Who Would Win in a Fight Between Bruce Lee and Mike Tyson?

[rico]

Alright Planeteers, I've been arguing on message boards with people about this off and on for a couple years now and I want to get CP's input on it. The question is this: Who would win in a fight between Bruce Lee and Mike Tyson in his prime? Let's hear it!

[suds79]

Bruce Lee was amazing. A master of his craft. Having said that, I think he's highly overrated because I believe there's a lot of people out there who think he could take just about anybody... ever.

This notion is ridiculous. What was Brue Lee? A buck 35? Maybe 155? Can't pretend like that doesn't matter. There's a reason why all fighting leagues have weight classes.

I went Tyson. Would have broken Bruce's body had he even blocked a punch.

He'd get handled by over half of the professional MMAers out there today with the development of the ground game.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Strongside

The one that's always intrigued me is Ali vs Tyson. The prototype fight for power against speed. I would give my left nut to see that fight.

Me too man. The cool thing about those two is their mutual respect for each other's skills. Obviously Tyson looked up to Ali as an inspiring boxer in his youth. And respect from Ali to Tyson was indicated when they both appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show. I can't remember what Ali said or did exactly, but I think he looked at Tyson and was like, "ooohhhweeee, I aint gonna be messin' with this boy, he'll knock my head off." And Tyson said something along the lines of, "yeth Mithter Ali, I have tho much rethpect fol you."

You know what would have been interesting.... Mike Tyson vs. Sonny Liston. There's another dude who could have killed Bruce Lee. Sonny Liston.

[MOhillbilly]

In a street fight tyson pulls a gun and sprays bruces brains into the atmosphere.

[rico]

The real question should be, "who would win in a fight between Bruce Lee and Robin Givens?" Or, "who could stay married to Mike Tyson the longest and survive? Bruce Lee, or Robin Givens?" I'm giving the edge to Givens here.

[Bowser]

Bruce Lee created a new form of martial arts.

Mike Tyson bit an ear off in the ring when he was losing.

TYSON BY A MILE

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by suds79

Bruce Lee was amazing. A master of his craft. Having said that, I think he's highly overrated because I believe there's a lot of people out there who think he could take just about anybody... ever.

This notion is ridiculous. What was Brue Lee? A buck 35? Maybe 155? Can't pretend like that doesn't matter. There's a reason why all fighting leagues have weight classes.

I went Tyson. Would have broken Bruce's body had he even blocked a punch.

He'd get handled by over half of the professional MMAers out there today with the development of the ground game.

Bruce Lee was 130 pounds.

I don't doubt Lee's prowess, and I think he was ahead of the curve on martial arts when he started integrating boxing stances and western training techniques into his own form. Had Lee remained, his style would have continued to develop to take advantage of the proven strength of grappling... probably before it became trendy too.

Having said that... Tyson had 100 lbs on Lee and punched with enough force to be LETHAL. His defense was among the best in the business, and his combinations were deadly.

Now there are recorded incidents of Lee showing up to kickboxing tournaments and insisting their best fighters could not defense his punches. The champion, in three attempts, let Lee's fist slip through his guard (Lee did not strike him, but the point was made). He kicked like a mule and only kicked low, so your legs would be in peril.

Who would win in a street fight? Tyson. Tyson is a mean mother****er who is really just a criminal who got lucky. Ferocity is the most important thing in a street fight. In almost every fight I"ve seen or partook in, the meaner person won.

I know you 'tap out' guys think MMA is everything. It's great, and as far as technique goes it's advanced the science of ass whipping. In the real world in a street fight science often goes by the wayside. Once it's a dog-fight, the meanest guy wins.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by ricoswaff

As a former collegiate wrassler, I can say with confidence that in a no rules fight, JKD is for the birds.

Jk...to an extent. All depends on the JKD student. A lot of them are birds, but I'm sure there might be 1 or 2 of them out there that aren't....but if they aren't birds, they probably have wrasslin skills.

But Tyson would kill Bruce Lee. No doubt about it.

There is a JKD clinic in our area. These people were feared locally. Heck, the biggest prag in the world would simply start attending sessions there, and they were seemingly automatically given tough guy badges. I never bought that crap. I always thought they were birds. Their tough guy images were tarnished a bit when they actually started competing in MMA and every one of them got their (_l_)s handed to them (unless they had wrasslin experience). The real deals in the MMA in our area are the former wrasslers.

I didn't get past this. Formless scientific street fighting is what Bruce called it. Heh and this discussion is pretty ****ing reeruned. Tyson is a standup fighter.. He has no grapple skills or real ground game.. No one can deny the size advantage -- Bruce was 5'7 142lbs on his best day... I don't think a lot of you understand how much power this little guy could generate...
If Bruce ate a direct punch from Mike -- he'd be out... I just don't think he'd be able to hit him..
If Bruce pendulum stepped a side kick into Tyson's midrib, he wouldn't just stand there and absorb the kick... heh.

[Rasputin]

Bruce Lee is dead. So yea I should of voted for Mike Tyson, he is not dead.

[Bump]

what kind of stupid question is this? Bruce Lee would destroy Tyson and it wouldn't even be close.

[T-post Tom]

Big Dragon Whipping Its Tail

[Setsuna]

To be technical. Tyson does have a lot of weight and height on Lee, but you can't cover your entire body with muscle, there are bones at the surface of your skin no matter how buff you are, and Lee can locate and break them in one strike. Muscles don't mean shit if there is no bone structure to support them. Sorry. It's like having a sky scraper and taking out it's cornerstone and collapse city.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

Bruce Lee was 130 pounds.

I don't doubt Lee's prowess, and I think he was ahead of the curve on martial arts when he started integrating boxing stances and western training techniques into his own form. Had Lee remained, his style would have continued to develop to take advantage of the proven strength of grappling... probably before it became trendy too.

Having said that... Tyson had 100 lbs on Lee and punched with enough force to be LETHAL. His defense was among the best in the business, and his combinations were deadly.

Now there are recorded incidents of Lee showing up to kickboxing tournaments and insisting their best fighters could not defense his punches. The champion, in three attempts, let Lee's fist slip through his guard (Lee did not strike him, but the point was made). He kicked like a mule and only kicked low, so your legs would be in peril.

Who would win in a street fight? Tyson. Tyson is a mean mother****er who is really just a criminal who got lucky. Ferocity is the most important thing in a street fight. In almost every fight I"ve seen or partook in, the meaner person won.

I know you 'tap out' guys think MMA is everything. It's great, and as far as technique goes it's advanced the science of ass whipping. In the real world in a street fight science often goes by the wayside. Once it's a dog-fight, the meanest guy wins.

I was agreeing with almost everything, up until the point you seemed to say that only young, too dumb to do anything else street criminals can be vicious & have a killer instinct.

Mean has no address, you can find it anywhere.

[Fishpicker]

Lee FTW via toe jab to the groin, followed up by tumbling leg scissor takedown and figure-four toe hold.

there's only a few legendary caliber fighters that could even stand a chance vs. Lee; Masahiko Kimura, Gene LeBell, or Antonio Inoki.

maybe Nick Diaz (while high) if they fought with Nunchucks.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

To be technical. Tyson does have a lot of weight and height on Lee, but you can't cover your entire body with muscle, there are bones at the surface of your skin no matter how buff you are, and Lee can locate and break them in one strike. Muscles don't mean shit if there is no bone structure to support them. Sorry. It's like having a sky scraper and taking out it's cornerstone and collapse city.

Lordy, the way people talk about Bruce Lee, you'd think he was one of the X-Men. In reality, Bruce Lee was not an X-Man, he was an actor....and an expert martial artist who just so happened to introduce his collectively learned style of martial arts to Western culture and attain "mythical" status as a result. Many Chinamen since Bruce have probably perfected his own style of martial arts to a higher level than Bruce himself. None of these Chinamen could take on ol' Dederick Tatum aka Mike Tyson. If there were no Bruce Lee, people may actually make outrageous claims like Jet Li or Jackie Chan could beat Tyson's (_l_). Hopefully nobody thinks that, or else I will just assume that this board has not GONE full reerun, but IS full reerun.

Mike Tyson was the best ever. He was the most brutal and vicious, the most ruthless champion there's ever been. There's no one can stop him. Bruce Lee is a conquerer? No, Mike is Alexander, he's no Alexander. He's the best ever! There's never been anybody as ruthless! He's Sonny Liston, he's Jack Dempsey. There's no one like him. He's from their cloth. There is no one who can match him. His style is impetuous, his defense is impregnable, and he's just ferocious. He wants Bruce Lee's heart! He will eat Bruce Lee's children (Mike Tyson...the necrophiliac)! Praise be to Allah!

[stevieray]

fighting isn't just about striking, it's also about making people miss...i'd wager lee could let tyson wear himself out without even throwing one strike...and when he did...goodnight tyson chicken.

Lee could play ping pong with numchuks...let's be real...his hand/eye coordination was nothing short of incredible