Yep, ol' Cassius was fast like lighting. He was as fast as Clarkson in an Ariel Atom. He was faster than a chicken running through Ethiopia. Nobody could land on him. Well, except for 'Enry Cooper that one time, and that's only because Liz Taylor showed some ankle in the front row, distracting him...
...What an excuse, looking down trying to catch a glimpse of Liz's growler..Bundini wasn't happy I heard, not happy one bit
I think both versions provide Ali with different sets of problems. The younger Wlad would just try to overwhelm him with explosive combination punching at range, which might eventually force Ali to shell up a la Foreman if he finds himself constantly under pressure from the superior attacking force. Trouble is Wlad was a lot faster than Foreman and leagues better technique wise, while possessing similar levels of power, so it's not a guarantee Ali would survive that if he chose to go down that route. If he did so however I can see him getting Wlad to gas out and then taking him out mid rounds, or possibly earlier, depending on how much energy Wlad decides to expend looking for a KO. He'd likely take a ferocious battering in the process, so it might have cut his career short if he took the fight anywhere near his prime years. Against the Manny version Ali would need to try to get Wlad out of his mental comfort zone with out of the ring mind games and general force of character then fight a smart, herky jerky type of fight in the ring to try to disrupt Wlad's rhythm and seize the scoring opportunities when he can. If he can't do that he'd find himself slowly worn down by Wlad's jab and right hand clinch game. A lot depends on his preparation pre-fight.
Good post That's more or less what I'm thinking. I don't think it would be an easy fight for either man. The guys predicting easy stoppages and blow outs need to think about how they reached those conclusions.
Good post mate. Wlad had his head messed with by Fury, I don't think someone a lot smaller would have the same effect regardless of it being Ali. He knows physically he has the upper hand, its his fight to mess up in a way..Ali had probs with boxers and jabbers throughout his career, hes going to have bigger problems again with Wlad under Steward, Also I remember Steward saying " Ali would have a very hard time outboxing Lennox",why he was asked " too big too strong coupled with great ring intelligence "...He may have trained Lennox, but he wasn't in the habit of talking shyte and exaggerating
6’6, 245lbs Wlad vs 6’2 215lb Ali? Ali has no chance whatsoever. Both are outside fighters. Ali’s clinching would not work as he is a lot smaller, if he tries Wlad will just lean on him and tire him out. Ali never fought anyone as big, athletically gifted and skilful as Wlad. When you have two outside fighters and one is a lot smaller then he has no chance unless the other guy is a total bum.
Why would Ali clinch an outside fighter? Ali was forced to hold against two of the greatest pressure fighters of all time. Two guys who are ranked on the ATG list. Clinchko was forced to hold against bums like the ghost of John Mark Mormeck. Ali wouldn't want or need to clinch Wlad since Wlad will give him all the space he needs to box circles around him.
