Yes I agree Ali hit very hard and would have had more Kos had he felt them necessary but esp when his feet were fast he preferred to be on his toes which took away some of his power but also allowed him to dominate without taking as much damage. Later in his career he had to be more stationary so he would really load up on some shots. I think with Frazier Ali didn't throw as hard as he did against foreman because Frazier was so good at slipping and countering so Ali didn't want to commit. But you can see how hard those shots in Zaire are the sweat was exploding off foreman's head from the impact.
I always kind of knock him for not at least dropping Patterson but to be honest, I don’t know hard he tried. As ticked as he might’ve been at Patterson in their first fight, I think he might’ve backed off some. I definitely think he just cruised in the 2nd fight. Had he had a more “bad intentions” personality, he might’ve been seen as a harder puncher. He would’ve gone after guys more. In the 70’s especially, I don’t feel like he’s going all out to hurt guys. The big fights definitely but he seemed to not enjoy really hurting his opponent. I thought he went after Wepner pretty good.
In those early rounds in Manila, Ali was landing some particularly heavy artillery trying to take Joe out early - he really believed that this was the fight he’d finally KO Joe early to mid. There was one particular right hand that Ali measured with his left held out straight prior to - it hit Joe in the forehead area and clearly buckled his knees. In round 2, Ali also landed a single power left hook that sent Joe buckling into the ropes. As the fight wore on, though visually hurt on occasions, both men seem to build a measure of immunity and steely resolve to the incredible punishment they were dealing out to one another. In round 14, Dunphy said Joe was within a punch or two of going down - in the face of Ali, even if Frazier was staggering, buckling, etc., I would never project for or call Joe down until he was actually down - Joe’s resolve was amazing.