If Ali was born ten years earlier?

It would be a bit harder for him to claim to be the greatest without his impeccable resume containing guys like Frazier, Foreman, Norton, etc.

 

Dethroning Marciano would be pretty impressive. Going on an undefeated streak with wins over Liston, Patterson, Terrel, Williams, Machen, Foster, Mathis, Folley, Chuvalo, Quarry, etc would help. I don't think anyone would care if he lost to Frazier in his late 30's for the same reason nobody cares when he lost to Berbick, it doesn't affect his legacy in the slightest. But with a career like that, he'd have a case for top 3 for sure.

 

Difficult to say. It depends on how the 70's went without him. There's a possibility Foreman wins the title and then utterly dominates the entire decade with quality wins over Frazier, Norton, Lyle, Bugner, Bonavena, Quarry, Ellis, Holmes, etc. He might also suffer a bad loss and doesn't have a long reign similar to what actually happened. If it wasn't Zaire, he might've imploded in a different fight due to his ego and bad management. Holmes might end up being the guy instead.

Also, the main reason I've seen people place Ali over Louis is the quality of his opposition. Without Norton, Frazier, and Foreman, is Ali's 60's competition really enough to put himself above Louis? What about Lennox Lewis?

 

most fighters or iconic figures fit where they were and would not be the same person in other eras. Same as JFK or MLK, the times were set for them, but a JFK or MLK in 1950s would not have been as dramatic as Roosevelt today would not.. How would a Churchill be today? Ali was a person of his time and his outspokenness was a part of the early 60's.

 

That's fair, yeah. Beating Rocky, Liston etc while also breaking Louis' record would be pretty impressive. Retiring with only 1 loss is great if you've been facing elite competition..

 

He turns pro in 1950 and 4 years later in 1954, he crosses paths with Rocky Marciano for the FOTY. Ali also ends up fighting prime Sonny Liston, he still fights Floyd Patterson, he fights Machen, probably Ingo.

 

But Ali for the most part is highly regarded for the competition he fought in the 70s. In this timeline, he retires around 1970-71.

On the other hand, he would likely have wins over Marciano, a prime Liston, he would still have the Patterson wins and he would probably have Charles and Walcott and a younger version of Moore on his resume. He probably fights a prime Machen and Williams. Now that I think about it, his resume, while maybe not as stellar as his 70s resume, would still be extremely solid.

 

But he would have Marciano and a younger, primer version of Sonny Liston on his resume.

 

I just noticed something....we keep assuming that Ali beats Marciano

 

Well his name would have stayed Clay and a fight with a much younger Liston would have been a storm of trouble for him.

 

This.