The aggressive Zora Folley who duked it out with Sonny Liston, versus the hard hitting Jimmy Ellis who won some big fights in the late 60's.
I'll take Folley here. Both were good boxers. I think Ellis was the better boxer on the outside. It was a combination of his long arms and blistering hand speed. Folley could fight on the outside and inside. Folley was a good counter-puncher too. One thing I like about Folley is his accuracy. Ellis used to swing wide at times and was susceptible to counters. I can see Folley hurting Ellis or making him a bit timid at least. Folley didn't have the best chin but Ellis wasn't a huge puncher. He was a decent puncher and Folley has fought plenty of decent punchers without getting stopped- Valdes, Machen, Cooper, Cleroux, Chuvalo, Jones I, Foster, Bonavena. Zora Folley by UD.
I lean towards Folley by decision, but let me tell you, that straight, sharp right of Ellis is enough to scare me in this fight. And it was delivered very fast. It would be a tough one, but I lean towards Folley.
Folley. He was pretty bad ass against Liston. If he brings that same fight he would beat Jimmy Ellis.
Ellis didn't really become a heavyweight until 1967. By that point, I think he takes Folley. Zora was more of a counter puncher. By '67, he was on the downside of his career. On the other hand, Ellis was a pretty busy offensive fighter. He could crack. And, when he moved up, he kind of took the division by storm. Ellis stops Folley around the eighth or ninth ... similar to the Leotis Martin fight.
Ellis. He's as crafty as Folley, albeit in a different way. Too much movement and he hits harder with his right hand, IMO. Interesting matchup, good choice for discussion, I think. Addendum: also, Folley couldn't take a punch anywhere as near well as Jimmy. I think Zora understood this was a glaring weakness in his makeup, and that's one reason he was so cautious.
Amazed at some calling Folley aggressive. He was one of the least aggressive fighters Ive ever seen. He loved to wait... and wait... and wait... and wait... He opened aggressively against Liston because of the reach disadvantage he was at he had to go at Liston and it proved disasterous for him. Ellis was faster of both foot and hand than Folley and could fight going forward or backwards and he had a very sneaky powerful right hand. Im pretty comfortable picking him over Folley. I think hed win a decision, scoring a knockdown, and it would be pretty clear. Folley wouldnt press him much so it would likely be a somewhat slow, boring chessmatch.