Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevie G
This can only be applicable for the post Manilla phase of Muhammad's career,imo. Prior to that,he had n't really taken that much punishment. With the exception of the Frazier fights and Norton bouts (I & II in this case)
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Ok, so you're saying prior to Manila, Ali hadn't taken much punishment
apart from the 27 rounds with Frazier and the 24 with Norton ?
That's a lot of punishment right there.
I'd also point to the 15 rounds with Oscar Bonavena, where he absorbed a fair bit of punishment, and the 8 rounds with Foreman.
That adds up to 74 tough rounds against big highly-ranked opponents.
And even guys like Jurgen Blin were getting to him.
From 1970 onwards he was using a style that incorporated absorbing 'too much' punishment.
Post-Manila he wasn't really even doing enough to win fights.