May sound like a silly question, one is dead and the other far into Parkinson's tragically, but back when both were alive and in their prime, who would win? I would say in the boxing ring, and with boxing style rules, Ali would win. He was incredibly quick and agile for a big man, almost a foot taller, close to 100 pounds heavier, and he would be in his element. In a no holds barred street fight, I think Lee would win with an incredibly quick kick to Ali's knee. Certainly it would be a fascinating contest, to see who would win, would have been a good scene in "Game of Death" to be sure...
Bruce Lee vs. Muhammad Ali who would win?
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mozzandherb
Green Belt
Tough question to answer and I dont think there's a correct answer, the only way to find out is if it would have happened, but with that being said I would go with Bruce Lee.
Gordon Nore
Senior Master
Actually, we all know the answer. Either Don King or Dana White would win. Big friggin' dollars.
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Right now? Ali.
(surprised no one got to that one sooner.....)
(surprised no one got to that one sooner.....)
Although I have a lot of respect for Muhammad Ali, I would say 2 hands and 2 feet are better then 2 hands alone. With gloves on, weight makes a difference, but bare fists and there is no contest.
I will take Bruce in there prime and Ali today for the obvious reasons.
Boxing rules? Easy answer.
Other rules/no rules? Who knows. Muhammad Ali had a lot of experience hitting people. But Bruce Lee had more tools at his disposal.
I don't think either would have been disrespectful of the other's abilities and knowledge.
Other rules/no rules? Who knows. Muhammad Ali had a lot of experience hitting people. But Bruce Lee had more tools at his disposal.
I don't think either would have been disrespectful of the other's abilities and knowledge.
Kembudo-Kai Kempoka
Senior Master
I think it would depend on which gun each had, and how much training they put in at the range before opening fire on each other. I think Ali prolly coulda done it iff'n he could hild the shotgun up well enough. Lees little poodle-popping 9 wouldv'e been hard to aim worth a crap...lousy foreign craftsmanship, plus he didn't use high-quality ammo.
Cirdan
Senior Master
I think they would be quite evenly matched until Bruce brings his Lightsaber into play and Ali summons the Power of Greyskull. Then whoever landed the first hit would win.
KempoGuy06
Grandmaster
im gonna go with Ali. Being a Louisville native myself I grew watching all the Ali fights. For some his size he moved like someone half is weight. He was amazing in his prime. So was Lee though we all know that, but i will still back a hometown boy
B
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myusername
Brown Belt
My money is on Bruce because when the proverbial hits the fan he can bend over and harness the full power of the sun that shines out of his ****. Not even Ali could cope with that heat!
You know Ali was a fighter and a professional one at that who was also the best at what he did. Bruce was a great movie star, very charismatic, had lots of rumors about his street prowess but........ no documented fights.
Okay Ali being the bigger, stronger, awesome fight history, over all more athletic man I think I will take him on that basis.
Now having said that anything can happen and Bruce was good so who knows as this is all conjecture!
Okay Ali being the bigger, stronger, awesome fight history, over all more athletic man I think I will take him on that basis.
Now having said that anything can happen and Bruce was good so who knows as this is all conjecture!
This is key, I think.
Lee was very careful to cultivate his persona as an effective street fighter, but there really is no evidence that would stand up in court about how good he was in an actual fight. And are we talking boxing rules, sparring rules from various TMAs, all-in no-rules streetfighting... ?
I'm inclined to keep my money in my pocket on this one.
Ugh. Shakes head. Why do people suddenly lose touch with reality when Bruce Lee is discussed?
I'm not an Ali fan nor a Lee fan, though I respect both men. I'll answer based on what is factually known, not based on fantasy, conjecture, or fanboy-ism.
Ali in his prime: professional fighter. All he did was fight. He spend a lot of time taking hits from a lot of guys a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Bruce ever thought about being. And Bruce thought about being pretty darned strong. When Ali wasn't fighting he was training to fight. He studied and knew every fighter he went up against. He had the finest trainers and coaches who's entire life revolved around making Ali win. Also, most boxers have their own share of undocumented 'street fights' under their belt.
Bruce in his prime: professional actor. No documented fights. Hard trainer, no question. Superb martial artist, no question. Great innovator no question. When Lee wasn't making movies he was training, innovating, and experimenting. But he wasn't training exclusively to fight and he wasn't fighting on a regular basis. He put out seven movies in a fairly short period of time, so chances are, when he wasn't making, a good amount of his personal time was spent preparing for... making movies.
Lastly, regarding the comment that "Lee had more tools," Ali was the very man that Bruce Lee, by his own words, feared. "I don't fear the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks, but the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times." Ali had practiced a small number of punches thousands of times over against the heavy back, live training partners, and against opponents in the ring. 61 fights, 56 wins, 37 knock outs. Ali also had more range on his punches than Lee had on his kicks, so it isn't like Lee could pick him off at a distance.
These guys weren't creampuffs either. Ali beat George Foreman, whos record of 81 fights, seventy six wins, keeps him to only five losses, same as Ali, and with 68 wins by knockout. I very seriously doubt that Lee could have stood up to Foreman. In fact, I doubt that Lee in his prime could have stood up to Foreman when Foreman wasn't in his prime.
So to answer the OP, Ali by a longshot.
That is no disrespect to Lee. Lee was a fantastic man and brought about a great deal of innovation in the martial arts and did much to promote the martial arts in very positive ways. His early death is tragic, but just because he died young and has a legend about him doesn't change the statistics or reality.
Daniel
I'm not an Ali fan nor a Lee fan, though I respect both men. I'll answer based on what is factually known, not based on fantasy, conjecture, or fanboy-ism.
Ali in his prime: professional fighter. All he did was fight. He spend a lot of time taking hits from a lot of guys a lot bigger and a lot stronger than Bruce ever thought about being. And Bruce thought about being pretty darned strong. When Ali wasn't fighting he was training to fight. He studied and knew every fighter he went up against. He had the finest trainers and coaches who's entire life revolved around making Ali win. Also, most boxers have their own share of undocumented 'street fights' under their belt.
Bruce in his prime: professional actor. No documented fights. Hard trainer, no question. Superb martial artist, no question. Great innovator no question. When Lee wasn't making movies he was training, innovating, and experimenting. But he wasn't training exclusively to fight and he wasn't fighting on a regular basis. He put out seven movies in a fairly short period of time, so chances are, when he wasn't making, a good amount of his personal time was spent preparing for... making movies.
Lastly, regarding the comment that "Lee had more tools," Ali was the very man that Bruce Lee, by his own words, feared. "I don't fear the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks, but the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times." Ali had practiced a small number of punches thousands of times over against the heavy back, live training partners, and against opponents in the ring. 61 fights, 56 wins, 37 knock outs. Ali also had more range on his punches than Lee had on his kicks, so it isn't like Lee could pick him off at a distance.
These guys weren't creampuffs either. Ali beat George Foreman, whos record of 81 fights, seventy six wins, keeps him to only five losses, same as Ali, and with 68 wins by knockout. I very seriously doubt that Lee could have stood up to Foreman. In fact, I doubt that Lee in his prime could have stood up to Foreman when Foreman wasn't in his prime.
So to answer the OP, Ali by a longshot.
That is no disrespect to Lee. Lee was a fantastic man and brought about a great deal of innovation in the martial arts and did much to promote the martial arts in very positive ways. His early death is tragic, but just because he died young and has a legend about him doesn't change the statistics or reality.
Daniel
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
sheesh what a silly question... didn't you see Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul Jabbar in Game of Death 
Fight was fixed: Jabbar was deprived of his most practiced tool: a basketball to bounce off of Lee's head from twelve feet away.sheesh what a silly question... didn't you see Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul Jabbar in Game of Death
Daniel
CoryKS
Senior Master
The answer is obviously c) Chuck Norris.
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
OK then what about Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris in the Way of the dragon. I mean Bruce did ACTUALLY beat Chuck and it is just not thought possible these days for ANYONE to beat Chuck
Great movie fight! But just a movie fight. And movie fights are like WWF: fake.OK then what about Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris in the Way of the dragon. I mean Bruce did ACTUALLY beat Chuck and it is just not thought possible these days for ANYONE to beat Chuck
Now between Chuck and Lee, I'd say that it could go either way, though again, Chuck has documented fights.
Daniel
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
Well then the obvious answer to the question "Bruce Lee vs. Muhammad Ali who would win?" was already given by Cory
And there have been people claiming to have seen a few fights between Bruce and challengers during the filming of The Big Boss and allegedly they were filmed since these challenges happened during filming. But the Hong Kong Film industry of the time felt they were of little use to the movie so they either lost them or destroyed them.... allegedly
But that does not change my answer to the question "Chuck Norris"
