Lions and tigers don’t overlap anywhere in their range and so, their coming against each other in the wild is highly unlikely.
Most of the videos available online that show them engaging in a fight come from zoos or menageries (collection of animals kept in captivity for exhibition).
There are mentions of staged fights between the two in history, in the Roman arenas, but evidence on who won these fights is unclear.
Expert opinions differ but overall, it is believed that the lion would have an edge over the tiger.
To begin with, lions are more aggressive while tigers are known to avoid fights with rivals as much as possible; this video collection demonstrates how almost always the lion is the aggressor and the tiger neverThere have been reported instances where the tiger initiated the fight. To read about these instances, click on the Wikipedia link in the sources below. initiates the fight.
The thick mane (hair on the neck and around the face) also gives the lion an advantage.
This is because it provides the lion with a natural defence against the main attack techniques of the tiger — the chokehold around the neck and the disabling attack on the spine.
Also, lions are social creatures, and, owing to the tension within the social circle, the males, in particular, are used to fighting rivals.
So, it is highly likely that a given lion would have more fight training & experience than a tiger, which is a solitary creature.
Lions are faster as well; they can run at 70-80 kph while tigers can run at 50-65 kph.
Having said that, the tiger has many physical advantagesBut subspecies differ significantly and not all subspecies will have these advantages over the lion.
For one, it is the largest feline species in the world; it is much bigger in size (2.7 m to 3.1m for Bengal Tiger – the most common tiger species) than the lion (1.8 m to 2.1 m).
Tigers have a bite strength of 1000+ psi, while lions have a bite strength of 650 psi, i.e. a tiger can press a thing with its teeth (imagine a bone) with almost twice as much pressure as the lion can exert.
These comparisons indicate that each has strengths and weaknesses against the other and on a given day either can win — the list of reported fights between the two also highlights mixed results.
