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Who ENTERS the ring at 160? So, a welterweight, given day-before weigh in?

Yeah, not happening.

 

Only if the man is a replicant.

 

I mean Billy Conn was 167lbs supposedly against Louis and he'd box Ali's ears off. Ezzard Charles could make 160lbs today. But If you mean a modern Welterweight an actual 160lber I don't know.

 

I sincerely doubt if anyone entering the ring at 160 pounds could beat Muhammad Ali, unless we're talking about the Ali, who fought Holmes. In that case, yes, there may be several.

 

No. I'll go one better, their want be a 160 pounder that could beat Monzon or Hagler .
The skill level today isn't close to what it was in boxing during their era. I'd hate to think what it's going to look like years from now.
Maybe 160 pound mixed martial arts fighter beats Ali. But a boxer. No.

 

Billy Conn says hello.

 

Maybe a 160lbs MMA fighter? I’m betting the house on the one who can grapple. No doubt save a freak occurrence or luck they’d crush Muhammad.

 

I would say a definite no. There’s been no promise or hint of it being possible to date. Perhaps the burden of proof resides more with the YES answer.

The Conn theory is often proffered - but he didn’t actually beat Louis and he was dusted off more easily the 2nd time around - though he wasn’t quite the fighter he was in the first match.

Ali is a different kettle of fish as compared to Louis. Louis’ end game was the KO - and he achieved that. Ali would be too fast and mobile for Conn. Also, Ali isn’t going to blink or be set back by anything Conn manages to land.

I’d be more interested in how it could be reasoned that anyone going in at about 160 lbs could beat prime Ali - and how 30 years into the future would make that more possible.

Even if one believes skill sets are more advanced (I don’t), there’s the skill plateau - what advancements in technique could we imagine being possible going forward?

I think boxing has hit the skill plateau previously and has, in fact, undergone periods of regression at times.

This, of course, leaves out the forecasting of newer and “better” PEDs or the like.

 

No

 

It would never happen in a million years. A 160 pound boxer could take every single PED known to man with a 6 month training camp, a crooked ref, and Eddie Futch in his corner and Ali would still beat his ass. You could take Ali of the Wepner fight and he beats any man who enters the ring weighing 160 lbs, let alone prime Ali. There's a colossal difference in mass, Ali was way too tough to be stopped by pea shooter welterweight punches, and would be too hard to hit with his combination of height, footwork, and head movement. It would resemble an older teenage boy toying with his 6 year old brother.

I could see a skilled welter getting the best of Ali in a 4 round sparring session at 7 AM the morning after Ali chowed down at a buffet, slept with his wife, and hasn't trained in months.

 

Actually, no is the best answer, as far as we know now. Who really knows what the far future may bring? Maybe androids will reach the point where they will be included in the term "man." In that case, all bets are off.

 

Thanks CT. Lest it came across as such, my question wasn’t rhetorical at all - just literally curious. I appreciate your answer and it makes sense.

As to advances in technique - while it may be hard to imagine, I guess it’s not impossible. Say, even a paradigm shift in approach - like the Fosbury Flop in the high jump. LOL.

Of course any changes in technique would have to be legal, in accord with the pervading rule set.

We know techniques did have a period of evolution - what might we say were the biggest “jumps” in same? - to potentially forecast what they might be in the future or at least, the likelihood of any drastic change in technique without knowing exactly what that change might be?

Hope that makes sense.

Maybe in the future the famed 1 inch punch could be worked into a boxer’s arsenal? No man could take that, not even Ali. Hehe.

 

Would be very difficult to use with modern gloves even if you're very skilled at it. It would ironically be easier to use the 1inch punch with old school gloves that have less padding and more dexterity.