How would you rate Ali's punching power?

Your clearly not a fan of the finer points of this sport

ever heard of UFC :hi:

 

He's right. Ali never planted his feet and so his punches were never as hard as they could have been.

Also, my dad met Ali once.

 

Yeah he never sat down on his punches because he chose to box rather punch...when he did punch with malice it was very effective. In the harder battles he had it would of made him more vunerable so he didnt use it.

I also met Ali... in 1993 in Bristol...back when meeting Ali was alot cheaper

 

My dad met him in NY in the late 80's walking outside of a bookstore, nice guy by all accounts.

I agree that ali is underrated as a puncher in his prime, but punching power was by no means his primary weapon. I'd give him a 6/10 in this category.

 

Ali was not a hard puncher but a very sharp puncher. It was speed and accuracy that was his forte, accompanied by his 6'3" frame. Also, over the years one can see how the "punch" evolved. Watch his fight with Doug Jones. One can see strictly arm punches with nothing behind them. After winning the title he was learning to employ the speed with the leverage his frame allowed. The Chuvalo, Williams and Folley fights are good examples. Post exile Ali was slower but still fast and seemed to sit down on the punches more which was now employing the 212 -220 pounds to his advantage. Watch the Ellis, Bonavena and Quarry fights as the example. As age robbed him of his speed, he was poking around there without the great reaction he would have with the incredible speed and sharpness behind it. Remember, the last thing a fighter loses is his punch, but Ali never really had one, which is why a Spinks and Evangelista were going the distance with him. In technical terms of the trades, it's not the voltage that will kill you but the amperage behind it. Once Ali's amperage (speed) was gone, no more KOs.

Scartissue

 

GOATs

 

Why do you put the link to that gif in your signature instead of just putting the gif up directly? That's something you want to show to the world right up front, I would think.

 

Because i cannot be arsed to click on edit profile and change it

 

Man, you've gone to the trouble of posting a thread with Duran in a boxer/wrestler match. I thought you were DEDICATED...Maybe I was wrong...:bart

 

he did not always put it all behind his punch but when he did it was hurtful. He was not as strong as a puncher as JJWalcott as far as pin point punchers go but could razzle you with a pitter-patter combo or catch you with a solid lead right or hook...to add to the rest of his arsenal his power was fine.

 

I've seen many say Walcott hit harder, but I'm not really convinced. I'd say they were about equal, perhaps with Ali even having a small edge. I've not seen nearly as much of Walcott as of Ali and I agree that Walcott's left hook on Charles is sweeter and sharper than any punch Ali ever threw, but from what I've seen I don't feel Walcott's power surpasses the punches Ali landed on for example Williams, Folley, Frazier, Foreman or Lyle.

 

I disagree ... interesting that someone as shart as you believes so ... I will say that ..

 

The interesting thing is that he threw a pretty hard left hook counter when he let it go ... the Bonavena fight is one example ... the third Frazier fight in round two is another ...Not a featherfist ... decent just not a big puncher ...

 

No he didn't.

Abe Simon said Walcott was a terrific puncher, probably the hardest puncher he fought. This was a Walcott that was supposedly weak and trying to manage a way to feed his kids in tough times.

Louis must have zero chance in a H2H matchup with Ali if that's the case.

His power is average I guess. I say he hit ever so slightly less hard than Holmes overall. There are anomalies like KOing Bonavena... but that was a perfectly placed shot. Just like what we see with Tua this week... a perfectly placed punch can knock down an iron-chinned fighter. I know Tua is past it, but nobody would've expect that. Similiarly, who would think Bonavena goes 24 rounds with Frazier but gets KOed by Ali? No one.

His KO over Foreman gets largely over-rated when it's a point to his power. Foreman was spent, and he actually wasn't knocked out. So there you go...

Ali could hurt you, though, especially if he sat down on his punches or if he landed a real accurate shot.