a world away from his 80s self that night.

Getting knocked out in the later rounds in a fight that you otherwise are even with--or out-point--the other guy — that's NOT a trounce. Anyone can get knocked out by a worthy opponent on a given night. Ali knows that as good as any former champ. But the ONLY two guys that ever had Tyson in even a lil bit of trouble before 1990 were Razor Ruddock & Tony Tucker — neither of who came all too close to actually beating Tyson; both men were very fortunate to go the distance with Mike. Both of those guys — & add Bonecrusher Smith & Frank Bruno — & probably even Buster Douglas in all honesty — any of those guys probably would've held the heavyweight belt for at least a time in the 1970s (despite the icon-hypers' arguments otherwise). Personally, I think Ruddock, Tucker & Bonecrusher in their primes would've been slightly favored to beat the mid-70s versions of Ali, Frazier, or (a very raw) Foreman. And it's Foreman--not Ali--they would've had the biggest trouble with. (A late-60s version of Ali, though — that's a bit different a story; that guy against a late-80s version of Tyson would amount to a great, great, pick-em bout).