19 April, 1961 - Ali's 6th fight. Marv Jenson, LaMar Clark's manager (and Gene Fullmer's, too) and a reputable critic, has said of Clay, "He has the fastest hands I've ever seen on a heavyweight anywhere." [yt]s1TBZXtFsAU[/yt]
ali had only been professional for 6 months (Oct 1960) and he's fighting a guy like Clark. Many here say ali was fighting bums, non-hopers in his first fights.
Not only did he have that mesmerising hand speed but those blurring flurries seemed so effortless aswell - at least even Floyd Patterson (who was insanely quick) looking to be gritting his teeth and blasting them out as quickly as he could - with Ali it just seemed so natural like he was just letting his hands go and they just went that fast without him really having to force it
Make no mistake about it. Ali could punch when he wanted to. Liston admitted as much after thier first fight. He may not have had pulverizing power but he could take you outta there with a couple of fast, sharp accurate shots. Underrated power I always felt.
Absolutely. Ali was dangerous in there. If you let him get off on you, he could drop you hard, for sure. Its the speed and that snap.
in those 44 wins in a row by KO how would you rate the opposition he faced in that stretch still though thats a great stretch
he was a great KO artist fast and accurate hands created even more power I watched the Lyle fight the other day, without wearing Lyle down or really breaking him down he unleashes an attack in the 11th and just stops him
Some of Clark's victims were professional wrestlers. There was a stigma of "fixes" around his resume.
I don't think Ali's power is that underrated nowadays. He was fast and accurate, and that saw him stop two highly durable Heavys as well as many others.
