Which 5 Champs Give Ali The Most Trouble?

The kilt brother would look so slow vs Ali it would be a laugh. Prime Ali was too quick for any hwt but especially these two very large lumbering fighters with their straight up very European Olympic style. Question would be how many times would they miss and how many hundreds of punches they would catch before they quit.

 

Size and power don't beat prime Ali...no chance. Speed, skill and smarts could. Both Klit brothers and Lewis way too slow and too big a target to have a chance vs Ali. Ali would hit them at will. Would Ali even lose a round?

 

This is how I see it. Ali was big but his ace card was that he had small man speed and pace. He fooled the division into getting bigger to match him for size and reach but it was big guys he wanted to fight.

Terrell, Liston, Williams were his easiest fights during ALis prime.

 

The biggest strongest fighters he fought he beat easily...Foreman, Terrell, Williams. Its a matter of styles. Stand straight up to Alis speed and your a human punching bag. His fists are just to fast for him to miss especially with that very European olympic style of fighting. Add to that Alis leg movement which was in of itself enough to get him out of trouble. Smaller fighters who had the speed of smaller fighters gave him problems....Frazier, mildenburger, Cooper (fight 1). Frazier of course is the classic example..fast hands, crouching with good head movement and he made Ali miss many many punches. Frazier was 205 lbs in fight one.

 

I think Greg Page would've always had the style to give Muhammad problems, he was a slightly more completely skilled, less strong version of Muhammad.

 

More completely skilled? Page was an Ali wannabe and can't be compared to Ali at his best. I do agree his speed and style would pose a potential problem but Ali is overall quicker and the greater athlete and fighter. After a close few initial rounds Ali outboxes Page to win going away. Ali was just a much greater fighter than Page was ever going to be.

 

Page did better body work than Ali ever did, and that sharp right was no joke.Granted, his weight problems would make it much easier for Ali to win, but it Greg came in shape, Ali's in for a fight!

 

Page was only a contender...Ali the best hwt to ever live. Alis skill level far surpassed that of Page.

 

Foreman weighed 220. Ali weighed 216/half.

 

So was Young and basically so was Norton. About Lewis, I still think you're wrong and you're not only overrating Ali but you're also overrating his ability to handle big fighters. Liston only has the reach and with all the controversy going on regarding his age and the result of the fight, it's unfair to count him as a big guy who Ali dominated. Williams was shot, Foreman and Terrell are nothing compared to what Lewis can bring to the table. So we haven't seen enough of Ali against tall solid boxers to claim that Lewis won't stand a chance against him.

 

Definitely true.But Page could give him a fight, believe that.

 

It's a matter of styles. Ali had the style to outbox, befuddle, outspeed, outmaneuver anyone especially larger less mobile fighters. And I am not overrating Alis abilities. He was the greatest hwt fighter who ever lived. the less mobile, the slower the opponent was the more Alis speed, jab, combinations and athleticism became dominant. His chin, ability to take body blows and toughness would see him through if or when Lewis would get to him. I don't see Lewis had the ability to offer a sustained all out attack ala Frazier and in fact if he would try he would just be that more wide open. Boxing is a skill and speed sport...size is way down on the list in terms of positive physical attributes in the hwt division. In fact size can be a disadvantage when faced with a highly skilled smaller opponent who can use speed to their advantage.

 

WHen? Each time he fought a big man Ali had an easier time than he did against a smaller man before his exile. After the exile bigger men were more competative because ALi had declined.

Ernie Terrell was a good fighter then but he would have been a better one today. Ali toyed with him.

Even shot fighters are good for a round. Against ALi Williams could not touch Muhammad even though nothing was coming back in the 1st round.

Liston was a better fighter than any of the big men ALi fought in the 1970s. It was only the workrate of Frazier and SPinks that beat ALi. Anyone else just gave him a close fight. ALi may have struggled with Norton but Norton only edged an older ALi once who was carrying a freak injury, the other two times he did not best ALi. All those fights could have went either way where as SPinks and Frazier beat ALi beyond dispute.

 

Wlad really has excellent speed for a man his size and changes up the jab at many different speeds very nicely.

Does anyone beat a prime Ali, tho? I am not sure. I do think each Klit would give him different and fairly significant things to worry about.

 

Good list. And four of them had killer left hooks. I think Walcott could give Ali trouble by making him lead and countering him.