which was Ali's greatest performance

I go with sonny liston, ali was only 22 going in with the most feared heavyweight since a prime jack Dempsey. Not many gave him a chance.
But he confused the dangerous liston and wasn't there to be hit. Liston may have quit with injury but the fight was only going one way.

On a par for differet reasons is his kayo of foreman. This time ali was an old fighter challenging a young prime destructive champion. foreman had looked invincible, but against all the odds, ali found a way.

 

Foreman. Nobody saw an Ali victory coming. According to his autobiography (and it's been decades since I've read it), he trained like a madman for Foreman. I think there was a part of Ali, despite his bravado, that thought Foreman could break him in half and that he needed to be at the absolute top of his game to win.

People talk about the rope-a-dope strategy tiring out Foreman, but from the first bell Ali came at him hard and more than stood up to the intimidating champion. It was a masterful performance against a man many thought unbeatable.

 

Overall the Cleveland Williams fight, but the night in which his handspeed was at it's best was in the Brian London fight.

 

Definitely this fight. Ali was a force of nature that night.

 

Liston for me. As with Foreman ten years later he was up against a feared monster of a man that most people fought would kill him. But while he won the Foreman fight with experience and guile, the Liston fight was showcase of speed and skill never seen in heavyweight division before. Poetry in motion.

 

You Know quite often i think it is his Fight of the century Loss to Frazier,

Think about it, Against Liston he was up against an overconfident and Aged champion who had enjoyed things so much his own way, i doubt he could even remember the last element of Ring adversity he'd Suffered (Marty Marshall ? ) The Skinny Kid who squeezed past Doug Jones...and had a lucky escape against cooper, did not exist at that point... When they came out for the Ref's Instruction ..Liston had to look UP to Clay ... The Fight was a Mental Task as much as anything and Clay did not fall Prey to the Great Intimidator...

One could say the same about the Foreman fight, And this time Ali was a Mature Man, not Given to being Intimidated...By Anyone in a Ring... Again it was Ali's resolutness Mentally that enabled him to Triumph, And the Super-Human Wrecking Machine "Could not Compute" when not Only did the destruction not Occur... It Mocked Him ..Then Hit Back...

When Ali was Fit as can be ..and his Hands were Fine...Then Beating a Liston or Foreman perhaps should not be seen as a Miracle !?

But Against Frazier in FOC Ali was not 100% he had managed only Approx 18 Rounds (Quarry / Bonavena) in Almost 4 Years, He still had some rust to Shed, but because of the Political Situation the fight was Rushed, Ali could of Done with at Least one more Rust-Shedding Fight, And he was up against a Joe Frazier, a 3 Minute A Round Pressure Hooker ..with That Cultured Left Hook, A will Warrior, who did not Think...He Just Did...And Kept on Doing... How Ever Long it Took... Against This A Rusty Ali , Often Outboxed Joe, Fed himself to this Human Treshing Machine.. Even causing it a Shudder in a 9th Round Rally... He kept Hitting Back, There was no Brakeman on Joes Freight Train.. He had a Bad Cargo on Board and was going to Deliver it Come what may... For a "Pretty" Boxer, Ali's Spirit was Pure Stone Just Like Fraziers, I dont Know what Other Greats would of Beaten Ali this Night... And as stated ..he was not 100 % ....
I Think this Noble Effort might just be his Greatest Performance.

 

Liston or Foreman in terms of the setting and magnitude of it all. Frazier III in terms of sheer toughness and will power.

But if we're talking just showcasing of skill and ability I'd say either Patterson I, Williams or Terrell. If we're talking showcasing of skill and ability against a good opponent it would be either Patterson or Terrell. Seeing how Floyd injured himself half way through their fight, Terrell is probably the best answer.

But I just love how Ali looked against Patterson. The movement, the combinations... He never let Floyd get a look in, injured back or not.

 

I always think in the first Liston fight Ali's performance is underrated.
Due to all the hullabaloo of whether both the Liston fights were on the level people seem to have stopped talking about Ali's actual performance.
Fair enough Sonny hadn't had many rounds in the previous couple of years but the monster was still expected to destroy the young braggard.
It's amazing to see the difference in Ali compared with his previous outing against Cooper when he clowned around a lot which almost cost him.
Against Liston his discipline and focus were top class,he simply did a job on Sonny which Liston wasn't able to do anything about.
The confidence,skill and speed he displayed for such a young contender was simply something to behold.

 

Foreman is his best win.

Performance though id say Liston due the challenge in front of him but also Cleveland Williams, looked amazing that night.

 

Liston 1
Williams
Frazier 3
Foreman

 

The first Liston win NO DOUBT:deal, a lot of folks thought the more experienced rough older guy would hurt the young inexperienced kid..

2ND, Would be the rubber match with Frazier, his greatest rival, and the fight where he felt near death...

The Foreman fight was 3rd in my book, George was young and never faced a guy like Ali before but he was the slight favorite..

 

Cleveland Williams.

 

Good post. Muhammad would indeed have been a handful for most fighters on that night. And not many others could have beaten him. Just as Muhammad was a force of nature against Foreman,Joe was the same on that night three and a half years earlier.