How good was the Ali between Thrilla and Spinks 1?

Between Ali’s win over Frazier in Manila and his loss to Spinks, he had notable wins over Norton and Shavers, but how good was he actually in that period?

I believe the effects of Parkinson’s were starting to impact him, but at the time did anybody doubt he was still the best?

 

I feel like Ali's last great performance was vs Foreman his weight was 214 pounds he was sharp.

Every fight after that his weight would go up to 220+ pounds and his level of performances noticeably started dropping dramatically.

Thriller in Manilla was an historic fight and both men showed a ton of heart but you could see both fighters were past their prime. But i'd say that was the best Ali looked for sure between 1975-1978.

After Thriller in Manilla ? Ali started sitting on the ropes too much not doing a whole lot.

Ali basically slept walk vs Lyle for 10 rounds until he finally turned it up in the 11th round.

Ali was solid vs Norton in their 3rd fight but not close to what he was in their 2nd meeting.

Ali was grossly out of shape vs Young in a bad performance.

Ali showed heart vs Shavers but again he did very little for 10 rounds until he really started fighting in the last 5 rounds. But he was way too easy to hit which was alarming and i think the slurred speech really started to show after this fight.

The loss to Spinks Ali basically sat on the ropes for 14 rounds doing nothing until he came out all guns blazing in the 15th round.

All in all how good would i say Ali was during this period ? he still had his smarts, chin, and could turn it up in spurts.

But he was very beatable during this period.

 

Pretty bad should have lost to Young, Norton and maybe even Shavers as well. Didn't impress in any of those fights pretty much just got by on his toughness and on the vibes of being Ali.

 

I call this version of him "Smoke and Mirrors Ali". He was still (very) good, but definitely beatable and got at least 1 decision off of his persona. I feel like he lost to Young and Norton fight was a toss up, no robbery tho. Can't see Shavers beating him tho.

 

Agreed, I'd argue he took a lot more damage from Foreman than he let on, and was never the same after.

 

He was fading fast but managed to keep hold of the title,well until 77 .

 

I think he was borderline shot

 

In a nutshell

 

Ali was 216 for the Rumble.

 

The fact it took him until the last round to KO a bum like Wepner shows how far the great Ali had fallen.

 

For those who say Ali was washed during this period, were there any heavyweights who could have beaten him that he never faced, up until his eventual loss to Spinks?

 

The period was pretty sparse with most of the big names from the 70s part their best and no real solid contenders yet besides the ones he fought. Besides him probably deserving to lose to Norton and Young. I'd say Holmes and giving Foreman a rematch which Foreman wanted but Ali avoided are the only real answer.

 

It's interesting that the 70s as a decade tends to be broadly viewed as the golden age of HW boxing, but maybe it was more '65-75 that should be viewed as that.

 

In 1975 Muhammad was only slightly less formidable than he was against Foreman. He looked like he barely trained for Wepner and Lyle but could have stopped them both a lot earlier had he seriously opened up on them quicker. He looked a lot better against Joe Bugner as he took Joe seriously. And in Manila he and Frazier got it all out,as we know. As great as a fight that was though,Muhammad could have made it less tough had he trained and planned more conscientiously like he did for his and Joe's second bout.

Post-Manila Muhammad was truly on the downward slope and got through his tough fights with just guille and toughness. How I will always wish he'd retired after Zaire or Manila. I celebrated his victory over Leon Spinks in return bout but wish he'd never fought that long.

 

Good enough to whoop Fury