How Would Alis PunchPower (Or Lack Of) Affect Him if He Was Fighting In The 90s?

I don't think it'd bother him at all. Whilst he wasn't a knockout artist, he hit hard enough to make any boxer think twice about charging in recklessly. It's not like he was feather fisted or anything like that. If he was, maybe that would be an issue in the 90's but I think he had enough power to make all of those guys wary of what would be coming back at them.

 

The 60s and 70s weren't exactly lacking in fighters with power (Shavers, Williams), durability(Boneava, Chuvalo), or both(Foreman, M. Foster, Lyle, Frazier)..etc.

Ali never relied on his power, it was his ring IQ, speed, combination punching, stamina, and mobility is still going to be too much for most anybody.

 

I think we would be surprized by just how effective his punches were against the curent crop of fighters.

Power is averry over rated comoditiy on its own, and this is one fighter who would demonstrate this.

 

I don't think a guy from the weak seventies without nineties-style herculean punching power could keep anyone of the monsters of the nineties off of him. Ali likely gets stopped by any top name of the nineties once they realise he's basically a child by comparison and they could mow him down with ease. Ali never faced an Ollie McCall. That's for sure. And he certainly never stopped any iron-chinned fighters, let alone was he the only one to stop any iron-chinned fighters. Physically, as compared to a Morrison, say, his results proved him an inferior physical specimen to top-notch nineties fighters.

 

Frankenfrank has learned how to spell!

 

I totally agree

 

The way Ali would keep them off him is via footwork and mobility. It's only recent times that don't see heavies with a top notch set of legs. Those 90's guys were all plant their feet to do anything types. Flatfooted. How many of them had the balance to throw a big effective combo while moving their feet anyway?

Let alone something rare and difficult like say an orthodox fighter throwing a lead left uppercut and follow up right hand to the body, while moving those feet.

 

Well, I rushed in here expecting someone to mention the Lyle right hand, Bonavena left hook and the KO1 Liston farce whilst asserting Ali's power was 7.5/10.

I was pleasantly surprised :yep

Hang on, I think it started just before I submitted my post...

 

Alis style was such that he didnt rely on punching power to defeat an opponent.

 

As he should :good

5/10, no more, no less, that's average.

 

Lets note here that the heavyweight dreadnoughts of the 90s wern't able to hurt the 45 year old version.

Does that perhaps tell us that their vaunted chin checking capacity isn't all its cracked up to be?

Hell, Jimmy Young did better against the chin of a Younger version of Foreman.

 

He gave one of the most durable fighters of the era, Oscar Bonavena his only stoppage loss.