Mike Tyson vs Bruce Lee

An interesting topic came up at work the other day. Who would win in a fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Lee? To me, there is no question as to the winner. However, after some consultation, it seems there are a lot of people that don’t share the same view.

Bruce Lee was 1.72m tall and weighed between 58-62kg. He is undoubtedly a legend of martial arts due to how he changed the martial world and the global approach to it. At the time of Lee’s early years, Kung Fu was purely for the Chinese. However, Lee wanted to take it to the world so everyone could see the beauty of the art. When he started doing this, this Kung Fu literally fought back. Lee had to fight against the Kung Fu champ with the idea that the Champ would put Lee in his place. Lee won the fight but was subsequently exiled from Kung Fu. Lee then started his own style and system known as Jeet Kune Do. Lee would teach anyone that wanted to learn. However, there was still a lot of problems as a lot of Americans were not too keen to be taught by a little Chinese man (although he grew up in Hong Kong and was actually born in San Francisco).

Once people saw his skill though, and was able to be around his charisma, some of the racism got put to the side and his classes became really popular. So popular in fact that celebrities were training with him. Celebrities like James Coburn, Steve McQueen, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Chuck Norris all desired to train with him. His movies changed the perception of Asians on screen. Bruce Lee was attempting to revolutionise the Asian stereotype of comedic relief, characters that weren’t taken seriously or the evil tyrant. Because of the barriers he moved with his movies and Jeet Kune Do, Lee is considered by commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time.

Bruce Lee was very fast and for his size, was known to hit really damn hard. He had to fight to get credibility in the USA and for his Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee was no stranger to fighting. There are many stories of bigger co-stars trying their luck against him and coming up second best. These people were all martial artists as well. Obviously a very talented martial artist and an absolute legend but how would he go against Mike Tyson?

Mike Tyson is 1.78m tall and weighs 98kg. For this fight we are putting the 20 – 22-year-old Tyson up against the Bruce Lee in his prime (to be honest I don’t know when that was) but we want the best Bruce Lee in there. The first real issue is that Mike Tyson is the best part of 40kg heavier. Anyone that has done any fight training knows the influence weight has in fighting. Even if Bruce Lee is faster than Tyson, he will have to hit him a lot to do any damage. The people that pick Lee to win this fight think Lee could just keep him away with kicks. This may work a few times but it is not going to always work. Keep in mind the best boxers in the world could not keep Tyson away with their jab. Then when Tyson closes the distance, there has not been a more destructive puncher in boxing history. Tyson also had to close the distance and get inside taller and heavier fighters as he never fought someone shorter in his pro career. As Bruce Lee is the shorter of the two, you would have to think that he would also have to get on the inside to beat people with a longer reach – well,
in this fight he would have to keep someone away. Tyson could take a number of kicks to the body and legs from Lee, not the head but let’s assume he would keep his hands up like he did in the ring. On the other hand, how many shots to the body could Lee take from Tyson? In Tyson’s prime I can’t think of anyone that could keep him at range, then once he does get, it is over with the speed and power of his punches.

For me, Tyson wins this fight every day of the week. Too much speed, power and size. Tyson knocked out heavyweight boxers with one punch, imagine what he would do to a 60kg Bruce Lee.

Lee is amazing and did more for martial arts than anyone but everyone has their limits and if you could name a fighter that could beat someone 40kg heavier then you are doing better than me. Someone of you may be thinking of Royce Gracie and their BJJ. When BJJ was first introduced to the world, the Gracie’s would have some wins against bigger fighters, but Lee fought on his feet. There are also some heavyweights that have fought some massive men, for example, Hong Man Choi (7ft), or Akebono (sumo wrestler). People have beaten bigger opponents that is for sure, usually the smaller fighter is more skilled and it is more of an event rather than a fight. Bob Sapp (6ft 8, 160kg) beat Ernesto Hoost twice in a row in K1 and at the time he was the only person to have ever done that. Hoost is one of the best kickboxers in history and Sapp is just very big and strong, size does matter in a fight and people often become more and more aware of that as they engage more in fight sports. As Tyson was the most fearsome heavyweight to set foot in the ring, I just can’t see Lee beating him. With Tyson’s speed and power, one punch and it is over. Whereas Lee would have to land multiple shots to win. Tyson beats Lee no question in my mind.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor