Do you guys really believe Ali is goat

ALI the Greatest Of All Time.
Fist to fight on PPV
First to get a license from the United States Supreme court to fight
First to fight on every continent on earth
First to be declared the peoples champ
First heavyweight to dance and whup azz at the same time
First heavy weight to refuse uncle sam in some illegal war worlds away
Truly the peoples champ, and champion of many causes.

 

If you just want to consider boxing alone, I would say SRR.
But ALI was bigger than boxing.

 

After seeing the movie played by Will Smith, you bet Ali is GOAT!

 

1.SRR
2.Greb (Has the GOAT resume but zero footage keeps him off the top spot)
3.Armstrong
4.Langford
5. Louis or Pep.

I think Ali hangs around outside the top 5 beside Duran, Benny Leonard etc.

 

I've always viewed Ali being 'The Greatest' in terms of sports Icon rather as GOAT boxer. He's without doubt the greatest sports Icon of all time. No one else is anywhere near close to Ali in that regard.

 

Something most posters on this board know nothing about.

 

What today's fan tries to do is compare and use size when talking about fighters. They are moving fighters from era to era saying this guy would be too small for that guy. That's not how it works.

If you can't dominate your era then you have no argument at all for an average fighter to all of a sudden be good enough to beat Ali.

Example: Where Ali...a HOF'er was tested by a HOF'er in Frazier...who was Stiverne tested by? Wilder? That thread is still alive right now. Ali has a high ko ratio and he didn't have to ko Stiverne to beat him. Ali would humiliate Stiverne.

Using size is a lame excuse just to talk. If you have never fought on that level or beaten a fighter of legendary status, do you think that we as fans should take your word for it? Foh, lmao.

Back to Ali.

Ali beat 2 men in gorilla suits. That's why he is TBE in my book. And prime Ali was unbeatable.

 

when i consider all the things that can be measured without argument, yes he is the greatest boxer of all time. there may be boxers with better records, or look more skilled, or more dominant in the ring, but they didnt fight the guys ali fought, so i cant measure how they would do against alis opponents, or vise versa. what i can measure, is the impact each boxer had on the sport, on modern culture, on world politics, on world history, global recognition etc... in that regard ali stands alone as the greatest ever.
there are legitimate arguments against every single boxer being the greatest, but not when you use the criteria i listed above, measured in that way, ali has no peer.

 

I know that Ali slowed down at younger age, but I don't think that's relevant at all. Like I Said, every Fighter age differently, bar none. One Fighter can be closer to his prime at 40 than another Fighter is at 30(just look at Wladimir Klitschko and Riddick Bowe). That's why I don't age by age comprasion holds any water at all. That's also why I think Ali that lost to Spinks was at a similar stage of his career with the Roy that lost to Green. That's also why I think Ali that beat Foreman and Fraizer was at a similar stage to his career with Roy that suffered back to back KO losses to Tarver and Johnson. They were past prime equally(in My view anyway) regardless of their ages. If you really think the age by age comprasion is accurate, then you should also rate Tarver higher than Roy as he was younger when they fought, which would be ludicrous.

I actually didn't mean to say Roy had weak ring IQ and fundamentals(he was undefeated on both of those subjects) meant that It came out short after his physical decline unlike Ali. He did put on a winning streak but most of those wins were meaningless and were against no hopers. He should've retired after the KO loss to Johnson.

When I thought Roy was more of a volume puncher was around 2004-08, especially his wins over Tarver and Trinidad, him Using a high guard and throwing punches in bunches. Regarding Ali\Foreman, peraonally that was a display of what I'd Call a display of impeccable ring IQ, winning a fight with a strategy that everyone thought was stupid. And note that prime Big George was TBE at cutting of the ring, so you couldn't move away from him or box circles around him.

And Roy was and still is the more dedicated and harder working athlete than Ali ever was, that Goes without saying.

 

False. This has still yet to be achieved!

 

Nah.

Thought Inoki schooled and exposed him. By the standards of this fine board, that invalidates whatever other odd accomplishment may've occurred by luck or gift throughout his career.

 

Tarver wasn’t younger than Roy when they fought. Tarver is older than Roy Jones by about two months.

Tarver entered professional boxing at a much older age than Ali and Roy Jones. (Ali debuted at 18 years old, Roy debuted at 20 years old, and Tarver debuted at 28 years old)

 

Ali fought the best at their best and that's just how he operated. So massive credit given to him there. But he's not without his flaws. I don't like it when people try and describe Ali as this untouchable talent. Sure, he's the greatest HW ever. And that's an amazing thing for anybody to achieve. So taking nothing away from his boxing career, because it was fantastic.

But he's not without flaw. People pump him up like he cannot be beaten and can't be touched. When his ass was whooped like a red headed step child by Joe Frazier. Yes, that did happen. Frazier whooped his ass. But as they say, **** happens, and Ali went on with his career. And let's not forget he went life and death with Ken Norton.

It should be noted that George Foreman chopped both of those guys down like trees.

 

Not the GOAT, because:

1. I don't believe in the concept of a GOAT
2. I rate SRR higher in terms of boxing achievements

But Ali is still one of the greatest ever and arguably the greatest HW as well.

 

I challenge you to point out his flaws in the 1960s. When he came back in the 1970s, he had plenty of flaws. He was slower, more hittable, etc. But I mean mid 1960's Ali, that young prime Ali is about the most flawless boxer imaginable, certainly amongst Heavyweights. I mean the speed and elusiveness he brought to Heavyweight boxing in the 1960s was other worldly. He made one of the most feared boxers ever (Liston) look silly by dancing around the ring and pumping the jab. I mean the footwork of Cassius Clay and post Liston Ali before his 3 years away from boxing, that's about as flawless of a boxer there is. It was all very basic, move effortless around the ring, pump a jab to the face, occasional overhand right.

All those examples you gave were in the 1970s, after he slowed down from his 3 years away from the ring.