Out of all the guys Ali fought, who were the ones that took the best punch...the ones who were must durable? Here's my tentative list: 1. George Chuvalo (easily) The rest of the list is in no particular order... 2. Joe Bugner 3. Oscar Bonavena 4. Ron Lyle 5. Jerry Quarry 7. Mac Foster 8. George Foreman (he could take a whale of punch, despite going down easily against Ali)
Frazier deserves a mention. Guy took an obscene amount of punishment against Ali in Fights 1 and 3 and didn't go down. Plus one gets the impression that he would have kept getting up against Foreman, regardless of how many times Big George put him down.
In terms of taking the best punch, 1. Chuvalo 2. Bugner 3. Young 4. Bonavena 5. Quarry 6. Liston 7. Foreman 8. Terrell 9. Wepner 10. Mac Foster I assume Holmes doesn't count? Was tempted to put Frazier in there but it asked for taking the best punch but Frazier could be put down by bombs.
I guess I should have thrown Frazier in there. Initially I didn't include him because he was hurt by so many of his opponents. But I change my mind now, and include him as one of Ali's most durable foes.
Was Terrell really that durable, or was it more a case of him not being easy to hit, due to his height? Stonehands, care to comment on this, if you read this post?
Larry Holmes, of course, would rank near the top of my list. I originally didn't consider him because that fight took place at the tail end of Ali's career, and was such a joke of a contest. But of course, Holmes had great chin. Also, I might throw Trevor Berbick in there.
