And what was Ali doing on the ropes for the majority of the fight while Foreman was the one putting the pressure on him and landing? Sorry, but a couple of flurries in the round doesn't constitute winning the round as far as I'm concerned. That's like saying Ali won all the middle rounds of the FOTC when he first tried the rope-a-dope against Frazier meanwhile Joe ripped left and right hooks to his body and head. Foreman tried to land the same body shots but couldn't do it effectively because Ali leaned back on loose ropes. Ali did not win every round against Foreman.
admittedly, some of those rounds are tough to score. foreman did likely take some of the early rounds with activity and despite his crudeness and poor accuracy, landed some brutal body shots. it wasn't til later in the fight that ali really opened up and started landed consistently
In the 7 rounds before the KO round, i remember Ali stunned Foreman with timed righthands, 2 or 3 times in every round except for in round 2.
Frazier everyday of the week and twice on Sundays!!! I know it is popular to say the NO ONE can beat a Prime Ali or SRR, but I have always believed that anyone can lose to the wrong guy with the wrong style on the wrong night. In reality I believe all of those guys are capable of beating him, although I may not pick some of them. Were he to fight a series of fights against those guys or guys of that Caliber, I imagine he would lose a couple along the way. I like Frazier, Louis & Holmes chances, I think Lewis, Tyson & Marciano have a decent shot...Holyfield is the only one I don't envision beating Ali or standing a decent shot.
Foreman was not up on the cards. In hindsight, Powerpuncher seems to have the most well-reasoned, well-argued post in this thread. I still think Frazier & Tyson are the biggest threats with Frazier slightly ahead than Tyson. If you can't knock Ali out, then you're going to need the stamina to sustain an attack. Frazier has this.
Not wishing to pick on you here, but definite coments like this are one of the worst aspects of the fantasy debates on this forum. Even the greatest fighters are human, and verry beatable. I could find a heavyweight outside your top 20 list, who had a fairly good chance of beating Ali. If the fight was actualy going to happen tomorrow, I doubt that you would bet any amount of money that you could not aford to loose. You would feel less self asured as the fight drew closer! Who in their right mind would have given James Douglas a significant chance at beating Tyson? Randy Turpin found a fight plan on the day to beat Sugar Ray!
Those "flurries" sure had more effect on Foreman than you would expect. They rocked him in rds 3, 4, 5 before KO'ing him in rd 8. This to a guy that barely let out a yawn the times Frazier caught him with left hooks, in between being bounced like a baskedball. Ali's "flurries" also did a number on Foreman's face, which was quite puffed by the end.
I see atleast six great fighters listed there,and all six of these men are more than capable of beating Ali at his peak,just like he is more than capable of beating them at their respecive peaks.
This is my thought, really. Ali proved he could overcome Frazier, but Frazier proved the same, so he's gotta rank. I believe the only one who had the right tools, the right style AND the right mind was Holmes. Ali is the H2H greatest, but these two, for my money, stand the best shot. Louis, distant third. Too plodding, but had the mosts skills behind the biggest punch, so to speak, so you gotta give him a shot.
Joe Frazier,in my mind. Even the 1967 Ali would have found Joe a tough nut to crack. His left hook and all pressurising style would have been the main contributory factors here. Plus,similarly to Muhammad himself,Frazier had a never say die attitude. Stlylewise,Rocky Marciano and Mike Tyson could have caused problems. Marciano,though,would bleed really badly against Ali's razor sharp combinations,forcing a stoppage. Mike Tyson's mentality would cause him to fall short. Whereas Frazier had a walk through the bowels of hell mentality,in order to win,history has shown us that Tyson did n't have that quality. Frustration would set in after the sixth round or so,and Ali would then soften Mike up and eventually stop him.
Well Chisora is just a poor man's Sam Peter, so surely '05 Peter would perform even better against '67 Ali!