Muhammad Ali is widely considered the greatest boxer of all time. So much so that his moniker is simply ‘The Greatest’. After all, Ali became the champ and defeated some of the greatest-ever heavyweights like ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier and ‘Big’ George Foreman in what is called heavyweight boxing’s golden era. Not to mention his activism out of the ring, and the impact he left on the sport, which made him bigger than boxing.

The only other boxer who has a shot at competing with Ali in star power and popularity is Mike Tyson, another cultural icon who transcends the sport. This is why the question of who would win a hypothetical Ali-Tyson clash is one of the evergreen questions in the entire combat sports world. And Joe Rogan thinks he has the answer, which he discussed with fitness entrepreneur Brett Sorin on episode #2242 of his JRE podcast.

“He [Mike Tyson] was a freak, he was a very unusual thing because every other heavyweight was kind of slow and even if they could hit hard, they were lumbering. He was bobbing and weaving and moving, and he was a small heavyweight. Wasn’t even six feet tall, so he’s built like a brick s**t house, he’s got a twenty-inch neck. He’s 220 pounds and moves like a guy who’s 150. And he’s throwing lightning bolts at your central nervous system. He’s hitting you to the body and **ing legs are shutting off. He was a monster,” a wide-eyed Rogan said.

The UFC commentator, of course, is a huge Mike Tyson fan. One of the main reasons Rogan took to martial arts in his youth was because of ‘Iron Mike’s influence. This is why his take on who would win an Ali-Tyson fight is not surprising.

“When I look at fighters I try to look at them like when they were white hot, just burning hot, at the highest level that they could achieve. I feel like as great as Muhammad Ali was, man I just don’t see him surviving [against Tyson at his prime]. Henry Cooper dropped Ali,” he added. But is Rogan right? Well, Mike Tyson doesn’t seem to think so.

How did Ali and Tyson feel about a clash between themselves?

Back in 1996, when Tyson was still fighting and Ali was long retired, the two heavyweight titans made an appearance on the ‘Arsenio Hall Show’. The host, a true boxing fan, couldn’t resist but ask the question from the legends themselves. Tyson, who idolized Ali, was pretty deferential, and felt that Ali would beat him, perhaps out of respect for ‘The Greatest’.

But Ali was far more forthcoming. “I was a dancing master. I was not that powerful but so fast. If he hit me, I’d go down,” he confessed. The key word here is ‘if’. After all, Tyson would have to catch Ali first, which would have been extremely hard. After all, ‘The Greatest’ was famous for his unmatched speed and ability to seemingly float in the ring. This is where Tyson’s speed would have come in handy. Not to mention Tyson’s one-punch knockout and concussive power.

But then again, as ‘Iron Mike’ himself pointed out on the show, Ali had bested the likes of Ernie Shavers and George Foreman (possibly the hardest puncher in the history of the sport) in his heyday, so power wouldn’t been an issue. This brings us back to the question- who would have won if Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali fought? Well, no one knows, but it would certainly have been closer than Rogan thinks. What do you think about Rogan’s take on a hypothetical Ali-Tyson fight?

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