I agree, Walcott was a counter puncher with amazing footwork. That's not how Ali fought. I actually don't think that Ali had more advanced repertoire. He was better than Corbett at what he did, he was also bigger and more durable but Ali didn't use punches or combinations that Corbett didn't. Ali was far better fighter than Corbett but their styles are very similar. A lot of clinching tactics (Corbett was quite strong for his size) and beautiful footwork. Both also fought with low guard and relied on their speed heavily. The difference is that Ail could good beat fighters even without his speed due to durability and Corbett couldn't.
I see your reasoning. Corbett definately pulled back and feinted more along the lines of Ali. The sport was very different though in those times, I find the footwork closer to Tunney
I think the likenesses that existed between Ali and JJW had more to do with their bag of tricks as opposed to fighting style. I could be wrong.
I think Walcott’s footwork gets overrated and misremembered because of the snippets of him doing cute things in his highlight reels. He often fought like a more conventional flat-footed slugger (with more step-backs and lateral movement than most though). And yeah, he was more of a counter-puncher than Ali. I just don’t think there’s any comparison between Corbett and Ali offensively. A world of difference between Corbett stringing together an unimpressive three or four punch “combination” every once in a blue moon to the way Ali glided around the ring throwing triple jabs and hard flurries at the drop of a dime.
What is so unimpressive about these combinations? https://streamable.com/ow890 https://streamable.com/omju3 And what is so wrong with his jab? https://streamable.com/03rp4
The first "combination" was thrown at a retreating, much smaller fighter, from the video it is hard to see exactly what is happening. The right uppercut is the best punch I've seen Corbett throw on video, nothing impressive about it, but not terrible which is better than what Corbett normally does. The second "combination" looks like something an untrained person would throw, two light jabs followed by a right to the body with nothing behind it and it is thrown with his chin high in the air. The jab is followed by Corbett moving backward with his left foot first and causing him to bring his feet together. If his opponent had been good he could have thrown a punch as Corbett moved away and by Corbett having his feet together, he would probably have gone down whether the punch was hard or not. Corbett shows "first night loser at the local Toughman Contest" type skills in all of the video I've seen. Obviously, Corbett's fighting was good enough to win in his era, but today, with the same skills he wouldn't win 4 round club fights.
Nice breakdown. I was especially surprised to see that second combination used as an example of Corbett’s skills.
2nc combo you posted literally made me laugh. That was the only time I ever really laughed at a pro so you're right. That was impressive.
Again, I don't see why you keep calling it "combination". It was a combination of a few punches, by all definitions it was a combination. How do you know what Corbett normally does? We have one filmed fight from him. Show me when did he throw "terrible" punches and please don't use Courtney footage because it's not a fight. Second one are quick light punches which made Fitz unable to attack. They weren't heavy but did enough yo stay outside. Many fighters throw arm punches for similar purposes today. Maybe it wasn't so easy because Corbett was a quick fighter who was tough to find? Is this possible? Or every human being 100 years ago was stupid? His speed looks fairly impressive, he used footwork to stay outside the shorter fighter.
The second one wasn't special, it was just an example of him using combinations. The first one was fast and well timed, lead to the KD. Again, why do you call it unimpressive "combination"?
It isn't an example of Corbett skills, but an example of him using combos. I can make longer clip with some of his punches but remember, we have very little footage of him from this fight. I will try though.