Again.....wayyyyyyyy to much emphasis on size. Much more to think about. This is boxing...a high skill and speed sport not pro wrestling or football. Prime Ali would be so quick vs Vitali it would look like a total mismatch. Ali would hit him at will with so many combinations the bout would be stopped. Ali tko 8 in a fight where Ali lands his shots 20-1. A cut up and exhausted Vitali is saved by the ref.
I think he's trying to say that in the 8th round of a 12 round fight he believes Vitali would KO Ali atsch
Except for the people in the present day who insist that the lead wall placed before them actually contains gold within. Ali UD12. He wasn't too far removed from the present in terms of size, and is substantially ahead in terms of ability.
He wouldnt. He was sucking wind by the 5th round of the Byrd fight, and Ali was more elusive and harder hitting than Chris. Ali by mid rounds stoppage as an exhausted Vits gets battered till the ref saves him.
Ali by late TKO. The Frankenstein monster would hit anything. Ali by late TKO. size has nothing to do with it. Ali beat guys who were 6'6 and heavier than him.
People forget that a 210 pound David Haye was WBA HW champion not too long ago. he went 12 with Wlad. He beat a 330 pound guy. KO's the 245 pound Chisora. Ali is 3 times the man Haye is.
Henry Cooper had Ali out on his feet. Angelo Dundee said that if he hadn't cut Ali's glove Ali would have lost the fight by knockout! Cooper was a very small heavyweight without any talent. Norton broke Ali's jaw, etc. Vitali or Vlad would have knocked Ali out. They are not just big they have power and lots of skills.
Henry Cooper was 6 foot 2 with a 75 inch reach. That's about the same size as Holyfield, bigger than Tyson, only a inch smaller in height than Ali and Holmes with a five inch smaller reach to Ali and six inch smaller than Holmes. It also makes him bigger than Adamek, the same size as Povetkin, slightly smaller than Haye, the same size as Peter with a slightly smaller reach, bigger than Mormeck, bigger than Chisora, bigger than Solis, an inch smaller than Kevin Johnson, and about the same size as Arreola. He did weight less than them and would have been a cruiserweight today, but the point is you have understated Cooper's size - if Cooper was around today he could easilly bulk up like Holyfield, Haye, Adamek or Mormeck did and make heavyweight. Cooper was a decent fighter. Not elite world level but certainly above domestic level. Nobody would ever say he was amongst the greatest the sport ever produced but to say he had no talent is, again, to sell him short. Cooper had legit power in that left hook. I kind of think him the Corrie Sanders of his day. Not much more than average in most area but a hell of a dangerous sunday-punch.
Cooper was a decent fighter with a nice hook but also had paper thin skin. Many of his losses were due to cuts. He had a 40-12 record with 8 lost due to ko. Aside from a controversial win against Folley he lost to all the top/leading hwts he faced.