"Dream Match"?  Read the listings of the smarter boxing fans here- Tyson was a bully who would have eventually wilted under a determined and focused effort from Louis.  Louis was a boxer- Tyson a bully.

Louis could take punishment and come from behind when he had to.  Tyson repeatedly proved that he was just fine against palookas and tomato cans, but couldn't stand up to a determined, tough and skillful opponent.  Louis gets damaged, but he's got his arms up at the end.

What a horrible war this would be.  Louis gets of the floor to hurt Tyson in the early rounds, and as always, Tyson goes missing once he's been hurt.  Louis wins in the middle rounds in what would be a five star fight.

Joe Louis is a stud but match ups kill him. Slow sterter against Tyson.....bad idea....yonug mike would have rolled through the smaller man

On the surface this is a good matchup. Neither man was a big heavyweight, both men could punch. Louis had better overall boxing skills, but Tyson was quicker. All things being equal, I would go with the fighter that that has that intangible quality called heart. After being knocked out by Max Schmeling, Louis rebounded and eventually KO'ed Scmeling in a return match. After being knocked down by Buddy Baer in a heavyweight title fight Louis got up to knock Baer down three times. After being outboxed and outfought for twelve rounds by Billy Conn, Louis, still in the fight finds an opening and KO's Conn. These are all the marks of a real champion. Tyson on the other hand is very good as long as he's winning, not so good when he meets real resistance. Couldn't find a way to overcome a very mediocre Buster Douglas, who was having the best night of his life, and was nowhere man enough for Evander Holyfield. He wouldn't be man enough for Louis either.

Basically, this fight would have been advertised as a battle between good and evil. But looking closely at a potential match-up between Joe Louis and Mike Tyson, it would have been a good fight actually. Tyson, in his prime, was this indestructable force who fought with reckless abandon. However, Louis was the picture of efficiency and ring generalship. Perhaps 'Iron' Mike's best chance at defeating the 'Brown Bomber' would have been by coming out quick in the first three rounds as Louis was a notoriously slow starter. But should the fight have gone beyond the third round, Louis would have won decisively- and perhaps by knockout in the later rounds.