The Men Who Could Beat Ali

Do you even live on planet earth? Enery caught Ali with a great shot, so he came out and inside the next 2 minutes cut him to pieces.

I was at Highbury in 66, so save your revisionist garbage for gullible Muricans who might fall for it.

Before the fight Ali said " last time he was Henry 5th, so this time he will be Henry 6th," and proceeded to carry out his prediction.

Gave him fits my ass.

If you bothered to read what people write instead of presuming you would notice I said I'd give LL a 50 - 50 chance post FOTC but none before that. As another poster said punching air for 4 or 5 rounds would have done Lennox no favours against the 60's Ali.

 

nothing for certain but I think the best chances would be the following men that prime versions could beat prime versions of Ali but a series could be competitive. Ali was not especially the master of rematches but he did improve slightly against Norton in fight 2 and Frazier in fight 2 and 3 although it was Frazier that declined much.

Joe Louis - had the style, the hook and the follow up and greatly improved in rematches

Rocky Marciano - had the pressure, power and determination, stamina and late power and improved greatly in rematches

Dempsey - this could work both ways but Dempsey had speed, a great hook, was mean and had good size and fitness

Frazier - unfortunately Frazier declined greatly after his 27th fight, he brought the style and the hook to beat Ali

Tyson - It depends on the distance, Tyson had the power to get to anyone but Ali had the stronger mind and will 12 rds Tyson may be able to get to Ali if it goes past 12 Ali gets stronger

Vlad Klitschko - the mature Vlad may have the size and skill to outpoint Ali but would have to survive all of Ali's mind games


I favor Ali over the slower less defensive big guys like Foreman, Lewis, Bowe

 

No way does Tyson beat a prime Ali. Not even the early 70's version. As has been said,he does n't possess the will to beat Ali.



I agree that the likes of Dempsey,Louis and Frazier may take one in a series of fights (just as Frazier did in real life)

 

I'm sorry. That piece is terrible.

The writer said Jim Corbett had better technical skills than Ali.

JIM CORBETT?

Here's the footage of Corbett with Tunney sparring. Corbett ... in slow motion ... with Corbett winding up and telegraphing every punch he threw.

Corbett ... throwing the worst jab I've ever seen in my life (at the 49-second mark) ... with Tunney just humoring the old guy. (Even on the grainy film Tunney looks like he's thinking: 'Am I supposed to pretend I don't see this punch coming?')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMdot7QW9Mo

Here is the problem with some guys who refer to themselves as historians. They read about the pioneers. They read how the boxers were considered great technicians (FOR THE PERIOD THEY FOUGHT IN). And they don't take into consideration how the sport evolved.

Watch that Jim Corbett footage. Watch Corbett against Fitzsimmons and Courtney.

Any writer who thinks Jim Corbett beats a prime Ali knows nothing. Jim Corbett telegraphed his punches like stunt men in a bar fight in an old movie western.

I have nothing against the pioneers of the sport. Every sport should honor the pioneers. But things change a 100 years later. If they don't, it's not much of a sport.

Corbett was a genius in his day. 100 years later, his technique is embarrassingly awful. Awful.

Corbett isn't beating Ali. Neither is Billy Conn (as the writer mentioned). Sorry, at that point I just lost faith that the writer knew what he was talking about.

 

I have yet to read a constructive argument for anyone beating the 60's Ali that did indeed appear to " float " around the ring, and seemed as near to being unbeatable as it is possible to be.

Perhaps some of the self appointed " experts " on here could try it.

 

No he wouldn't.

Doug Jones and Floyd Patterson were vastly superior to Corbett, too. By the 1920s, most top "boxers" displayed technique vastly superior to Corbett.

That's the point.

Corbett didn't have "speed" either. I'm sure he looked like he had speed when he was facing a guy who came at him "windmilling" like a third-grade girl, or when he was facing a stationary alcoholic, with no head movement, who inched forward in a straight line like a snail, with his left arm sticking out as a range finder.

I'm not going to get into this. If you think the article is fine, great.

Corbett wouldn't last a round with Jones or Patterson. Boxing moved on. Forget about him "troubling" a prime Ali.

It's okay to appreciate the people who launched the sport. I do, too. But let's be realistic.

 

Agree.

I don't think the younger version of Ali would be as tough and durable and strong as the post-exile Ali.

And he did fight a lot of mediocre and over the hill types in that '60s reign. Not that he ducked anyone, there just wasn't any dynamite heavyweights to challenge Ali prior to Frazier coming on in the late '60s.

 

why? its the same guy. This wasnt "the clones of ali". if anything durability fades with age. lol.

 

Of Wlad, Lewis and Bowe. I would give Wlad the best chance to take Ali. Prime Wlad had Excellant hand speed, great technique, straight punches and a world class jab. He also possesses an Excellant track record against boxers and movers. While none are in Ali's class, he has dominated Byrd twice, Haye, Chambers, ibrigamov. At 39 he defeated Jennings 9-3.

 

Gene Tunney was being kind. We can see Corbett's skills.

 

Corbett fought at a time on earth when 99.9 percent of human beings only saw guys fight when they were angry at each other in a bar or on the street. People threw arm punches. They led with the wrong feet. Peter Courtney, in the his film with Corbett, fights like people we've all seen with no experience swinging wild trying to connect.

In the more than 100 years since then, we've all seen people fight in movies, in the ring, in the octogon, wherever. Every person on earth - even people who have never fought themselves - have some idea of how to hold their hands. How to block a punch. Everyone has "put up their dukes" ... even if they were just kidding around.

In Corbett's time, men who had any training in boxing at all looked like the greatest thing ever when viewed by people who never saw someone box before.

The sport was on the level of backyard boxing when Corbett competed. If you could hold up your gloves to block a punch and take a step back when a guy swung blindly, you were a freaking master.

The sport owes guys like Corbett a huge debt of gratitude for moving it to a level above where it had been (just free swinging brawling). But, compared to the guys who came even 20 years after him, Corbett was terrible.

He was. You can see it yourself. Teens in backyard boxing videos have the skills Corbett had (because they've grown up watching actual pros fight), and they aren't any good either compared to actual pros.