who had better handspeed- Tyson or Ali?

[Spartacus Sully]

Great post..........And I read somewhere that the speed Ali's and SRR's jab were measured.....is that what you were referencing??? where was that from??

it was from some documentary i saw a while ago. im not sure if they actually measured srrs jab or if they estimated it from film but they did measure ali's i think hes also talking about the anchor punch in the same documentary.

[Sugarj]

Jim Jacobs put SRR and Ali's jabs through a synchroniser and Ali came out as quicker. It was commented on, in the 'Fighters' documentary about the Fight of the Century between Ali and Frazier 1.



But back on topic, comparing Ali and Tyson's actual handspeed is very difficult. Prime for prime they were both ridiculously fast with their hands. Tyson's combinations that finished off Pinklon Thomas or Marvis Frazier were pretty blinding too. Or even Bruno 2 for that matter when post prime! I'll have a think about some of his other rapid combination moments!

Ali usually gets the nod in the fastest hands debate, but I do gather Patterson's left hand was tested to be quicker and frankly if Tyson was genuinely slower..........it wasn't by much.

One thing I will add is that Tyson had a much shorter reach, therefore it might be arguable that he reached full extension on his straight punches quicker, even if Ali's punches were moving at a slightly faster rate. Hell we're talking milliseconds here, too hard for the naked eye to track!

[CarlosG815]

Jim Jacobs put SRR and Ali's jabs through a synchroniser and Ali came out as quicker. It was commented on, in the 'Fighters' documentary about the Fight of the Century between Ali and Frazier 1.



But back on topic, comparing Ali and Tyson's actual handspeed is very difficult. Prime for prime they were both ridiculously fast with their hands. Tyson's combinations that finished off Pinklon Thomas or Marvis Frazier were pretty blinding too. Or even Bruno 2 for that matter when post prime! I'll have a think about some of his other rapid combination moments!

Ali usually gets the nod in the fastest hands debate, but I do gather Patterson's left hand was tested to be quicker and frankly if Tyson was genuinely slower..........it wasn't by much.

One thing I will add is that Tyson had a much shorter reach, therefore it might be arguable that he reached full extension on his straight punches quicker, even if Ali's punches were moving at a slightly faster rate. Hell we're talking milliseconds here, too hard for the naked eye to track!

Ali had the quicker jab and like to throw a flurry of punches, which he did quite well.

The clip with Ali throwing against London is a legendary display of speed, and is often used to showcase Ali's speed. I do believe that Tyson could be equally fast but it didn't fit into his style. His punches were quick and powerful, not just quick. Tyson has the edge in throwing faster, effective power punches, and Ali liked to throw 8 punch flurries with less power.

Very quick with the 1-2. Larry was totally caught off guard.


And another showcase of unheard of heavyweight speed.

[DeepSleep]

I think Ali has a clear edge here but I must say that Tyson set his hook up so well that the first part of his hook is often integrated into his slips beautifully which allows him to fire it off faster than Ali when thrown alone.

[GoogleMe]

Ali by a mile.

[boxing boy]

Muhammad Ali

Check out his left jab in the 3rd round of the 1st Liston fight.

[Dynamite76]

Ali, though Tyson is no slouch.

[JAB5239]

Ali was faster with the jab and one punch at a time. Tyson's speed with combinations was great the first few rounds but tapered off as the fight went on. seemed like Ali always had reserves in the tank. Both were incredibly fast, but I'd lean towards Ali. His speed overwhelmed opponents where as it was power that did the job for Mike.

[Obama]

Better question is, did anyone who hit as hard as Mike, throw nearly as fast as him? Cuz plenty of people who threw punches roughly as fast as Ali could hit as hard as he did. That's what's more impressive to me.

[JAB5239]

]Better question is, did anyone who hit as hard as Mike, throw nearly as fast as him? [/B] Cuz plenty of people who threw punches roughly as fast as Ali could hit as hard as he did. That's what's more impressive to me.

Nobody I can think of. Certainly not any heavyweight.