This content is protected My goodness his hands were fast. I honestly don't think any heavyweight today has this kind of handspeed. Not only that but you can see Ali's brilliant right hand lead. He lands that fast hard right hand lead over and over again without being countered. He later used it to perfection vs Foreman. Another thing that is impressive is Ali's left hook - he landed a lot of good ones in this fight. I don't think he gets enough credit for his left hook.
This fight was a great showcase for skills that Ali seldom needed to call upon vs. smaller or comparably sized opponents.
One of Muhammad's most impressive post-exile performances. Almost as good as the second Norton,Frazier and Quarry bouts plus the Foreman one. He looked pretty good in the second Bugner fight too. His second best performance of his second championship reign - obviously the Frazier defence being number one.
To me, it's a crucial fight for Ali's legacy - not b/c Bugner was necessarily the greatest opponent, but b/c it demonstrates the extent to which Ali could adjust/adapt his style.
They say he looked bad against Young because he couldn't lead. It was more a function of him being cooked and woefully out of shape.
Interesting that given busier schedules back in the day, particularly for Ali during this particular run, fighters actual fights served as very much a part of their “training”’and keeping them match fit. Ali was 217 1/4 lb for this fight - excellent weight and pretty much what he later weighed for Foreman. Great workout for Muhammad to hone himself at least over 12 rounds. Not showing sufficient regard for his opponent, Ali came in out of shape however just one month later vs Norton at 221 lbs. Didn’t seem that much heavier necessarily but it made some difference. You could almost pinpoint certain fights that served Ali very in view of the greater challenges that were to come shortly thereafter. For instance, as hard a fight as it was and perhaps not so desirable in real time, Ali absolutely needed the near enough to 15 rounds vs Bonavena to better prep him for Frazier. IF Ali only had another 3 rounder like Quarry as his second comeback fight just prior to Frazier, I think it would’ve been that much worse for Ali having to tangle with the indefatigable Frazier in his next fight - so, the resistance that Bonavena put up was kind of a blessing in disguise. Also the unprecedented KO of Bonavena, albeit after a tough fight otherwise, must’ve been a great confidence boost for Ali - knowing that over 25 rounds in total, Frazier couldn’t do same with Joe experiencing his own difficulties with the rough and durable Argentinian.
Not to be overly critical of Holmes but this fight shows the difference between Ali and Holmes. Ali was a lot more versatile and adaptable. Holmes struggled badly when people could take away his jab. Ali had a better left hook and right hand lead and more adaptability.
