Why? Wouldn’t have had all the drama and controversy in the Norton rubber match, the high profile fights against Shavers,Young and Lyle and of course making history again by becoming the the first 3 times champion.
Outside of the Shavers fight those weren't actually good fights. Norton clearly got the best of Ali in Yankee Stadium. The Young fight was very boring. Ali couldn't land a punch and Jimmy Young was not burning up the canvas himself. I think we all could have lived with not seeing a 230lb Ali jiggling man breast puppet theater.
Hi Jack. Muhammad had pretty much cemented his legacy after the third Frazier bout. Anything else that followed did n't really count in my opinion. And who knows,he may well have been a lot healthier in his later years.
"I was more experienced when I was older; I was stronger; I had more belief in myself. Except for Sonny Liston, the men I fought when I was young weren’t near the fighters that Joe Frazier and George Foreman were. But I had my speed when I was young. I was faster on my legs and my hands were faster" Said Ali in the book Muhammad Ali: a tribute to the Greatest by Thomas hauser. I shouldn't have said that though.
I think he might have meant mentally stronger there, juxtaposed as it is between "I was more experienced" and "I had more belief in myself".
Ima be that guy- In the 60s his comp was not exactly stellar. Pair this with a lack of youth or general maintenance and horrible eating habits, much steeper comp in the comeback and you have a quick "decline". Ali did get back to scratch but let us be fair the comp made him look a lot more mortal then comfortable to witness and this had everything to do with Ali's chin and his arrogant at times refusal to use basic boxing techniques for whatever reason more then his age.