Muhammad Ali 1974 v Vitali Klitschko 2004

It's still a very hard fight for Ali though.

Vitali might look like a hippo on rollerskates in the ring but he's a very fluid boxer.

 

This thread just goes to show everyone how underrated Lennox is.. old fat lennox beat prime vitali and only haters will say it was not fair. lennox came on hard in the 2nd half and made vitali bleed by punching him in the face.. Vitali said he wanted Lewis in 2000 but after what happen to Grant.. Vitali mysteriously lost to Chris Byrd ........ he never gave Byrd a rematch..

Even 2003 old 260 pound lennox is a h2h monster what a fighter he is... Vitali was not ready for lennox. he will never be ready for lennox in this world or the next...

 

Yep. Vitali is just not on that level.

 

Couldn't agree more being big isn't always an advantage as it invariably leads to a loss of speed. Being fast and athletic with excellent stamina will invariably negate power and size and they didn't get any better than Ali in these departments.

 

Why? I'm sure that Ali would have relished taking on another Frankenstein's monster in the Foreman, Liston mould and would have almost certainly brought out the best in him.

 

i don´t think so, i think that a prime vitali 2003-2004 would beat every version of 70s ali, just a prime ali 64-67 was fast enough to outbox vitali(footwork is the key factor)

 

me too

 

i think that your eyes are pretty bad my boy.... hahaha foreman was drained at 220 and ali was in his peak shape at 210-212 pounds, george was almost 6´4 and he was a natural 230 pounder, his frame was big and strong. he weighed 229 pounds at 18 in the amateurs, he was drained in his early pro career. lennox lewis and riddick bowe weighed 216 and 220 pounds in the amateurs at 22, george foreman was a natural pretty big-strong guy, also vitali in his prime weighed 240-242, not 250, in his early career he was a long skinny guy, then he trained in the gym and he got 240 solid pounds, if you put foreman and vitali in the same era with the same training, vitali would be barely 10 pounds heavier than george, and it would have been because the height

 

I think Vitali would have shattered prime Foreman's chin

 

i am very angry... :hi:

 

Lets be honest here. Vitali is not in Ali class.

1. Vitali would not really hurt Ali
2. Vitali would hit Ali a lot
4. This will tire Vitali
5. Ali will make him miss
6. Ali will get him mid rounds
7. 71-72 Version whoops Vitali even worse

 

Take out #2 in that list. Ali really wasn't all that gone he lost his speed but his legs,reactions were still awesome. Vitali has never faced a man like Ali which is why I pick Ali to tire Vitali then KO him.

His best fight I thought was Frazier(71). EDIT: Because he learnt so much from that fight.

 

Goes both way though.

But I predict Ali to cut Vitali the whole left side of his face off.
TKO on cuts somewhere late.
Vitali had better stamina than Foreman, and can take a punch just as well.
His skin is way more brittle though.

(TKO because his left hand normally hangs so low his face is extremely open to a quick rangy right hand)

 

Did you know Bob Foster once cut Ali. In fact, Ali lost an amateur match on cuts. Cuts stoppages are rare in boxing. Maybe 2-4% of title matches are stopped because of cuts.


Who was able to land the right hand on him with regularity? No one. Vitali has good punch anticipation, fights tall, can move his head or block, and is a master at keeping range where he can hit, and the other guy can't.

There are photos of the two standing next to each other. Vitali makes Ali look like a middle weight.