I would imagine at least some of it comes from the social structure and dependence on fighting ability of male lions to survive. I think we all know by now male lions don’t just lay around waiting for the females to make a kill. They actively patrol their territory for other males, and fight them (often to the death) when encountered. Tigers will fight when they have to, Lions will fight because it’s their nature. Tigers are more naturally skittish. As to the physical aspects...where Tigers are sleek and stealthy, Lions are bold and sturdy. Their mane makes it hard to grasp the throat, especially in a frantic fight as opposed to an ambush kill on their prey. Tigers will use their paws a lot in territorial scraps, swiping like a skilled striker. Lions tend to use their paws only to topple the other animal, think of it like a wrestler vs striker. Lions are front heavy, you will almost never see them raise up and swipe like a tiger tends to do (they aren’t physically structured for such an attack and it would leave them off balance). Beatty claims he had a male Lion named Sultan the First that terrified and had gained the submission of all the Tigers it shared the cage with. Crazy shit to share a cage with dozens of big cats, with fights breaking out regularly. I can think of thousands of ways I’d rather go than getting caught in the middle of a scrap between two animals I have zero chance of defeating.
