It’s no secret that the Street Fighter franchise’s original hard-hitting boxer, Balrog, was designed with boxing legend Mike Tyson in mind. In fact, Balrog started out as somewhat of a parody/tribute to Tyson — similar to what Fei Long is to Bruce Lee — and even had a different name in Japan that reflected this.
It would be the ultimate bout to see Balrog take on Mike Tyson in a good, old-fashioned boxing match, and talented stop motion artist PlasticAction has gone ahead and created what that could ultimately look like if it actually played out. Instead of being in the style of something like Death Battle, though, this fight is depicted with awesome action figures and, as you’d expect, stop motion.
Last time we saw PlasticAction’s fantastic work, it was another of the world warriors who took on ol’ Iron Mike. Street Fighter poster boy Ryu tried his luck at the Punch Out game, taking on Tyson on his own turf — it didn’t go too well for the Shoto.
This time, however, it’s Balrog who faces Mike Tyson in more of a Street Fighter style of combat. The short clip begins with a quick introduction of both fighters, then we see the classic Street Fighter 2 “ROUND 1, FIGHT” intro come into play.
The two powerful pugilists meet at the center of the stage and Balrog is quick to make the first move. He fires off a left jab, to which Tyson ducks and answers back with an overhand left causing Rog to stumble back.
A quick right hook to the liver and a right uppercut are all the boxing legend needs to put Balrog out. Funny enough, this fight ends more like a Mortal Kombat match than Street Fighter, but either way, Balrog is just no match for the champ.
These sequences from PlasticAction are short, but are very well made and likely take a ton of work to put together. Check out the Mike Tyson vs. Street Fighter’s Balrog stop motion bout below, and let us know what you think of the results in the comments!
M Tyson vs M Bison #StopMotion#StreetFighter #Tyson #Balrog pic.twitter.com/IXioDX0cLU
— Jax Navarro (@plasticaction_) May 7, 2024