Who Does The Best Against Prime Ali? (Poll Included)

How would Ali be able to land his jab on someone taller with a longer reach? Not like Ali himself was great at defending the jab either.

 

So you're saying there's no realistic way for Ali land his jab on someone who is taller with a longer reach ???? lol

 

Not consistently and not more then he would be getting hit.

 

But he's done it before. Alis feints can disrupt timing and create openings here and he is by far the more agile and faster guy here so i see no reason to be confident Ali would get hit more. He would have lots of difficulty landing counter punches and following up with the right hand because Klitschko will keep him occupied with the left hand and has quick feet, but i don't think he'd find it difficult to befuddle Wlad by being in constant motion, getting his shots off faster and keep his jab flicking. I don't think he'd find it difficult to slip and slide 1 power punch at a time from someone who is extremely textbook either

Wlad would approach Ali the same way he approached Haye and Williamson, trying to back him up with the long jab and stay at range but both of them landed plenty of jabs in there and Ali had a better jab, would be moving more hands and feet, would be harder to read, harder to land the 1-2 on, and unlike Norton Klitschko relies on his feet instead of head movement or blocking and he can't fight in the inside. And while Klitschko was a better jabber, much bigger and hit much harder, Ali always had more problems with crouching aggressors who could fight up close and work his body than taller guys trying to throw the stick out and Ali had a great chin. Klitschko isn't a good counter puncher and his is inability to go to the body will not help him here. This fight will probably be uglier than anticipated

Ali gets criticized for doing the same thing over and over but Klitschko actually does the same thing over and over, although he was excellent at what he did. Usyk and Tyson are causing Ali a bit more trouble by bringing the pressure with fast twitch head movement, speed, volume, power combinations and left hands, that's just the way i see it

 

So your argument is basically that Ali wins off speed and movement? But that doesn’t really explain how you deal with Wlad’s control of range. Haye had speed and explosiveness and still struggled to even get into position because Wlad’s jab and footwork kept resetting everything and Haye is also around the same size as Ali. I don't think Haye being faster would magically fix that issue.

Ali would have to be on the front foot, constantly closing distance, which means repeatedly walking into a longer jab and getting lined up. That’s not the same as fighting slower heavyweights from his era that really didn't know how to fight long like Wlad does.

Being faster doesn’t automatically solve that problem you still have to consistently get inside against someone who built his entire style around preventing exactly that and I don't see how Ali would be able to do it consistently.

 

Riddick Bowe deserved a mention.

 

If this fight is 15 rounds Klitschko might get stopped.

Haye and especially Williamson still landed jabs and powershots Ali wouldn't get shut out and Haye was a natural counter puncher. I don't see how you can argue Klitschko resetting Alis foot positioning (somehow ?) with just the jab and stepping back over and over and over but then suggest Alis feints, his awkward style vs Klitschkos basic approach, being faster on the draw in exchanges and thowing in combination wouldn't be relevant. Even if Ali misses he wouldn't be in a relatively dangerous position Klitschko doesn't counter punch, he'd be throwing more combinations against someone that's stiff and upright just backpeddling and could nick rounds. Ali doesn't need to get on the inside to win, he could jab, keep feinting to make Klitschko more hesitant (we know this works Klitschko can become gunshy), keep turning and using angles to frustrate Wlad with movement instead of trying to counter off the ropes in spots like Haye, and he's going to outland Wlad in any exchanges. Ali typically had a higher workrate too. I don't think Wlad would land at a higher percentage because he's bigger he wasn't moving his head and upper body nearly as much

Alis right hand isn't guaranteed to be nullified Williamson dropped Klitschko with one. I'm just not seeing it. Wlad is big trouble for Ali, Tyson and Usyk are bigger challenges, Wlad is too basic to be historically the biggest threat to Ali

 

There’s a lot of guys on that list who would give him hard fights

 

Movement and feints matter, but they don’t stop Wlad from resetting range. That’s the part you’re skipping. Guys like David Haye had speed and movement too, but they still struggled to even get into position because Wlad kept re-establishing distance and tying them up.

So how exactly is Ali turning movement and feints into consistent offense without getting reset or clinched? Because that’s what everyone else ran into.

 

You're assuming Ali can't land his jabs when they did in spots or slip Wlads jab then move out an angle or jab with Wlad and Wlad resetting range is just him stepping back, and he has gotten hit with jabs while stepping back. You also assume that he can't land any right hands against Wlad when Williamson did and scored a KD. Ali doesn't have to step forward to get into position for a right hand, he can just shift his weight to his front foot and could occasionally catch Klitschko with fast power shots. Klitschko moving out or range quickly would make combination punching hard to consistently pull off but single power shots, flicking jabs, and hidden right hands behind a fast jab not so much. Also Klitschko wont be initiating as many clinches if he constantly has to chase somebody down, in this scenario Ali would probably be clinching more. He also has better stamina. You said Ali wouldn't consistently land his jab on taller fighters with longer reaches (not specifically Wladimir) without getting hit more when he's done it. You clearly want to downplay his abilities and then overvalue Wlad

Haye has good defense which is how he went the distance and has power but he's a natural counter puncher with a lower workrate especially with the jab, definitely worse stamina, doesn't feint as much or double up on his jab while moving laterally, and certainly didn't move around the ring as much anyway.

Lets look at the facts.

Ali only has to look out for the stiff jab, the right hand and the occasional left hook which are easier to duck coming from a taller man. Klitschko is too straightforward to be this hypothetical nightmare match up for Ali compared to others historically. He's excellent but more methodical and uncomplicated compared to almost everyone else on the list.

 

You're right, there's no way Ali could consistently land his jab on Ernie Terrell. Not more than Terrell would be hitting Ali, anyway.

 

How did I know this would yet again turn into Wlad vs Ali

 

If Terrell was twice the fighter he was, he wouldn't be half the fighter Wlad was.

 

Haye is much more similar to Ali then Wlad is to Terrell if you want to play that game. And even Terrell had success with his jab.

 

I think Terrell was having some success till like R6 then Ali won everything from there onwards.