Muhammad Ali vs the K2 brothers

He beat Terrell and Bugner fighting on the front foot, nearly blinding the former.

 

Bugner yes.

Terrell, from what I remember, Ali did was his 60s incarnation usually did, staying on the outside and circling, with a lot of his evasion going backward. Terrell followed him around the ring with his hands up, slightly hunched forward. Terrell was trying in parts of it to get close enough to rough Ali up, which wasn't very successful.

 

Terrell had a high guard quasi peekaboo style. He didn't mount much offense out of it, at least on that night. Ali would hit him with some combos, back off to holler at him, and then repeat the process. He also fought on the front foot againt Richard Dunn, but Dunn was hopelessly outmatched.

 

Yeah, I agree that there's not much useful we get can out of the Dunn fight.

Terrell didn't really fight like a tall guy, which is probably why Ali managed to engage him so effectively on the outside and moving backwards despite the height difference.

Bugner did fight competently as the taller guy. It may give some sense of Ali as a front foot fighter, but it's also hard because Ali was removed from his prime in both fights.

So I guess your predictions on the way this fight goes would depend on what you think Ali's fight plan would be. If he tries to stay on the outside like he did with all of his major 60s opponents, then my previous comments would apply. If you think he tries to fight more aggressively as he did against Bugner, then those fights would be the better ones to look at for how the styles might mesh.

 

Terrell dominated Chuvalo on the back foot with ease. He was a good boxer but Alis movement and boxing from the outset forced Terrell to fight him aggressively, Terrell knew if he wasn't landing his jabs and long range punches while stepping forwards he wasn't going to do it while backpedaling

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IMHO, Bugner was a very good fighter, not a great one. I do believe prime for prime he could have beat some of the alphabet champions who succeeded him and a couple who preceded him. I wouldn't say he was a poor man's Ali. That would be unfair to him. He was the Camry to Ali's Lexus, fast hands and light on his feet. Ali was really fighting a bigger and lesser version of himself. He was forced to lead.

 

Yes, I think that's right. A bigger, more orthodox version with a lot less fire. Bugner always struck me as a solid contender.

 

Bugner had better fundamentals and overall skillset that Vitali.
That fight is how Ali Vs Vitali would look.

Look at this abbot and Costello sketch

The holes and flaws in Vitali styles are laid brutally bare against a total soup can.

Punch stats reveal he threw over a thousand punched and only landed 200 lmao

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From what i remember Bugner just got countered all night and wasn't as comfortable fighting at range as Ali was

 

Ali was moving forward more in Bugner than he was in Terrell, though.

 

True but he wasn't really doing much offensively that really impressed me mostly just landing cross counters and 1-2s i think it was more a sign Bugner couldn't keep him at range at all rather then displaying how good Ali was on the front foot

 

I dont know Bugner being more skilled but I do agree that Ali vs Vitali may resemble that fight.

I dont think Ali would have to fight Wlad aggressively, if anything Wladimir would be the one chasing him down, but Vitali is a different story. I am in the minority and think Vitali is the harder fight for Ali than Wladimir, Wlad couldn't dominate the fleet footed Williamson and got dropped too. Vitalis lean back style, larger size, iron chin and workrate would add up, but his arm punches are vulnerable to slick fighters that is evident

 

Bugner looked good against Frazier. That wasn't peak Frazier but he was on the comeback trail and had all the motivation in the world.

 

Bugner is a proper boxer.
Look at that fight I posted.
Vitali fought all throughout his career like a converted kickboxer. Johnson showed a blueprint for how a better boxer could expose his flaws.
He has no defensive technique whatsoever. It's no coincidence his face fell off against the worst Lewis that ever entered the ring

 

That was something and Lennox was way past his best by date.