In a recent Maxim article, we got another glimpse at the older, wiser, more philosophical Mike Tyson.
They asked him if he could have beaten Bruce Lee in his prime.
He diplomatically dodged the question (I think the answer is pretty obvious..cough…one hundred pound weight difference) and said “Bruce Lee was really a street fighter…(who said) “I don’t believe in grappling, because I equate grappling with being on the floor and I equate being on the floor with being stomped.” Tyson said “We talking about killing, not no championship. We not fighting to see who’s better, we fighting to see who survives.”
He also had some interesting things to say about Conor MacGregor vs Floyd Mayweather.
“Styles don’t win fights, morale wins fights. Mayweather is the type of fighter that avoids punishment. I don’t think Floyd would like Conor grabbing him. The boxing gloves they have make them more vulnerable than anything. And Floyd wouldn’t be able to fight with them gloves.”
He finished with a statement I wish more people would understand is more true than any of us want to admit. ” You can be the greatest of the great, and then you can really suck at times.” This is the ultimate answer to these if X fought Y questions. First of all, weight is a big, big deal in fighting. So you have to be realistic. But when it comes down to it, fighting is all about who does what on the day.
If we are talking about a survival fight, all bets are off.
Maybe Tyson outweighs Bruce Lee by 100 pounds (of muscle) but maybe Bruce Lee gets a hold of a pool cue. Now there’s a fight we can see in Ip Man 4!