¿Which of them do you think would give Prime Ali a more worthy fight?

People are pretty ready to throw out the Norton fight right? (Oh that’s not prime Ali don’t worry about it) As if a club fighter so-so type didn’t beat Ali? let’s not do this thing where “Norton is an ATG for beating Ali and Ali is a SUPER ATG for beating Norton” Haye and Povetkin have an okay shot of winning.

 

Norton also came close to beating Holmes so calling him a club fighter is comical.

Povetkin struggled vs Marco Huck - and that is a far bigger black mark than struggling vs Norton.

 

Did Norton beat Holmes IYO? I thought it was pretty obvious Holmes won but it’s my 0.2$. Great fighters cut it close with less then themselves, sometimes they lose - which is the point of my post… Ali wouldn’t be guaranteed to beat the best guys here hence why Norton beat him, Norton wasn’t a special fighter he had a good plan, the right tools and style. DQing guys like Povetkin and Haye from discussion? Nah they’d have an okay chance. I guess Povetkin may have lost to Huck? I mean it happens how about being almost KO’d by Enry Cooper? And Struggling with Doug Jones?

 

Did everybody know Povetkin beat a guy called “Muhammad Ali…Durmaz” in his debut? Neat.

 

Ali would tie up Ike in mental knots and then work him into a big pretty bow before the first bell.

A complete head case against a master of the dark arts of mental warfare?Mismatch.

Povetkin, even with ‘roids, I don’t see it. A prime Ali circles and slices and dices his way to a decision.

Dempsey would be fun for about four rounds but he’s too small. Tua follows Muhammad around like a tamed puppy dog waiting for a treat. Johnson and Haye? No way.

I don’t see any of this lot giving the Greatest one of his tougher nights if he’s on point, feels challenged and at his best. Maybe Dempsey outhustles him. If we get a lazy version of Muhammad.

 

It’s likely the most common name in existence.

 

Honestly I think Johnson but it would be a stinkeroo of a fight IMO.

 

Oh

 

Ibeabuchi or Haye due to his athleticism, Prime Ali cleans Povetkins clock. He doesn't know what to do against faster fighters, especially ones who can navigate the ring all night

 

Anyone calling Norton a “club fighter” is woefully ill informed and/or wilfully ignorant.

To further compound their woes, they dismiss out of hand, counter evidence of an older, past prime Norton running a near prime Holmes (who was clearly firing on all cylinders), to a razor thin decision.

Also, never mind that Holmes described his defences thereafter as relative cake walks compared to the Norton fight….

…..and not to mention that Holmes-Norton ranks right up there among the greatest HW fights ever.

Preemptively I’ll also strike out the myth of Holmes being impaired by an injured left arm - nothing wrong with Larry’s left, and more specifically Larry’s jab - which won Holmes the first 5-6 rounds in its own right.

And finally, Ken also beat Young when Jimmy was bamboozling and beating the other top contenders of the day……

…..quite obviously, Norton didn’t gain his deserved rep. just for his fights vs Ali - but they are rightful inclusions in his career mosaic and performances not so easily dismissed.

 

Agreed. And i don't understand how struggling vs Norton is somehow worse than Povetkin struggling vs Marco Huck.

I like Povetkin. Excellent power, great combination puncher, great hooker. But his resume is amongst the thinnest i have seen from a high quality fighter. His best wins were Dillian Whyte, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Chambers and Carlos Takam. Not exactly a who's who of great fighters. Byrd and Rahman were ancient when Povetkin got to them.

Its very difficult to look at Povetkin's resume and conclude that he has a major shot vs Ali. Povetkin's resume is not comparable to Norton's. Norton beat Jimmy Young and Jerry Quarry who are both better than Povetkin's victims.

 

Debatable both have pretty thin resumes. Povetkin at least has more good wins though Norton obviously has the better singular win.

 

Quarry was also SHOT and Young was wearing cuffs according to folks around, Norton was a well managed decent pro nothing special at all, barely if at all above guys like Douglas, Povetkin or Haye IMO.

 

He also never really showed he can deal with more then one style which is why I don't think he would do well in many H2H matches

 

He didn’t really even deal with the one style he got debatable decisions instead even against a post Manila SHOT Ali his reputation for being a “buzz saw” is hysterically overrated.