Even the most ******ed Wlad haters have to admit that Ali would have to work the very best of his magic to eek out a win against a top-conditioned Wlad. Not only Ali, every HW fighter in history would have to bring his A game and then some.
I chose to make Gif's of Bugner due to the Height/Weight/Reach similarities to Wlad, the only other of Ali's opponents that are around the 6'4-6'7 range are Ernie Terrell. I think Ali is one of few Heavyweights I feel comfortable in suggesting he can outbox/outwork Wlad over 12 rounds, Wlad's chin is suspect?, Ali's is proven over many fights (even post-exile '75) against powerful punchers (Foreman, Lyle, Shavers,). But that does'nt mean he will completely KO Wlad in the first round. I think he can pull off some of these moves, he will take a lot of punches from Wladimir, but he has proven over time he can.
No he wouldn't. Joe Bugner was no Wlad in power or pedigree but Ali couldn't destroy him and he had two goes at it. Best for Ali is a UD imo.
Ali looked good against 6'0-6'3, 190-210 pound fighters. he suffered against a 6'3, 220, 'big'(small by todays standards) George Foreman. he never faced an athletic freak fighter like Wladimir, a fighter who is as skilled as Wladimir, or a fighter who who's smart enough to resist his shenanigans outside the ring.
Ali was waaay past prime by the time he fought Foreman. He no longer had to legs to move constantly for 15 rounds, which is why he spent so much time against the ropes And the same can be said for Wlad, who never faced a fighter with the jab, handspeed and footwork of a prime Ali
a better question is whether vlad would earn a shot in the era of frazier, norton, foreman, shavers, ellis etc. if journeymen ilke cory sanders and ross puritty could flatten him, and a plodder like sam peter could drop him three times then a prime foreman and frazier would walk all over him, and shavers would be taking his head home in a bucket.
Not melol:. I started watching in the '50's. Wlad vs. Ali? My head says Ali gets his head knocked off, even in his prime. Wlad is too big, too skilled, too fast, too focused. But my heart says Ali would figure out a way, pull a rabbit out of the hat, like he did with Foreman in Kinshasha. Ali was magic. Wlad and Ali? Probably the two best heavyweights ever.