I just recorded Ali v Mildenberger and Ali v Blin from BT sport and noticed how sluggish Ali was v Blind compared to his performance v Mildenber, his body looked a lot softer v Blin and the commentator mentioned that even though Ali was 7 pounds lighter than when he thought Mathis that he had given up trying to get back to his prime weight because he wan`t 21 anymore, rank Ali`s performances against every Euro fighter from best to worse.
there never was an ali-oponent named "blind". i assume you are talking about the german boxer jürgen blin, who fought ali on christmas 1971 in switzerland in a non title fight.
Cooper nearly KO'd Ali Mildenberger, The southpaw gave Ali some issues and probably won 3-4 rounds. Ali had to switch it up and become more aggressive. Blin was a regional the of fighter at best. Ali looked sloppy in this one. My favorite was Ali vs Cooperman. This one wasn't t in Europe. Cooperman was so outmatched, he actually started to drink liquor in his corner.
How many of these mistakes are auto-correct? I did a post a few weeks ago about Carlos Zarate and auto-correct changed it to Carlos Karate and I didn't even spot it. I wonder if the same thing happens when Gerry Cooney's first name is shown as Jerry? "Cooperman" - hard to see autocorrect changing Coopman. It didn't on me just now. Probably an honest mistake in that case. However, when I see a mainstream press article about "Mohommad" Ali, I just cringe. Interesting take, Dubblechin. I think I remember Ali praising Richard Dunn after their fight, saying he was better than Jimmy Young; that the only reason he struggled with Young was that he was too heavy. Of course Young tko'd (autocorrect tried changing it to "tok'd", but I'm on to you, autocorrect!) Dunn two years before.
What about Muhammad Ali vs Henry Cooper on May 21 1966, 14 stitches for poor Henry, TKO 6, or Richard Dunn, May 24 1976, Ali by TKO 5. Muhammad Ali vs George Chuvalo, March 29 1966, Ali, UD15, and May 1 1972, Ali, UD, and Ali vs Brian London, Aug 6 1966, Ali by KO 3.
The thing with Ali was he often fought down to his opponent. If you look at how indisciplined and sloppy he was in the first Cooper fight, there was no way he was beating Liston in his next fight. Then look at the Liston performance, so sharp and disciplined, in my opinion one of his most underrated.
Fights against Europeans don't really count for anything and Ali basically knew that so he wasn't worried about it.
Yeah, I've always been amazed at the transition he made from Cooper and Jones to Liston. Looking at those fights Ali was a huge underdog for a reason against Liston. He looks sloppy for the most part in those fights, arm punching too much and taking unnecessary punches. In the final round against Cooper we get a preview of the Ali that stepped into the ring with Liston. Razor sharp and leveraged combos ripping Henry's face up. But that was about it. In his championship fights in the 60's he showed a consistent sharpness and focus in every fight that was a level or two above anything he showed before or after.
Mildenberger brought out a good performance in Ali and slipped a lot of his shots well while landed a lot of counters early on, I think Ali took Cooper lightly in their first bout which is why he got floored, he knew he had to get in shape and fight much better in their rematch a few years later.
Ali hadn't faced a southpaw since the amateurs.Mildenberger was knocked down 3 times.Anyone thinking Mildenberger won 4 rounds needs to see an optician. The fight was scored by rounds. At the time of the stoppage, Referee Teddy Waltham had Ali ahead 7-2-2, and Judges Felix Ohlet and Nat Fleischer (editor of The Ring magazine) each had Ali leading 7-3-1. The Associated Press had Ali in front 9-1-1.
I remember the live telecast on ABC;s Wide World Of Sports, Howard Cosell kept on referring to Muhammad Ali's lack of a punch, yet Ali was hurting Mildenberger, even floored him 3 times during the bout, before the stoppage in round 12.