Was Muhammad Ali the fastest heavyweight of all time?

Fastest feet

Patterson had the fastest hands.

 

Handspeed, I'd give the nod to Patterson,Dokes,then Ali ,if you discount Jones Jnr as a heavyweight.

 

Yep , some tend to forget how speedy handed Dokes could be . EV in his twilight year's he gave Holyfield trouble .

 

You’re right, Fergy. Holyfield, who was pretty quick handed himself, went as far as saying that Dokes had the fastest handspeed of any fighter that he met in his long career which is remarkable when you consider that Evander started his pro career fighting light Heavyweights and also Dokes was years past his prime when they fought.

 

I think when people say fastest they mostly assume head speed. Lots of heavies had fast hands, but fewer had fast feet.

If you combine the two Ali is on the list for 5 fastest ever, I think.

I would say Larry Holmes has blazing fast hands too, and when he wanted to could fit around the ring.

 

I remember watching the fight Ken ,was on ITV I think .Of course Holyfield had only recently stepped up to heavyweight but Dokes wasn't given much chance .A lot of people surprised im sure , just how fast Dokes s hands were . That was a brilliant fight as I recall , both really going for it .

 

It seems to have become accepted that Floyd had faster hands, I disagree.
Although Floyd had extremely fast hands, I don't think any heavy had faster hands than Ali.

 

Yes I know, it's Brian London, but the subject matter is hand speed!

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Shavers I, Norton...those were the glory days of LH's hand speed, remarkable for a (back then) big heavyweight.

It's interesting to note that LH's hand speed decreased as he emulated Ali less and less and became more his own fighter.

 

Marciano was slightly faster and Tua was about even with the so-called “greatest”

 

Herbie Hide will never be talked about as a highly regarded heavyweight champ but speed wise, he was right up there with the best including Ali. Not one of the biggest heavies but he had blazing fast handspeed and as for foot speed, he weren’t called the dancing destroyer for nothing. Made Riddick Bowe look as slow as living statue, Frank Bruno. Something not even Holyfield could do.

 

Ali was the only hwt to have his hand speed scientifically timed. Result? Ali’s jab was MUCH faster than the jab of SRR, a middleweight. Ali had the quickest hands and in his prime his legs seemed to work on their own to get him out and away from trouble.

 

Not faster than Ali, but I'd give Corbett and Tunney solid mentions.