Muhammad Ali at his best vs. Wladimir Klitschko at his best, who wins?

Great fight, but one for the purists. This one won't be particularly fan friendly since both smother on the inside (which favors Wlad in this scenario) and box somewhat conservatively on the outside (Ali takes more chances and has better movement, but Wlad still hits hard enough for the KO without opening up and sports an ATG jab himself).

Ali's the fastest man Wlad will have fought, but Wlad's record against fast heavyweights is spotless. Wlad's bigger, stronger, and hits harder, but likewise, Ali outsmarted and outboxed Foreman when that was the case before.

With how they both fight, I'd bet on it going to the cards one way or the other IMO. As far as who wins? Flip a coin.

 

I don't think anybody seriously thinks Wlad would win

 

Ali was an natural old school LW. Ie smaller than todays LW's.

 

As far as the size issue, it doesn't take crazy projections to see what Ali would look like next to Wlad- just look at how Haye stacked up sizewise, and that's what Ali would look like. Same dimensions.

 

Ali struggle against less talented fighters than Klitschko. If Karl Mildenbarger and Henry Cooper were able to land decent shots on Ali, Klitschko could too and they would be much harder punches. 36 year old Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks who only had 8 professional fights at the time while when Klitschko was 36 he soundly defeated David Haye, who had way more talent and way more experience than Leon Spinks ever had. BTW, applying some of the arguments against Klitschko to Ken Norton, Norton would have been beaten by Ali too.

 

I don't see how any rational, objective fan could see Ali winning this. Had Ali fought Klitschko he would have been one of the lightest hitting opponents which could be considered elite. People who use the Corrie Sanders knockout as a point of reference for an Ali victory are only selling themselves short. Sanders had proven one punch power with blistering hand speed. Ali just had the hand speed without the devastating power. Same thing with Lamon Brewster (albeit kind of a freakshow fight).

Wlad possesses most of the physical advantages in this fight.

Reach is 81" for Wlad to 78" for Ali

Punching power goes to Wlad by a longshot

Height is 6'6 for Wlad to 6'3 for Ali

Strength is also an easy enough category to analyze, and give the advantage to Wlad.

245 pounds for Wald to a measly 215 for Ali (no way he wins on the inside with such a huge size disadvantage).

Jab goes to Wlad. It's fast, extremely heavy (akin to a right hand), and precise, and can be used for a multitude of purposes such as being a range finder, a power jab, and a shot to set up even more deadly shots. It can also be easily be turned in to deadly left hook at the last second of its trajectory.

The speed although goes to Ali, it's a lot closer than most biased boxing fans would care to take note on. Wlad has terrific hand speed for his relatively large size coupled with terrific footwork.

The chin goes to Ali, but Wlad most definitely has the power, accuracy, and consistency throughout the course of the fight to crack it, and Ali probably doesn't have adequate enough power to crack it.

The way I see is they both fight on the outside. Any slight maneuver on Ali's part to get on the inside would get him tied up worse than Povetkin. With the fight being on the outside the advantage goes to Wlad for his power, accuracy, and most of all his reach.

Wlad would probably draw this out to a decision victory, but he could very well knock him out if he wished to. It just depends on if Wlad wants to take extra risks and open up more often. The ball is on Wlad's court in this fight.

 

What did he say that wasn't true nostalgia-***?

 

Using Norton and Spinks as examples, who Ali fought later in his career, isn't exactly a "prime for prime" comparison. If you're looking at Ali after he was stripped of the title and banned from boxing, that is not his "prime."

Anybody who follows Ali, considers his prime BEFORE he was banned from boxing. He was never the same after.

 

You don't see how anybody rational or objective could have Ali winning?

Wlad's physical attributes are minimal, and people always assume that a heavier, bigger guy is at an advantage.

Ali had more skill, better footwork, faster hands, better shot variation, better reflexes, better balance etc.

Wlad was frustrated by a disappointing Haye.

A 25 year old Ali, up on his toes, dancing for a full 12-15 rounds, flicking out the jab, and jumping in and out of range, would have been Wlad's worst nightmare IMHO.

 

A joke of a post!

How is Leon Spinks beating a washed up Ali, relevant to the title of this thread?

Ali was young when he fought Cooper, and Wlad and Henry are nothing alike.

Mildenburger was a southpaw, who Ali fought just one month after fighting Brian London, both of which were scheduled 15 rounders.

It tells us nothing.

Doing a like for like comparison between Ali and Wlad when both 36, also tells us nothing.

It's pointless.

Both fighters had different circumstances surrounding them.

Ali aged very quickly. He took huge punishment in sparring etc.

Ali was old in his early 30's. He had a lot of miles on the clock.

 

Bang on!

This happens all the time, in these sorts of threads.

If people think that Wlad would win, then fine. But don't base it on a version of Ali from the late 70's.

 

I don't know why you nostalgia lovers always insist on this highly touted 'skill level' of the past. Ali a lot of the times used to throw loopy punches, and splappy left hooks. Wlad is definitely the sharper puncher.

The physical attributes of Wlad are only minimal when compared to Ali? Are you serious? Since when has Ali ever been known for carrying one punch power, or freakish strength that can lunge fighters across the ring with one hand (like Wlad did to Sasha).

Ali is not winning a jabbing contest with Wlad. Wlad's jab is to precise, powerful, and long for Ali to deal with. He would be thrown off of his rhythm and ultimately finished.

 

who the **** has wlad even beat?

his older brother had to avenge some of his losses for him :rofl

 

He put a clinic on Haye (much more of an explosive athlete than Ali, with terrific defensive abilities), and Chris Byrd on two separate occasions.
Both had a similar physical stature to Ali, but had things Ali didn't have like superior head movement, and defense (and in Haye's case superior punching power).