to get in close.  

Someone mentioned "draft dodger" and all I can say to that is, "conscientious objector."  A draft dodger surreptitiously attempts to weasel out...a conscientious objector shouts it from the rooftop.  I admire Ali for taking a gutsy stand.  It was an unjust war and history has proven him right (in my opinion).  "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me n&*%er."  

I don't have a problem with the rest of your post....as I said, I am an Ali fan. 

Frazier had NO PROBLEM getting in close on Ali.  Frazier, when he fought Ali, was no Mike Tyson.  For 3 years in his career (which has to be seen as his prime, no matter how short), Tyson beats all comers, in any age, at any time in the history of the sport.....period.