Could A Prime Wlad Outbox A Prime Ali

Good points.

It would have been very interesting to see what would have transpired without the lay off.

He was aided by the strength and the weight in the 70's, but in my opinion, those bigger guys would all have been out manouvered by a younger version of Ali.

I'd favour a 66 version of Ali to have prevailed over any of them.

A younger, lighter version would have caused Wlad more trouble than an older, slower, 1970's version. Because Ali would have been faster of hand and foot, which in my opinion would have made Wlad more cautious. A less cautious version of Wlad would have caused the versions who fought Norton much more trouble. And Ali was declining in every fight from the mid 70's onwards. He was taking huge punishment in sparring etc. The version who fought Norton in the rubber match as well as Bugner, was pretty much done in my opinion.

Regarding Evander, I'd have loved to have seen that fight.

 

Wlad could stop him and Ali could get in a rhythm with his footwork and timing and simply outbox him to a decision win.

Wladimir by stoppage or Ali by UD with some turbulence along the way.

 

In my opinion, most people don't appreciate how much of a role psychology plays in the outcome of a fight.

Ali was an absolute master at psyching people out.

What he did with Sonny and George was a thing of beauty. He admitted later that he was scared of Sonny, but at the time, he crashed his camps etc, and nobody could believe what they were seeing. And those antics were carried over into the ring. And then later in his career we saw that he did the same with George, where he implemented a game plan where he emptied George's gas tank by goading him.

Like Wladamir, at times, David Haye was a very cautious fighter. He had tremendous gifts, but he lacked mental strength. I don't think he could have coped with what Ali would have brought to the table. He had Adam Booth train on stilts to prepare him for Valuev, before putting in a terribly cautious performance against him. So what on earth would have done with Ali up on his toes, talking to him? In my opinion, he would have been completely overawed by whole the occasion. But yes, Ali wasn't unbeatable, and in terms of ability, Haye did belong in there with him. But the point is, Smack stated that Wlad had already beaten a better fighter than Ali, in Haye. Which of course is absolute nonsense. Also, even though Wlad beat Haye, Haye's upper body movement alone was enough to prevent him from being tagged clean and taken out. So Ali's movement in the centre of the ring would have caused Wlad huge issues.

Regarding Lewis, a fight with Ali would have been great. And guys like Lennox could definitely have beaten him.

 

He "could."

But to state you think he "would" will draw you some warranted criticism. Ali picks his shots and closes range to land them, avoiding the jabs and right bombs coming back. And in the clinch, well, that's what Ali did better than any other fighter.

 

Im thinking a guy like Karl Mildenburger was a better boxer than David Haye. Haye was riddled in technical errors whereas Mildenburger was technically sound in every area while also having much greater stamina and wokrate than Haye who tended to blow out his ass crak after a few over handed swings.

Ali would clown the clumsy moving Haye and expose his terrible coordination on the front foot making him look like a HW version of Ohara Davis.
Im not sure id favour Haye over Leon Spinks tbh

 

So did Wlad unless you count the worst of the worst on his record. Wlad can barely land a right hand on a moving target , never mind a left hook.
This is why he only has a couple of left hook stoppages to his name on a 67 fight record.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/a88459084e08cc20f575df25b07f28af/tumblr_n2vmzqhX711rryuwbo1_400.gif

What you see there is what Wlad would look like trying to hit Alley , but Wlad would know before throwing that he wouldn't land so would spend the entire fight looking for opportunity's that will never come.

 

I think Frazier gives him a bigger beating than the first one lol, you had to maul clinch Frazier for a rest and I don't see pre lay off dealing with Joe as good in that department. Ali couldn't dance and get away from Frazier for 12 even prime, he'd have to stop and conserve to have a chance for the full 15 and that's Joe's territory..Only my opinion Bud

 

Loudon that's why Frazier and I think Holyfield always do well v Ali..To strong mentally to get mentally bullied imo, and if it effects them its in a positive way, Lewis and Vitali too, Wlad might be found wanting in that area, but the over confident stuff doesn't work against everyone especially Joe and Holy. Tyson could be got at, but Ali would look a little silly talking to Lewis and Vitali like idiots imo, there calm confident persona would imo rattle Ali slightly

 

I think Joe would always have caused him huge issues. It was a great match up for him stylistically. But I think a pre ban Ali would have been more elusive with more stamina. Although Ali wasn't 30 when he fought Joe, he was noticeably different to the fighter we'd seen in 1966.

 

I respectfully disagree lol...Haye was a pretty boy that was nails behind it. Slapped up Chisora when he got in his face and slapped him up in the ring. Hes no atg Chisora, but Haye could turn it on if needed, if anything he was a very confident fighter imo

 

He was probably a better boxer than Ali too with the basics but its not the full picture. Haye and Ali are fundamentally flawed boxers, not complete imo, but its the intangibles that made them who they were. Obviously Ali's better than KM but basics Ali was bad, but that's what worked for him, anyone else tried it and they would have a very short career lol

 

Yes, Joe and Evander were very strong willed. We saw where Evander wasn't intimidated at all by Mike Tyson.

To be honest, I'm not sure how Lennox would have dealt with Ali's antics. But I recently saw an interview with Roy Jones, where he said that in the 88 Olympics in Seoul, Lennox walked straight up to Riddick Bowe before the tournament in front of everybody, and told him straight that he was getting beaten.

I don't think that Vitali would have broken mentally before the fight, but I think that Ali's speed would have caused him huge issues. I've always been a big fan of Vitali's though. Although he hasn't got a great resume, I think he's a real force for anybody on a H2H basis. I think he was much more formidable than Wlad.

 

Watch Ali at any stage in his career in with someone with will/confidence and a jab, and you will see Ali caught regularly all night. Bugner with more balls could've ran Ali razor close, lovely jab, height just not a natural fighter

 

Not all of the time.

You saw the fight with Valuev. You saw his preparation.

You saw the fight with Wlad, after we'd seen his antics with the t-shirts etc.

Haye's an over thinker.

He was cautious against certain guys.

He just didn't possess the mental toughness to have dealt with guys like Ali and Vitali.

 

Lewis is too strong mentally for Ali's games, top of the food chain for that imo. The fecker used to sleep right until his fight. Don't think i'm arguing the toss mate, but I would've thought Lewis would be a stand out for not being rattled out of all of them. Lewis and Bowe situation tells me everything and backs up what I think about him