Muhammad Ali vs Jimmy Young: who really won?

So should they have given the 2nd Ali - Frazier fight to JF? Just to even out what the ref wasn’t doing of course.

 

Ali was soundly outboxed in this fight. He was out of shape, and forced to lead, he looked like a fish out of water. As for all the hoopla about Young sticking his head out of the ropes, Ali clearly crowded him and rather than clinch Young did the ill advised move of sticking his out of the ropes. The ref didn’t call it early on, had he, I bet Jimmy doesn’t do it anymore and goes on to win just like the actual fight. The ref didn’t make the call, until Young did it too many times, then he was rightly penalized. Ali apologists cling to this infraction to justify a bad decision.

 

Ali won.
The judges' decisions aren't always good but they are part of boxing. Two men agreed to fight and agreed to let the judges decide the winner. They couldn't or wouldn't knock the other out, so it went to the judges.

 

Let Young have the win. Ali was physically old, fat, and disinterested. All the attributes that made Ali Ali except his heart and guts had abandoned him. He was literally throwing and not caring what was coming back. That's why Young stuck his head out of the ring. He could have been like Sonny Liston, Roberto Duran, and Mike Tyson and just quit.

 

He could also have taken the opportunity of a lifetime ,which was handed to him on a plate, and seized it with both hands.
Taking the heavyweight title from a fat, disinterested ,complacent ,aging champion,but he didn't have it in him to do so.

Some of his close losses could have been wins,but imo ,he did not have the mentality of a Champion,and on his biggest night,he failed to step up to the plate and put the matter beyond doubt.

That's why he will always be just another, "nearly man," instead of a Champion.

 

That’s basically it… he beat Ali but it wasn’t a spirited effort, he fought in his usual “scared” sort of way with enough room for doubt which is all a spoiler like JY needs to have a decision taken from them, it’s a business nobody wanted the 2nd fight and giving it to MA appealed to the masses even if it was a bit of a robbery so they screwed Jim.