Ali fought 12 times from April 1 1972 - October 30 1974, that averages out around a fight every 2 and half months. That really stands out, especially with his only loss to Norton and wins over Foreman, Frazier, Norton and Patterson. Can't get guys to fight 2 times a year much less every 2 months.
Now also allow for healing between fights. A broken jaw in the first Norton fight, a cut eye in the Foster (Bob) fight and calcium deposits on both hands around the time of the Lubbers fight and that 12 times to the post becomes even more impressive. I know what you mean about these fighters fighting twice a year. But you have some that only fight once a year like Gary Russell and Gervonta Davis. I recall the last time Russell fought, the announcer in a post-fight interview said to Russell, "Let's hope we see you more than once a year, Gary." Russell sort of laughed, but that was last May and still nothing. These fighters are going to look back on this and say, I was in my prime and just squandered tremendous money-making opportunities. What can you do?
Ali really showed that despite the big $ and whatever else he had going on he was a true champion at his core. He got the feel of the ring back and gained confidence. That period after his loss to Frazier starting with Jimmy Ellis I believe and going all the way to Foreman. That is the reason Ali is the greatest heavyweight of alltime.
I agree that he CONVINCED THE WORLD that he was a great champion during his post-exile years, but I still believe that the pre-exile Ali would have defeated the later Ali. He was younger, faster, better-conditioned, and had more stamina. I believe he already possessed all the courageous qualities then which he had an opportunity to exhibit later on. The difference was that most people didn't realize it until later. As for the frequency of his fights during his two most productive championship reigns, Ali had nine defenses of his title from 1965 to 1967 as compared with ten from 1975 to 1978. Pretty comparable. Both are impressive for a champion who has no obligation to defend his title that often. I mention his fights between '75 and '78 rather than '72 through 74 because as a challenger you would expect him to be more active because he was fighting his way up the ladder. As a champion, he could have rested more, but chose to defend against all comers.
Yes, so many excellent comments on this thread. Even before that 1972-4 run, it is worth remembering that he stopped Jimmy Ellis in 12 rounds. Just over 4 months after the FOTC. Remarkable resilience! TV coverage of the late 60's, early 70's was terrific on ITV and BBC. The WBA eliminators were all shown live, as were the 2 Ali - Norton 12 rounders. Some were shown the next day, like the Frazier, Patterson ones. The Ali - Lubbers was shown live on World of Sport on the Saturday afternoon and the Al Blue Lewis, live on the Wednesday night. They all seemed to fight so regularly that we may have been spoiled with the feast, no wonder we are frustrated with the current part - timers. I had great hopes of Fury bucking this trend with his bullish comments after beating Wilder. "Had" being the operative word ! Just as well there are a multitude of bogus titles and weights around to keep us entertained while waiting patiently for the reclusive heavyweights to deign to gird their loins, thank you so much!
He was using the "People's Champ" nickname during that time. 3/02/71 loses his "linear title". 10/30/74 regains his Hvyweight crown.
A remarkable output as so many of you have said. 1972-74 was also the window in which Ali was the nearest he got to his 1966-67 all time best.
Their not really comparable. In 75-78 he wasn't fighting. He was there and he looked kinda like Ali. Then the bell rang.
True, he was on a downward trajectory, but he was the champion and he was defending his title on a regular basis in spite of it all.
