I have to admit this but both fighters were years past their primes, Joe by TKO 12. Louis went 8 with Rocky Marciano on Oct 26 1951, before being stopped by Rocky. Muhammad Ali looked terrible against Leon Spinks on Feb 15 1978, when he was beaten and lost his title. On Sept 15 1978, he looked good, but he was damaged in many ways, years of using Rope A Dope did not help his apparent neurological issues. He was stopped in round 10 by then WBC World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes on Oct 2 1980, then lost a year later to Trevor Berbick.
Louis would win, because Ali was further past his best. Both fought on for too long, but Louis saw the light slightly sooner.
Louis win probably win a decision based on his good jab. Ali is not hitting with power so he is in no danger of getting stopped. Laying on the ropes doesn't work even against an ancient Louis.
This. Ali too durable and good as a boxer at the moment while Louis had no sharp quickness anymore. Btw, this Ali could very well go the distance with Rocco.
Spinks was still a damn good fighter in 78 and just a couple of years removed from winning gold in the Olympics against a very tough field. Ali was definitely on the decline by 78 but he was still formidable. By the early 80's Spinks was a completely shot fighter and probably suffering from the effects of CTE but in 78 he was no joke. I do even want to pick a winner between these two versions of Louis and Ali. Both guys took a lot of damage in fights that they should not have been in. Louis with Rocky and Ali with Spinks, Holmes and Berbick. Prime for Prime I would go with Ali though.
78 Ali was one of the worst hws champions ever. Still i guarantee you that you have around here 2 or 3 trolls saying that this version of Ali is 50/50 vs Foreman
Spinks was a cherry pick gone wrong, how many pro fights did he have at that time 10? I don't remember , Ali and his entourage of butt kissers thought there was no way he'd beat Ali, even an old Ali and Muhammed didn't train for this fight for the same reason. He played around with Leon and it cost him.