Could anyone KO prime Ali with the neutral corner rule removed?

180 lb Henry Cooper hurt him worse than anybody I ever seen . Most glassy eyed i ever seen Muhammad anyway bar none.

 

I totally agree. Some might argue that Ali’s chin got better.

However, Cooper had a great left hook and it’s not unreasonable to conclude that he simply landed his absolute Sunday best on exactly the right spot. If anything, Ali was perhaps too relaxed and complacent, not ready or braced for Henry’s bolt out of the blue.

Since that KD, for the remainder of that fight and all through the rematch when Ali was Champ, Muhammad was particularly wary and cautious not to cop another one like it.

Ali’s fall was also broken by the ropes - without same and in the centre of the ring, who knows? Then again, he was backing to the ropes to avoid Cooper’s shots and then found himself with no where to back further when the left caught him and the bell saved him.

Who knows? More time left in the round with. Henry ready to swing as soon as Ali got up - and we KNOW that Ali was still buzzed some time AFTER the moment Henry might’ve availed himself of some extra “free” shots. Still, no accounting for Ali’s “auto pilot” which I’m sure kicked in more times during fights since then than we are necessarily aware of, particularly post exile.

 

Dempsey is a bad opponent for Ali. Dempsey had one of if not the best left hook in heavyweight history, and as we know Ali was always a sucker for a left hook. Dempseyś head movement was better than Frazierś and he didnt swell like Joe Frazier did. I would pick a prime Dempsey to stop Ali in the later rounds.

 

Lol.

Ali could get knocked out by certain boxers even with the neutral corner rule. If you remove it Tyson would almost certainly knock him out.

 

Keep on dreaming. If Cooper could floor him with 1 punch (and Cooper is not even a proper HW), then a great ATG (like Tyson, Bowe, Lewis, Wlad etc) could definitely KO Ali without the neutral corner rule.

 

What about Iron Mike, what if there was no neutral.....oh, that’s right, scratch that thought.

Okay, another one, what if there was no rule against biting an opponents ear off - how does Holyfield v Tyson II then go down? Please discuss.

 

It is still the most proven HW chin in boxing. What's your point?

 

It is not. He never fought the superheavies.

 

He fought the very tiny George Foreman

 

So WHO does have a more proven chin at HW?

 

Yes. "Small" 220 lbs George Foreman.

 

McCall, Chuvalo, Foreman and who knows how many journeymen. Pretty sure nobodies like Mariusz Wach have way better chins.

 

Chuvalo? who was demolished by Frazier and Foreman? Ali ate shots from both...

Foreman who fought which SHWs and was near KO'd by Lyle who Ali shrugged off? McCall, not more proven but I can concede he might be sturdier.

 

"Demolished". The question is about chins.

Foreman didn't fight the SHWs but his chin was still better than Ali's.

He fought bigger punchers and ate far more punches.

Wach's fight against WK alone puts him well above Ali.

 

The premise assumes that Ali is already down from a punch/punches, yes?
Otherwise, why make the thread to start with?
Yes, obviously there would be many fighters who could club a basically defenceless Ali into submission. He is already hurt, somewhat groggy, and all you have to do is wait for one glove to leave the canvas. Ali isn't god. He'd get smashed by a whole bunch of fighters.

It would be interesting to see this rule make a comeback though. Really, really interesting.