How long before Ali recedes to being a #2 or #3 heavyweight, except for boxing hipsters?

Yes you would have to be a casual to think Marciano was anything less than the GOAT.
Ali would of course be outsized by todays heavies but Rocky?
"he would find a way"

 

I don't put him there, but I think Louis ahead of him is totally reasonable, and I very much could see my position there changing.

Considering how well ancient George Foreman did in the 90's it's hard to argue it was some level above Ali's era.

 

Ali aside, what group of heavyweight fighters in Ali’s era are you talking about when you talk about this apparent exceptional skill levels and fighting athleticism that exists back when Ali was in his pomp? Frazier and a then young Holmes are obvious answers but really you could find a heap of contenders and fighters that Ali fought that you could hardly call highly skilled or being exceptional fighting athletes if you were of that mind to.

 

Folley
Terrell
Patterson
Bugner
Cooper
Ellis
Quarry
Jones
Norton
All had good levels of boxing skills ,imo. I think they stack up favourably to most eras.

 

You're so correct in much of this ,but never More so than Holmes getting shafted.Larry fit's in to a rather awkward stage of heavyweight history. Coming in just as Ali was on his way out ,became champ but only by WBC .So never being seen as the one and only champion.Then losing to another massive name in Tyson ,getting KO'd after a couple of years out .Before finally ,showing how good he still was by going the distance with Holy and McCall .
And yet ,by some at least ,never seen as a ATG.
30 odd years on from Spinks and Holmes still gets called by some.

 

Would it have all changed had he got the decision against Spinks and equaled Marciano’s 49-0?

 

I couldn't have put it any better!

 

Historically and pop culture wise Ali is right there with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth...kind of transcends boxing. I personally still view his prime as the best prime version of any HW ever. There are MANY people my age that actually put Tyson as number one so previous posters aren’t wrong about that. I don’t have Tyson in my top 5 but to each their own. I think it’s inevitable though till others place someone else at the top. For some reason people always think their generation is the best despite human evolution not occurring.

 

no

 

There are more 200 pound and larger fighters that can fight today than there were in Ali's time. Thats part of what prompted the need for the Cruiserweight division.

 

I wonder if it's people who were around in the 90s who are overrating it or just people who don't remember it so have rose-tinted spectacles on about how it was this great era. Compared with 2000 onwards, the 1990s probably does look like a golden age, but if you were around then, do you feel that way too? I know I don't.

I saw Foreman beating Moorer as one of the low points of the decade. I remember thinking 'How far has the division sunk that a 44-year old can take out the champion?'. It's funny how people now use that to elevate Foreman's standing when it felt like such an indictment of the division back then.

There were obvious high points for the heavyweight division in the 90s - the first Bowe-Holyfield fight, Evander toppling Tyson and the eventual unification and coronation of Lennox Lewis as undisputed champion, but so much in between felt like dross.

But maybe someone watching the division in the 70s would make the same claim of their era.

 

You know my opinions on size, Ali would slaughter today's heavyweights. Also no, they're calling him the worst heavyweight champion ever. Mob protected, racist, beat guys over 50 years old. You have no idea what false information they spread

 

His prime was the 4 years he was not allowed to fight.