Think this fight is a pretty good contradicion to the common cliché that Ali had no technical skills to fall back on once his physical gifts abandoned him. His footwork and range negotiation are excelllent in this fight. He throws nice, accurate combinations and some good counters, but have absolutely no snap left in his punches. He's pushing his once beautiful right pitifully. I actually had him ahead after five rounds, but he runs out of gass and Berbick finishes as the comfortable winner. But a 39-year old in early throes of Parkinson's Syndrome gives a limited but young and strong contender a good fight. Quite fantastic actually. Ali's most underrated perfomance.
More people should view it for themselves. This one makes me wonder how a well conditioned 217 pound Ali might have done with Holmes had he not shot himself in the foot by doubling his prescribed dose of Thyrolar without telling anybody. My supposition is that Muhammad would have easily lasted the distance with Larry in a bout which might have evoked comparisons to Charles-Louis. At nearly 20 pounds more, I thought he was better against Berbick than Page was six months later. At this stage, he was struggling to jog two miles. What surprised you most about actually seeing it for yourself?
I've seen parts of before, so I knew what to expect more or less. But it is surprising that he made nearly every round competitive and looked so good in the early rounds. He also shows that economical, textbook footwork that many like to claim he lacked. The respect Berbick showed him was a bit surprising, considering how little he had on his punches. But he actually managed to rock Berbick on occassion. The accuracy was still largely there.
I'll always be convinced that if Ali had put a respectable showing,like he did here,against Holmes,he'd have left it there. It was because he was so awful against Larry,he decided that he could n't have that performance as his last bout ever.
Yeah. Perhaps. A respectable showing against Holmes would be a good way to bow out. EDIT: Well, better at least. Like most I think Ali should have quit after Frazier III.
It is a shame to look back on those last 2 bouts for evaluation. Always,,,,,,,,'just one more fight'..........'just one more big paycheck' A bout with Gerry Cooney at that time, may have really done damage.
As i recall, the man who came off worst in this promotion was Don King - if my memory serves me well (No Guarantee !) Don King was paid a Visit at his hotel by a Local er.."Posse" who proceeded to rough Don up. A Hair raising experiance Even or Don.
It was sad affair, especially seeing Berbick showboating and bullying Ali around. In terms of a score it wasn't lopsided, though.
Marciano-Louis really isn't comparable. I can understand not wanting to watch it but it's not that bad Louis does well in some early rounds with his jab. Obviously, the ending is what makes it tougher to watch (You've had to see it seeing old boxing shows). Would've done wonders for his legacy. If he left after Manilla that would've been better but he didn't hang around too long after that.
Why was he even allowed to go and fight Berbick? Ali, his friends, the doctors, and the promoters knew he had serious physical problems.
If you're going to be using Ali's prime as the reference point, I'd dodge Young, Shavers, Evangelista and Leon Spinks II as well. Well, maybe the thing to do here is watch the first seven rounds only. Rounds one and two were all Rocky's, three was even, while four and five went to Joe on all cards, mainly on the strength of his jab. It's all right to see parts one and two if you stay away from part three. Marciano does all the bleeding, and it was he, not Louis, who looked like he'd been in a fight after it was over. Rocky does a lot of missing, while Joe nails him with some of those same hooks he used to take Savold down and out.