I don't favour anybody to beat Ali, seriously he was in a class of his own. Some people have mentioned Cream but I seriously doubt it, Cream relied more on reeling his opponents in with fancy footwork and full body feints in order to land mid-range counters, his jab was mostly for the sake of setting up other punches. Ali fought at as long range as he could manage, pumping fast unorthodox jabs and combinations and had the chin to withstand anything Cream could dish out and a better workrate, not that it'd really matter cos I think he'd stop him. Cream would probably look very flash at times tho and make Ali look like an amateur but no way could he beat him over 15. Holmes would give him alot of trouble, but again Ali would win with his superior speed and footwork, also him right hand that something tells me he'd land alot against Holmes. Tyson I think would have the best chance simply with his power, speed, chin, stamina and aggressivness. Still tho, Ali would be fighting at long range, moving when Tyson came too close and clinching when he managed to get in. Tyson would probably deck Ali though. Lewis I think would just get outworked, particularly over 15, the Ali of the Liston fight would make Lewis miss and miss and come back with ultra-fast combo's then back on his bike. I don't know why people are mentioning Dempsey he got beaten 19 rounds to 1 against a smaller, slower, weaker version of Ali.
If the fighter is slow he is not beating prime Ali. The Klit brothers would be dead meat and this would be apparent very early in the fight.
Well U better open up the case,cause Dempsey won a unanimous decision in a hot sun in 15 rounds from Tommy Gibbons a truly great fighter... If a Doug jones could hurt Clay and may have beaten Clay, if a Enry Cooper dropped Clay/Ali almost koing him, if a Kenny Norton beat Ali at LEAST two times, if A Joe Frazier in the FOTC almost kod Ali, why would not the prime tigerish left hooking Dempsey [PRE 3 year layoff ]Dempsey not have a helluva shot to finish the job against the idol of your life Ali ? ANSWER : HE SURE DID ...:happy
Not meaning to be rude but was Ali not just shy of a 3 year lay off in the FOTC as well? Also this post is put together to suit your argument, I don't think Ali was truly prime in any of the fights listed....
In the name of fuk:yikes Michael Moorer?????? Not its gettin preposterous. Why not throw in Frank Bruno while your at it
I forgot Lewis, but partly because he's down to a punchers chance, where the others could potentially win a UD
Pretty solid list. I think there's difference between beating Ali and giving him a tough fight. Could some of these fighters give Ali trouble? Sure, why not. Could they beat prime Ali? Personally I think that only Tyson had the right combination of foot speed, hand speed, power, good technique and defense to really make it a 50/50 fight. The rest are too slow, too hittable, too tense, too dempsey, simply not good enough etc.