Liston 1 - they had real snap on them. Sonny was impressed. He said to his corner 'I thought this motheretc couldn't hit.' Parts of Manila - Joe's gumshield goes flying at one point when Ali plants his feet and, given how Joe didn't see the punch, should end all doubts about Frazier's chin. Lyle - he put Lyle in as much trouble with one punch as Foreman did the next year. By that I mean no single blow in the Foreman v Lyle fight had more impact on Ron, although George finished Ron much more conclusively. When George put him down, it was accumulation.
Foreman- lead hard right hands that Ali landed on Foreman Lyle- hard right hand leading to a tko Bonavena- perfect left hook that led to a tko Anyone who claims that he didn't is either dishonest or doesn't know what they are talking about. Ali stopped more iron jawed guys than most heavies. Bonavena wasn't stopped in his prime by anyone other than Ali, Oscar twice went the distance vs Frazier Lyle wasn't stopped in his prime by anyone other than Ali and the incredibly hard hitting Foreman Ali backed up the iron jawed Foreman in their fight in the 3rd round. Why did Foreman temporarily retreat if Ali wasn't hitting him hard? In terms of raw power, Ali may not have been as hard a hitter as say a Lewis but he stopped more durable fighters. He could clearly hit.
I have to agree with Bulldog, but imo his greatest displays of power were Liston II, Patterson I, Williams, Folley, Bonavena, Frazier II & III, Foreman, and Lyle.
Never got the impression of a power hitter, I've probably only watched may be 10 or 15 of his 50 fights. his speed and accuracy were the killer, and in that sense the most vicious looking KO I remember was against Cleveland Williams
I was just saying it doesn’t make sense to agree that he didn’t but then make a pretty good list of him doing it
well, i do think it seems odd on the surface, but i think it makes sense; Ali was not powerful for a heavy, but of his most powerful displays it were those listed
Foreman, lyle and manila fight joe frazier. At this point Ali's knuckles had healed up and he can punch the heavy bag harder than ever as told by Ali Trainer because after coming back from exile Ali used to had problem punching the heavy bag because of calcium deposits and in jurgen blin fight he was literally slapping the guy because of the pain he had in his hands.
