Your favorite Ali fight?

Hi Buddy.
Ali certainly put a lot of hurt on Quarry in this fight, slight caveat ( if I may ) not long before he entered the ring he witnessed his brother Mike nearly being decapitated by a Foster left hook, for a couple of minutes or so, there was real anxiety and concern as to how badly Mike was hurt, and I remember the camera scrolled the ring and Jerry's face was ashen, nobody was sure what to do, so yes he was made to look clumsy, and slow, but his mind could not have been on the job, just my opinion, my own fav would be the Williams fight, for me no HW in history could have won against that version of the Greatest.
stay safe ETM, I always check out what you have to say, you know your stuff, as you have demonstrated on numerous occasions, chat soon buddy.

 

Still the rumble for me
The first Liston fight and the Foreman fights were the first Ali fights i saw on an old vhs about 35 years ago

Too see him tire out and dramatically knock Foreman out still makes the hairs on my arms stand

 

As good as the Ali v Frazier fights were my favorite was Foreman.
Glad you put the Terrell fight there although nobody will pick it I did enjoy that one too

 

That's a fair point. Can't discount seeing something line that right before his own fight.

 

I would pick the first Frazier fight. Ali was out of the sport for 3 and 1/2 years and had 1 and 1/4 tuneup fights (the Quarry fight was stopped after only 3 rounds) to prepare for a peak Joe Frazier. His performance in that fight would have been incredible even without the layoff! WITH the layoff and short preparation time Ali's performance was mind-boggling!! it took a life or death effort from Frazier at his absolute best to beat him--and he was never the same afterwards.

IMHO Ali beats ANYBODY else that night except for Joe. In many ways it was his finest hour!!

 

fotc for me too.

 

Holmes

 

FOTY for me

 

Muhammad Vs Joe Frazier 3
Muhammad Vs Ken Norton 2
Cassius Clay Vs Sonny Liston
Muhammad Ali Vs Joe Frazier
Muhammad Ali Vs Earnie Shavers

 

Foreman, Frazier I, Liston I

 

Jerry made it clear in his post fight interview that what he saw happen to Mike really psyched him out and took a lot out of him. For allhe knew, Mike could have then been in an ambulance, in the hospital, or collapsed dead in his dressing room. Ali also saw what happened from the television in his own dressing room, Mike idolized Ali, and Muhammad knew Jerry's head wasn't going to be in it after seeing that. He wasn't celebrating at the end with his hands upraised, but full of compassion and understanding. That November, he repeatedly bounced Bob with singular punches for

So, what would've happened if Mike had obviously come out of it in good shape, at least relatively unhurt, so that Jerry entered the ring focused an in good spirits?

Well, unfortunately for JQ, Ali certainly did not take him lightly during training, because only an absolute idiot would have ever taken Jerry lightly, but one just did not try to counterpunch Muhammad Ali. Jerry would've needed to tear after him the way he did Frazier in 1969, but it was still a 12 rounder, and Ali might've won the FOTC clearly with his level of preparedness for JQ II. Jerry did bury some hard hooks into Ali's body, but unlike Frazier, he'd have become discouraged with their seeming ineffectiveness. Beyond that, it was a height and reach sort of thing, and Jerry's doubts about his ring stamina would've eventually begun to compromise his endurance.

In Jerry's previous bout, he had some trouble with the 6'4" Larry Middleton before he got his right going, but we can see with Norton-Middleton, Jerry on ringside commentary this time, that Larry was no Muhammad Ali.

Too bad about Mike though, as Muhammad and Jerry entered Las Vegas in at the highest level of competitive preparedness either could have generated.

If BF wanted to try the heavyweights, I sure wish Jerry had gotten to him before Ali.

 

The Rumble in The Jungle …David vs Goliath

 

For some reason Ali vs chuvalo 2 feels like its 15 minutes everytime i watch it. He just does his bread and butter so clear and effective. Other fights he does more complex stuff and i cant tell much of what he does, but that one is great to study the man

 

The Berbick contest proved he had many more years left as a force in the division. Unfortunately, he was convinced to retire and deprived the public of so many great bouts through the 1980's, and perhaps into the 1990's.

 

It weren't life an death for Frazier. He won with plenty to spare. The unanimous decision was never in doubt with anyone. The thrilla in Manila was where it was life an death for Frazier