Bruce Lee vs Muhammad Ali
 

If they were to fight each other at the peak of their respective powers, who do you suppose would win?

Great question.
I'd say eventually Ali...due mainly to his size.

Which rules apply? The more wide open format favors Bruce Lee. If we are talking American boxing rules, then Ali.

Bruce Lee had nunchucks. In general, armed combat beats unarmed combat any day of the week.

Nunchucks were not mentioned...if they're allowed, Lee - no question.
Unless Ali gets to use a baseball bat and a garbage can lid for a shield.

As long as Bruce could stay clear of Alis punches he would have a good chance, but once he is properly hit he goes down.

Lee vs Ali under boxing rules, Lee goes down.

Lee vs Ali under anything but boxing rules, Ali goes down.

I think it would be interesting to compare their respective hand strike speeds and power and their respective defensive capacities such as reflexes.

In a ring without boxing rules, Ali wouldn't last more than 5 seconds, if he survived at all.

Chuck Norris.

At their peak and with cage fighting rules I'd say Bruce Lee but by boxing rules, Ali.

What about Mike Tyson versus Muhammad Ali? (Both at their peaks) Mike Tyson would have taken Ali apart IMO.

If you get a chance you should watch the "Thrilla in Manila". Fight three, Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier.
Joe lost but he punished Ali like no one ever did before. By the end of the 14th rounds Ali could barely stand & he collapsed after the decision was made.
They stopped the fight because Joe's managers thought he was near death.

Truly epic. I doubt we'll see a fight like that ever again!

Tyson v Ali in their primes would be interesting. I'd go with Ali, though. Size, smarts, speed and skill tilt toward Ali.

Strength, punch power and jaw clamp PSI are all Tyson's.

Bruce would dance around Ali and wear him out and then give him a kick to take him out.

One kick.

Lee would take him. Endurance and hand speed alone would break him down. Lee would flit around him like a gadfly and pick him apart until Ali presented an opening then its all over. The guy could break a board with his fingers being an inch from it. That sort of fast twitch comes in handy over a right cross any day.

I have to agree with the crowd on this one.

Many good observations, and variations covered.

Nothing to add.

boxing isn't fighting to win, it's a discipline with rules.

Lee wins big.

Without boxing rules, Lee has an absolute minimum of 20-1 advantage over Ali:

Feet, knees, elbows, head and every imaginable surface of both hands are weapons. In addition, every square inch of the adversary is a target.

Ali or any other boxer with any luck at all would be lying face-down, unconscious in a fractured pile of bleeding pain in a matter of seconds.

This is sort of what I think, but Ali was faster than a 200 pound guy out to be, and had stupid long reach. If Mr Lee lands a kick, it would be all over.

My grandson asked me this yesterday on the way home from his karate class and I thought it was an excellent question. No weapons, just hand to hand. strikes above the waist.

Ali beat Frazier, who was the Mike Tyson of his day, only Frazier could box. I don't think Tyson would be able to hang with Ali. Unless he got lucky and knocked him out early, Ali would beat his ass down.

Ping pong with nunchaku and the bit with the matches, just nuts
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sdv_9MhOSoI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The pingpong part is not real.
Was made for a commercial, for Nokia IIRC.

I think Ali would have beaten Lee. Lee wasn't a fighter. He had a minor boxing career early on, but was more of a movie star than a professional fighter. Ali could take a pounding.

Lee was fast, but light. Ali was much faster than you think and hit hard. He was also quite capable of ducking a punch. Watch his fights and see just how fast he could move out of the way of a punch.

To get close enough to Ali to land a blow would put Lee withing reach of Ali and that would not end well for Lee. The notion that one punch or kick from Lee would drop Ali is wishful thinking. One solid hit from Ali would have put Lee on the ground, though.

JR

Yes.

^^^^^Yes.