What if Muhammad Ali was a flyweight?

It would help him if he had some height and reach over his piers in that class. He might not have as much of an advantage in speed and long range stamina as many of his opponents would ALSO have those qualities at FW.

 

I don’t even know. I mean his skills would be pretty mediocre for a FW.

 

There's no way that flyweight Ali would make as much of an impact on boxing as heavyweight Ali. When Ali held it, the heavyweight title was the most prized possession in the sport. The flyweight titles have never been afforded that level of importance.

 

This

 

Muhammad Ali could then float like a fly, and sting like a bee. Ha, Ha, Lol.

 

He'd have been ignored the way most people ignore flyweights (even great ones) especially in the US.

 

How about the Straw Weights? Years ago some person asked me about the Cruiserweights, he asked me if they were cruisers? I responded yes, he answered, you mean they spend their entire night cruising. I walked away from that person scratching my head.

 

His impact likely would've been none at all.

A huge part of the attention he received was due to the fact that he was the reigning heavyweight champion of the world.

Being the heavyweight champion of the world was a huge deal at that time.

In the 1960s in the US, nobody gave a squat about flyweights. Zero.

He would have had difficulty even finding fights as a flyweight in the US at that time.

Also, the Nation of Islam only considered it a big deal to have him join because he was the heavyweight champion. He was only given the name Muhammad Ali because they considered him special. Most members didn't even get names unless they were a big deal. Most of the rank and file were just told to change their last name to X.

So he wouldn't even have been given the name Muhammad Ali. He would've remained Cassius X.

Also, I don't know how many 112-pound grown men who failed their IQ exam actually served in the Army, but probably not a lot. There are height and weight requirements.

They changed Ali's results to make an example of him and to try to use him once he joined because he was the heavyweight champion..

If he was a flyweight, they wouldn't have bothered. He may not have even been drafted at all.

By the time he finished basic training, there wouldn't have been much left of him.

So, if he would've been a flyweight, he would've been virtually anonymous in the U.S. And if he was good, he would've had to have spent most of his time in the 1960s boxing in Asia.

Which is ironic, given that is the last thing the heavyweight Ali wanted to do was fight in Asia.

 

Very well done dubblechin gets the double entendres!

Although I do not know why basic training need use him up.

But of course being the man who could theoretically whup everyone else gave him great prestige & a huge platform.
If he was around literally half his size (weight), all his charisma could not get him anything like that.

 

Flyweight Ali wouldn't have been as popular. The US has never cared about flyweights, and it's hard to imagine him becoming extremely popular worldwide if he wasn't already extremely popular/well-known in his home country.

His best case is maybe his issues with the draft and the NOI making him a Rubin Carter-like figure, but, even with songs and movies written about him, Carter wasn't the world's most famous athlete. Heavyweight champion Ali was.

 

Cruising is gay slang where I’m from for someone who has multiple hook ups a night.