Is Ali the HW GOAT?

I have him 3rd after Foreman and Louis. A majority have him as the GOAT though and thats a reasonable opinion. In my book these 3 are way ahead of 4 after which the next tier of HW ATGs are all bunched together.

Foreman did better against Ali toughest opponents. Foreman was 6-1 against Ali opponents and these were all among Alis toughest opponents. Foreman responsible for the 70s being considered the best era with the success he had in the 90s. Without Foremans success against Holyfield and Moorer in his twilight years Lennox Lewis probably is most peoples HW GOAT not Ali.

Louis had the more dominant career both before and after winning the belt. While they have similar totals of defenses Louis left a lot more on the table during WW2 then Ali did with his Vietnam exile. Louis could have had almost 50 title defenses, Ali really couldn't have been anything more than he was. When an opponent had success against Louis or knocked him down he shut it down quickly. When an opponent had success against Ali though it was a real tough fight Ali usually won. Ali was incredibly lucky to get through Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Jimmy Young and Lyle with a 7-2 record. Louis's era was slightly less top heavy but had more depth and his number 1 contenders kept retiring without having the fights against each other that made the 70s so revered.

At their peak Louis and Foreman could get automatic 10-7s against some of their best opponents and thats not Ali. Foreman and Louis had a lethality that Ali and most other HW greats lacked and thats part of why I rank them higher.

 

For me it's Louis

 

Well… at least he rematched his biggest challenges! And he hasn’t “Left” yet, and he really wasn’t targeting a Jake fight, it’s in MMA… try and pay attention there Ace. And he’s using the rematches (Or trilogy fights) as leverage for the Joseph Parker negotiations. Bet anything he’ll fight Parker after dubois. Watch.

At least he’s not phoning up Bakole and pleading with him to “PUT PRESSURE ON HIM!!! LET YOUR HANDS GO AND JUST ATTACK HIM!!!” before fighting Parker in hopes of Martin catching him!! That would look real bad wouldn’t it?! Goats don’t do that!

 

Who are are your next 4 if you don't mind me asking?

 

Yes. Him or Louis.

 

No absolutely not. The ones who tote ali around as the greatest are blinded by the shanaagins that he did outside the ring.
He has great achievements but far from the goat imo.

 

Brilliant post.

 

I meant the top 3 were far ahead of number 4. Would probably go Lennox, Wlad, Tunney next and then theres a cluster of Wills, Dempsey, Langford, Liston, Holmes, Norton, Frazier. I guess right now would be my order but is super close? They are all hard to compare for various reasons. I used to have Frazier in the top 5 and now hes at the bottom of that group.

 

Adam Low T copped a ban

Quick, someone start some new Usyk threads praising him, he'll be raging if he can't reply to them

 

Usyk is nowhere near the best HW ever.

 

Ali's 3 best wins are Liston, Frazier and Foreman. And he has a bunch of other very nice wins. Usyk's resume is not even close.